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A°x. 




























THE NEW 


CABINET CYCLOPEDIA 

AND 

TREASURY OF KNOWLEDGE. 






















THE NEW 

i 

CABINET CYCLOPJIDIA 

AND 

TREASURY OF KNOWLEDGE. 


A HANDY BOOK OF REFERENCE ON ALL SUBJECTS 

AND FOR ALL READERS. 


THR ARTICLES BKLATINO TO AMERICA EDITED BY 

AINSWORTH R. SPOFFORD, Late Librarian of Congress, 

AND EDITOR OF THE “LIBRARY OF CHOICE LITERATURE.” 

THE ARTICLES RELATING TO EUROPE EDITED BY 

CHARLES ANNANDALE, M.A., LL.D., 

EDITOR OF THE “IMPERIAL DICTIONARY,” BTC. 

—TEffi WORK COMPRISES— 

A CYCLOPEDIA OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 

A DICTIONARY OF HISTORICAL EVENTS. 

A COMPLETE ATLAS OF AUTHORIZED MAPS. 
A LIBRARY OF BIOGRAPHY. 

A GAZETTEER OF THE WORLD. 


VoL. IV. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

THE GEBBIE PUBLISHING CO., Limited. 

1899. 






THB UBRARY 
or CONGRESS 





Copyright, 1899, by 

THE GEBBIE PUBLISHING CO., Limited. 


TWOCOPifcb f^£CniV£0. 



tv>-V 












KEY TO THE PRONUNCIATION. 


The pronunciation of the words that form the titles of the articles is indicated in two 
ways: 1st, By re-writing the w’ord in a different form and according to a simple system of 
transliteration. 2d, By marking the syllable on which the chief accent falls. Entries which 
simply have their accentuation marked are English or foreign words that present little 
difficulty, and in regard to which readers can’^hardly go far wrong. A great many of the 
entries, however, cannot be treated in this way, but must have their pronunciation repre¬ 
sented by a uniform series of symbols, so that it shall be unmistakable. In doing this the 
same letter or combination of letters is made use of to represent the same sound, no matter 
by what letter or letters the sound may be represented in the word whose pronunciation 
is shown. The key to the pronunciation by this means is greatly simplified, the reader 
having only to remember one character for each sound. Sounds and letters, it may be 
remarked, are often very different things. In the English language there are over forty 
sounds, while in the English alphabet there are only twenty-six letters to represent them. 
Our alphabet is, therefore, very far from being adequate to the duties required of it, and 
stiU more inadequate to represent the various sounds of foreign languages. 

The most typical vowel sounds (including diphthongs) are as shown in the following list, 
which gives also the characters that are used in the Cyclopedia to show their pronunciation, 
most of these being distinguished by diacritical marks. 


a, as in fate, or in bare, 
a, as in alms, Fr. <ime, Ger. Bahn=^ of 
Indian names. 

a, the same sound short or medium, as in 

Fr. bal, Ger. Mann. 

a, as in fat. 

a, as in fall. 

• • ' 

a, obscure, as in rural, similar to w in but, 
e in her: common in Indian names, 
e, as in me=i in machine, 
e, as in met. 
e, as in her. 

I, as in p?he, or as ei in Ger. mein, 
i, as in pin, also used for the short sound 
corresponding to e, as in French and 
Italian words. 


eu, a long sound as in Fr. jeHne, = Ger. long 
6, as in Sdhne, Gothe (Goethe), 
eu, corresponding sound short or medium, 
as in Fr. peu=Ger. o short. 

6, as in note, moan. 

o, as in not, soft—that is, short or medium, 
b, as in move, two. 
u, as in tube. 

u, as in tub: similar to e and also to a. 
u, as in buU. 

u, as in Sc. abune=Fr. H as in d4, Ger. ii 
long as in griin, Biihne. 
u, the corresponding short or medium 
sound, as in Fr. but, Ger. Muller, 
oi, as in oil. 

ou, as in pound; or as au in Ger. Haus. 


Of the consonants, b, d, f, h, j, k, 1, m, n, ng, p, sh, t, v, z, always have their common 
English sounds, when used to transliterate foreign words. The letter c is not used by itself 
in re-writing for pronunciation, s or k being respectively used instead. The only conson¬ 
antal symbols, therefore, that require explanation are the following:— 


ch is always as in rich. 

d, nearly as th in <Ais=Sp. d in Ma^^ricZ, &c. 
g is always hard, as in go. 

h represents the guttural in Scotch locA, Ger. 

nacA, also other similar gutturals, 
n, Fr. nasal u as in bou. 

r represents both English r, and r in foreign words, 
which is generally much more strongly trilled. 


s, always as in so. 
th, as th in <Ain. 
th, as th in </ds. 

w always consonantal, as in tee. 
x=ks, which are used instead, 
y always consonantal, as in yea (Fr. 

ligne would be re-written leny). 
zh, as s in pleasure=Fr. j. 












ib:-- 










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F '■♦’ 




■It- 2 :^. 




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v’f, ^ . • 


?■ ?■ ■ 'f: : 

4-j^'v.‘’'r'''-'"-‘“"'^-:' 


S V' • -• •» '■'*•' < V- 

' '*“*' '■ ‘ ’** * ' > 

/11 • -^1 ^ ^ ^ * '. 


f*-‘'^:?’4'’ 













THE NEW 


CABINET CYCLOPEDIA. 

VOL. IV. 


Fire, the simultaneous and vividly per¬ 
ceptible evolution of heat and light dur¬ 
ing the process of combustion. The uses 
and dangers of fire, and to some extent the 
means of controlling it, have been generally 
understood from a very early period. The 
symbolic and superstitious uses of fire are 
numerous, and have been, or are, common 
to all races. Anciently fire was regarded 
as one of the four elements of which all 
things are composed, the other three being 
air, earth, and loater. See Combustion and 
articles following this. 

Fire-alarm, an apparatus, mechanical, 
electric, and telegraphic, used for detecting 
fires, and for giving instantaneous notice of 
an outbreak. Detectors are often placed in 
the different apartments of a building, which 
ring an alarm when the temperature reaches 
a certain height. In large towns a series of 
signal-boxes is distributed in different quar¬ 
ters from which an alarm can be immediately 
telegraphed to the fire-brigade station. 

Fire-annihilator. See Extincteur. 

Fire-arms, a general name for all sorts of 
guns, rifles, fowling - pieces, blunderbusses, 
pistols, &c., which effect their discharge by 
the combustion of gunpowder. 

Fire-ball: (1) a ball filled with powder or 
other combustibles, intended to be thrown 
among enemies, and to injure by explosion, 
or to set fire to their works. ( 2 ) a popular 
name applied to a certain class of meteors 
which exhibit themselves as globular masses 
of light moving with great velocity, and not 
unfrequently passing unbroken across the 
sky until lost in the horizon. They differ 
from ordinary meteors, probably, more in 
volume and brilliancy than in any other 
distinctive characteristic. They are not to 
be confounded with another class of meteors 
that explode in their passage, and appear to 
let fall a dull red bod 7 (meteorolite) to the 
earth. 

YOL. IV. 


Fire-bote, in old law, an allowance of 
fuel from the estate to which a tenant w’aa 
entitled. 

Fire-box, the box (generally made of cop¬ 
per) in which the fire in a locomotive engine 
is placed. See Boiler. 

Fire-brigades are bodies of firemen orga¬ 
nized in large towns to work the fire-engines 
and other means of saving property from 
fire. They are under the control of the 
municipal authorities, and are mainly sup¬ 
ported by the rates, the London fire-brigade 
having, in addition, a grant from govern¬ 
ment. 

Fire-clay, a compact kind of clay, consist¬ 
ing chiefly of silica and alumina, capable of 
sustaining intense heat, and used in making 
fire-bricks, gas-retorts, crucibles, &c. The 
most highly esteemed fire-clay is that of 
Stourbridge, which is used wherever high 
temperatures have to be resisted. Fire-clay 
belongs to the coal formation, and always 
forms a stratum immediately below each 
seam of coal. 

Fire-damp, light carburetted hydrogen 
gas or marsh-gas (CH4). It is sometimes 
very abundantly evolved in coal-mines, and 
is productive of the most dreadful results, 
occasioning the death of nearly all employed 
in the mines, from its explosion. It appears 
to be generated by the decomposition of 
partially carbonized coal, and when it con¬ 
stitutes more than x^th of the volume of the 
atmosphere of mines the whole becomes 
highly explosive when fire is brought in con¬ 
tact with it. The safety-lamp affords the 
chief protection against the fatal effects of 
this gas. 

Fire-engine, an engine for throwing 
water to extinguish fire and save build¬ 
ings. Hand fire-engines are a species of 
force-pumi)s, in which the water is sub¬ 
jected to pressure sufficient to raise it to 
the required height. The engine is usually 


1 











FIRE-ESCAPE 


furnished with a suction-pipe which is 
attached to a water-main, or the like, and 
is thus self-feeding. Steam fire-engines 
now in common use have pumps either pis¬ 
ton or I'otary, and may be either single or 
double. The boilers are either flue, tubu¬ 
lar or coil. About the heaviest engines 
now in use weigh, fully equipped, about 
five tons; but the preference is for an en¬ 
gine weighing three tons. The most pow¬ 
erful engine has a maximum capacity of 
900 gallons per 
minute; the small¬ 
est 300 gallons. 

The invention of 
the automatic re¬ 
lief-valve is a most 
important im¬ 
provement. B y 
this device the 
pipeman has con¬ 
trol of the flow of 
water. The chem¬ 
ical fire-engine is 
• much used in our 
villages and smal¬ 
ler cities. The 
best form is the 
double tank. 

These tanks hold 
from 70 to 100 gal¬ 
lons. They con¬ 
tain a chemical 
mixture with water, producing carbonic 
acid gas, which generates the pressure nec¬ 
essary to force the mixture through the 
hose, with a i to i inch nozzle, about 150 
feet. The hose-cart is ordinarily built to 
carry about 900 feet of hose; the four- 
wheeled cart drawn by two horses is pre¬ 
ferred for large cities. The hose now used 
is the rubber or combination, made of rub¬ 
ber upon a body of cotton fabric, being 
both covered and lined with rubber; or 
the cotton rubber lined, made of cotton 
woven cylindrically and rubber lined. 

Eire-escape, a contrivance for enabling 
persons to escape from the upper part of a 
building which is on fire. It is composed of 
an arrangement of long ladders, capable of 
being drawn out after the manner of a tele¬ 
scope, and mounted on wheels for easier 
transport from place to place. Under the 
whole length of the lower or main ladder is 
a kind of trough made of stout sail-cloth, 
protected by an outer trough of copper Avire 
net. This trough is used for lowering people 
from a burning house who are unable from 
fear or other causes to descend the ladder. 
Firefly, a name indefinitely given to any 


FIRE-PROOFING. 

winged insect which possesses much lumi¬ 
nosity. Except the lantern-fly, the fireflies 
are all coleopterous, and are members of 
two nearly allied families, the Elateridaeor 
skip-jacks, and Lampyridae, to which the 
glow-worm belongs. The British glow¬ 
worm has too little luminosity to entitle it 
to the name of firefly, but the Lampyris 
'ital'ica, and L, corusca of Canada are allied 
to it. True fireflies are found only in the 
warmer regions of the earth. The ElMer 

or Pyrop hdrus 
noctililcusofSouth 
America and the 
West Indies is one 
of the most bril¬ 
liant, giving out 
its light from two 
eye-like tubercles 
on the thorax. 
Their light is so 
powerful that 
small print may be 
read by it, and in 
Uayti they are 
used to give light 
for domestic pur¬ 
poses, eight or ten 
confined in a phial 
emitting sufiicient 
light to enable a 
person to write. 
Fire Insurance, 
insurance against loss by fire. See Insur¬ 
ance. 

Firelock, a musket or other gun, with a 
lock furnished with a flint and steel, by 
means of which fire is produced in order to 
discharge it; distinguished from the old 
matchlock, which was fired with 2 match. 

Fire of London, The Great, broke out 
in a house near Loudon Bridge, 2d Sept., 
1666, and raged for several days. Two- 
thirds of London was destroyed—eighty- 
nine churches and more than 13,000 dwell¬ 
ing-houses. The monument erected by 
Wren at Fish Street Hill commemorates 
the great fire, and at one time bore an in¬ 
scription attributing the fire to the Popish 
faction. 

Fire Ordeal. See Ordeal. 

Fire-proofing, Various plans have been 
adopted for rendering houses, or an apart¬ 
ment in a house, fireproof, as by construct¬ 
ing them entirely of brick or stone, and em¬ 
ploying iron doors, ties, and lintels, stone 
stair-cases and landings. In the case of 
textile fabrics, as cotton, linen, &c., satura¬ 
tion with various salts, as borax,which leave 
their crystals in the substance of the fabrics. 



Vertical Section of Platform-spring Steam 
Eire-eugine. 















































FIRE-RAISING-FIROZABAD. 


is the means adopted for rendering them 
incombustible. Wood is best protected by 
silicate of soda, which, on the application of 
strong heat, fuses into a glass, and this, en¬ 
veloping not only the outside but also the 
internal fibres of the wood, shields it from 
contact with the oxygen of the air. Fire¬ 
proof safes are generally constructed with 
double walls of stout iron, having a space 
between the walls filled with some sub¬ 
stance which is a very bad conductor of heat. 

Fire-raising, in Scotch law, is the same 
as arson in English law. In Scotland it is 
a capital crime in some cases, but capital 
punishment is not now inflicted. See A rson. 

Fire-ships are generally old vessels filled 
with combustibles, and fitted with grappling- 
irons, to hook enemies’ ships and set them 
on fire. This ancient device has been fre¬ 
quently tried in modern warfare, though it 
can never be of much effect when employed 
against modern ships. 

Fire-works, preparations in various shapes 
of gunpowder, charcoal, sulphur, saltpetre, 
filings of iron, &c., used for display at times 
of public rejoicing, &;c. They may be divided 
into simple hand-pieces, such as squibs, 
crackers, rockets, Roman candles, &c., and 
arranged ‘ pieces,’ which are contrived with 
much skill a:id ingenuity to represent, when 
ignited, various devices and pictures. 

Fire-worship, the worship of fire, the 
highest type of which worship is seen in the 
adoi'ation of the sun, not only as the most 
glorious visible object in the universe, but 
also as the source of light and heat. In the 
early religion of India the sun appears in 
the form of the god Agni (a name akin to 
Lat. ignis, fire), what was first regarded as 
a mere abstract influence or a phenomenon, 
in time being regarded as a sentient indivi¬ 
dual. Thus in the Vedic hymns Agni is the 
god of fire, corresponding to the Greek He- 
phsestos (Vulcan). In the East the worship 
of the element of fire was practised by the 
ancient Persians or Magians, and is con¬ 
tinued by the modern Parsees. The estab¬ 
lishment of this species of idolatry among 
the Persians is ascribed to Zoroaster, who 
taught his disciples that in the sun and in 
the sacred fires of their temi^les God more 
especially dwelt, and that therefore divine 
homage was to be paid to these. 

Firishta. See Ferishta. 

Firkin, an old measure of capacity, 
being the fourth part of a barrel, or equal 
to imperial gallons.—A small cask or 
keg of indeterminate size. 


Fir'lot, a dry measure used in Scotland, 
but now legally abolished; the fourth part 
of a bolL 

Firm, a partnership or association of two 
or more persons for carrying on a business; 
a commercial house; or the name or title 
under which a company transact business. 
—Long Firm, a term given to that class of 
swindlers who obtain goods by pretending 
to be in business in a certain place, and 
ordering goods to be sent to them, generally 
from persons at a distance, without any in¬ 
tention .of payment. When they have ob¬ 
tained all they can in this way they de¬ 
camp, to reappear elsewhere under a different 
name. A person practising this system is 
said to be a member of the Long Firm. 

Fir'mament, the vault of heaven. The 
Hebrew word rakia, which is so rendered 
in Scripture, conveys chiefly the idea of ex¬ 
pansion, although that of solidity is also 
suggested, inasmuch as the root significa¬ 
tion of the word is that which is expanded 
by beating out. The English firmament is 
adopted from the lL‘Aim.firmamentum, which 
is the equivalent of the Greek stereoma 
{stereos, firm, solid), by which the writers 
of the Septuagint rendered rakia. 

Fir'man (Per. fermCm), a decree, order, or 
grant of an Oriental sovereign, as of Turkey, 
issued for various special purposes, for in¬ 
stance to ensiire a traveller protection and 
assistance. It differs from a Haiti Sherif 
in so far as it may be signed b}'’ any minis¬ 
ter, whereas the Hatti Sherif is approved by 
the Sultan himself with his special mark, 
and is therefore supposed to be irrevocable. 

Firn, the more or less compacted mass 
of snow which furnishes the material from 
which glaciers are formed, called also neve. 

Firol'idse, a family of gasteropodous mol¬ 
luscs, belonging to the order Nucleobran- 
chiata or Heteropoda. The members of the 
typical genus Firola are very common in 
tropical seas and in the Mediterranean, but 
are so transparent that sometimes they can 
scarcely be seen. They swim with their 
foot upwards. They have no shell. The 
indi viduals of Carinaria, another genus, have 
a small delicate shell inclosing the gills. 

Firozabad', town and municipality in 
Agra district. North-western Provinces of 
India, head-quarters of a tahsil of the same 
name, 24 miles E. of Agra. It contains 
numerous ruins of handsome buildings; is 
a station on the E. Indian Railway, 817 
miles fi'om Calcutta. Pop. 16,023. Pop. of 
tahsil or revenue district, 108,521. 






FIROZPUR 


FISII-HAWK. 


Firozpur', a thriving commercial town, 
Punjab, India, capital of a district of the 
same name. The arsenal is the largest in 
the Punjab. Pop., including the military 
cantonments, 2 miles s. of the city, 50,437. 
The district forms the most southern of the 
I.ahore division. Area, 2752 sq. m.; pop. 
650,519.—Firozpur is also the name of a 
town in Gurgaon district, Punjab. Pop. 
6878. 

Firozshah', a battle-field in Firozpur dis¬ 
trict, Punjab; the scene of the defeat of the 
strongly-intrenched Sikh army by the Bri¬ 
tish forces under Sir Hugh Gough and Sir 
Flenry Hardinge, 21st Dec. 1845. 

First-fruits, in the Church of England, 
the income of every spiritual benefice for the 
first year, paid originally to the crown, but 
now to a board, which applies the money so 
obtained to the supplementing of the in¬ 
comes of small benefices. See Annates. 

Firth, Frith, an estuary, a term applied 
in Scotland to arms of the sea, such as the 
Firth of Clyde, of Tay, and of Forth, &c. 
It is the same word as the Norwegian ^’orc?. 

Fischart (fish 'art), Johann, German 
satirist, born between 1545 and 1550, died 
in 1589. His w’ritings are mostly satirical, 
partly in prose, partly in verse, partly of 
both mixed together, and have the most 
whimsical titles. As a satirist he is the 
njost unrestrained of his age, the papal 
dignity, and the lives of the priesthood and 
Jesuits, astrological superstition, scholastic 
pedantry, &c., being among his favourite 
subjects of attack. 

Fish Commission, the United States, es¬ 
tablished in 1871 for fostering the fishing 
industries by distributing food-fishes. State 
Fish Commissions are in existence through¬ 
out the country. 

Fish Culture. See Pisciculture. 

Fisher, John, Bishop of Rochester, was 
born in 1459, at Beverley, in Yorkshire, and 
graduated M.A. at Cambridge in 1491. In 
1501 he received the degree of D.D., and 
was made chancellor of the university. In 
1504 he was promoted to the see of Roches¬ 
ter. He opposed Flenry VIII.’s divorce; 
listened to the pretended prophecies of 
Elizabeth Barton, the Maid of Kent; op¬ 
posed the royal supremacy, and was im¬ 
prisoned in 1534 and attainted. His appoint¬ 
ment as cardinal by Paul III. led to his 
execution after trial by a special commis¬ 
sion, 1535. 

Fisheries, a term which includes all the 
industries concerned in the capture of the 


inhabitants of fresh and salt water for food 
and other economic purposes. It is thus 
applied to the procuring not only of fish pro¬ 
per, but also of other animals and products 
found in the sea, such as sponges, corals, 
pearls, shell-fish, turtles, whales, seals, &c. 
The most important of fresh-water fisheries 
is that of salmon, which is prosecuted with 
draw-nets, stake-nets, and by sportsmen with 
fly-hooks. Trout, eel, pike, and perch are 
among the other important fresh - water 
fishes. Sea-fisheries, including the herring, 
cod, haddock, and other fishes, are pro¬ 
secuted in a variety of ways. Hand-line 
and long-line fishing are worked more or 
less all round the British coasts. Of nets 
the chief varieties ai’e trawls, drift-nets, 
seines, bag-nets, and trammel or set nets. 
Fisheries have generally been considered 
so important an object of national w’ealth 
that government have been careful to pro¬ 
tect and encourage them in various ways. 
The right to various fisheries has often 
been a matter of intei'national disputes, 
negotiations, and treaties. (See Canada.) 
Fisheries belonging to particular govern¬ 
ments, especially inland fisheries in lakes 
and rivers, are also frequently protected 
by laws relating to the mode of capture, 
&c., which vary with the particular cir¬ 
cumstances. The countries whose fishing in- 
dustries produce the most valuable returns 
are Great Britain, British North America, 
and the U. States. The total value of the 
British sea-fisheries at present reaches about 
£6,000,000 per annum, the chief yield being 
from herring, haddock, and cod. The Cana¬ 
dian fisheries with those of Newfoundland 
are probably nearly as great; those of the 
U. States are said to be greater in value. 
The l)anks of Newfoundland are one of the 
richest fishing grounds in the world, and are 
largely frequented by French fishermen. 
The German Ocean also yields a very rich 
harvest to the fishermen of all the surround¬ 
ing coasts, especially in herring, cod, had¬ 
dock, flat-fish, &c. 

Fish, Hamilton, statesman, was bom 
in New York city, Aug. 3, 1808. In 1851 
was elected U. S. Senator. In 1869 was 
appointed Secretary of State, serving dur¬ 
ing _Geu. Grant’s two terras. His diplo¬ 
matic services have been important and of 
great benefit to his country. He died Sept. 
7, 1893. In all the relations of life Mr. 
Fish was a man of the greatest worth, the 
highest distinction. 

Fisli-Kawlt. See Osprey, 

4 



FISH-HOOK 


■FTTZ. 


Fish-hook, a curved, barbed, and pointed 
steel wire used for catching fish. Eedditch 
in Worcestershire and Limerick are the chief 
British seats of the fish-hook manufacture. 
The Limerick hook, which has the greatest 
reputation, has a barb that is forged solid, 
and then filed into the proper shape, while 
ordinary hooks have a barb that is raised 
by cutting into the wire. Hook-making 
machines are now common, especially in 
the United States. 

Fishing. See Fisheries and Angling. 

Fishing-frog. See Angler. 

Fish-plates, a pair of plates placed upon 
opposite sides of a joint in a beam and con¬ 
nected with bolts passing through the beam. 

Fishing-rod, a long slender rod, usually 
made in jointed sections, to which the line 
is fastened in angling. See Angling. 

Fish-joint, a splice or joining, as in rail¬ 
ways, where two rails end to end are fas¬ 
tened together by flat pieces of iron {fish¬ 
plates) placed on each side of the rails, and 
fastened by screw-nuts and bolts {fish- 
holts). 

Fish-louse, a name for several crusta¬ 
ceans of the order Ichthyophthira, parasitic 
on fishes. Some are common on many of 
the British sea-fishes. 

Fiske, John, American author, born at 
Hartford, Conn., 1842. An overseer of 
Hartford Lluiversity. Author of many 
publications, including Dariviuism and 
other Essays, The Idea of God, etc. 

Fission, in physiol., reproduction by divi¬ 
sion of one animal of low type into two, each 
of these, again, dividing into two others, and 
so on. The products of the division of the 
body of the primitive organism may either 
remain undetached, when they will give rise 
to a composite structure (as in many corals), 
or they may be thrown off and live an inde¬ 
pendent existence (as in some of the Hy- 
drozoa). 

Fissirostres (-ros'trez), a tribe of the In- 
sessores or perching birds, distinguished by 
having a very wide gape, extending beneath 
the eyes. It comprehends the night-jars or 
goatsuckers,whip-poor-will, swallows, swifts, 
martins, &c. But in modern classification 
this division is often disregarded. 

Fissureriidgs, the keyhole limpets, a family 
of gasteropodous molluscs resembling the 
limpets in appearance and habits, but differ¬ 
ing considerably in structure. The animal 
is generally too large for the shell, so that 
in the typical genus Fissurella the shell 
appears as if it were rudimentary. The spe¬ 

5 


cies are w’idely distributed; many are Brit¬ 
ish, and many fossil. 

Fis'tula, in surg. a channel open at both 
ends excavated between an internal part 
and the skin-surface, showing no tendency 
to heal, and generally arising from abscesses. 
It occurs most frequently at some outlet 
of the body, as the urinary passages and 
anus. 

Fistula'ria, a genus of acanthopterygious 
fishes characterized by the elongation of the 





facial bones into a long fistula or tube at 
the extremity of which the mouth opens. 
A notable species is the tobacco-pipe fish. 

Fitch, John, inventor, was born in East 
Windsor, Conn., Jan. 21, 1743. In 1785 
he completed his first model of a steam¬ 
boat. His second boat made a successful 
trial-trip in 1787, on the Delaware. In the 
summer of 1790 a boat built by him made 
regular passenger trips between Philadel¬ 
phia and Burlington, with a speed of 8 
miles an hour. In 1791 he received a U. S. 
patent. In 1817 a committee of the New 
York Legislature decided that he was in¬ 
ventor of the steamboat. He died in 1798. 

Fitchburg, an American city, Worcester 
county, Mass., 40 miles n.w. of Boston; has 
manufactures of paper, machinery, woollen 
goods, &c. Pop. 22,037. 

Fitchet, or Fitch, the fur of the polecat. 
It has a yellow ground, with long, soft, black 
shining hairs on its surface, which are ex¬ 
clusively used for artists’ brushes. The fur 
is not in great request as it emits an un¬ 
pleasant odour which is difficult to dissipate. 
See Polecat. 

Fitz, the old French word for fils, son; 
used as a prefix in certain surnames, as 
Fu'fegerald, Ffteherbert, Ft'temaurice, Fitz- 
william, especially in the surnames of the 
illegitimate sons of kings or princes of the 
blood, &c.; as, Fitzroy, Fiteclarence. 





FITZGERALD 


FLAG. 


Fitzgerald (fits-jer'ald), Eaimily or, an 
Irish family descended from William, Cas¬ 
tellan of Windsor in the Conqueror’s reign. 
Two branches of this house, the Earls of 
Desmond and Kildare, were for long the 
practical rulers of the English part of Ire¬ 
land. The Kildare branch is still represented 
by the ducal house of Leinster. 

Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, born near 
Dublin 1773, died 1798. He was a younger 
son of the Duke of Leinster, and married 
Pamela, the reputed daughter of the Duke 
of Orleans (!Egalit4) and Aldme. de Genlis. 
In 1796 he joined the United Irishmen, and 
plotted for a French invasion of Ireland; 
was betrayed by a spy, and arrested. He 
stabbed two of the officers sent to take him, 
but was disabled by a pistol-shot, which 
caused his death before he could be brought 
to trial. 

Fitzgerald, Lord Thomas, known as 
‘ silken Thomas,’ born about 1513, died 1536. 
He was vice-deputy for his father, the ninth 
earl of Kildare, on whose arrest by Henry 
VIII. Lord Thomas raised a formidable 
revolt in Ireland, which was ultimately put 
down by Skeffington, and Lord Thomas 
with his five uncles were hanged at Tyburn. 

Fitzroy', Robert, English admiral and 
meteorologist, born 1805, died by his own 
hand 1865. He entered the navy in 1819, 
and from 1828 to 1836 was employed in hy¬ 
drographical surveys, and in forming a chain 
of meridional distances round the globe. 
On his return he published Narrative of the 
Surveying Voyages of the Adventure and 
Beagle. In 1854 he became superintendent 
of the meteorological department of the 
Board of Trade. In 1857 he was promoted 
to the rank of rear-admiral, and in 1863 to 
that of vice-admiral. He acquired great 
popularity with the public for the system 
of storm-warnings which he established. 

Fiume (fi-6'me),a seaport town of Austro- 
Hungary, and a free town of the Hungarian 
kingdom, picturesquely situated on the Gulf 
of Quarnero, in the n.e. extremity of the 
Adriatic. It has some good streets and 
buildings (including a cathedral), and its 
industries embrace paper, tobacco, ma¬ 
chinery, chemicals, petroleum, metal goods, 
liqueurs, &c. Large sums have recently been 
spent by the Hungarian government on the 
improvement of its harbour accommodation, 
and it is now a place of large trade. Pop. 
1891, 29,001. 

Five Forks, a locality in Dinwiddie 
county, Virginia; the scene of an impor¬ 


tant battle fought 1st April, 1865, one week 
before the close of the civil war. After 
heavy fighting the Confederates were com¬ 
pletely defeated. 

Five Mile Act, an act of Charles II. 
(1665) forbidding nonconformist clergymen 
who refused to take the oath of non-resis¬ 
tance, and swear to attempt no alteration 
of the constitution in church or state, to 
come within five miles of any corporate 
town where they had preached since the 
Act of Oblivion. Repealed in 1688. 

Five Points, a name given to the Fourth 
ward, New York city. 

Fives, a kind of game with a ball, origi¬ 
nally called hand-tennis, played on a level 
piece of ground with a smooth wall, against 
whicli the ball is struck after its first re¬ 
bound from the ground: so named probably 
from its being usually played with five on 
each side, although others give different 
explanations, as that it is so called because 
the ball is struck with the hand or five 
fingers. 

Fixed Air, the old name for carbonic acid. 

Fixed Alkalies, potash, soda, lithia, and 
oxides of the rare metals rubidium and cae¬ 
sium, so named in contradistinction to am¬ 
monia, which is termed volatile alkali. 

Fixed Oils. See Oils. 

Fixed Stars, those stars which appear to 
remain always at the same distance from 
each other and in the same relative posi¬ 
tion. The name comprehends, therefore, all 
the heavenly bodies, with the exception of 
the planets, with their moons, and the 
comets. See Stars. 

Fixtures, in law, are accessories annexed 
to houses or lands, which by the fact of 
their being so annexed become a part of the 
real property and pass to the freeholder, 
not being removable at will by the tenant 
or occupier of the property. The general 
nile of law is that whatever has been 
affixed to the premises or put into the land 
by a tenant during his occupancy cannot 
be removed without the landlord’s consent. 
Large exceptions are made to this rule in 
favour of the tenant, covering generally fix¬ 
tures for trade, for agricultural purposes, 
and for ornament or convenience; but the 
removal must not injure the land or build¬ 
ings of the landlord. 

Flag, a piece of cloth on which certain 
figures or devices are painted, impressed, or 
MTOught, borne on a staff or pole, and usu¬ 
ally employed to distinguish one company, 
party, or nationality from another. In the 

6 



flag -FLAHAUT DE LA BILLARDEElE. 


army a flag is a banner by which one regi¬ 
ment is distinguished from another. Flags 
borne on the masts of vessels not only desig¬ 
nate the country to which they belong, but 
also are made to denote the quality of the 
officer by whom a ship is commanded. In 
the United States navy distinctive blue 
flags with four, three, and two wliite stars, 
are worn at the main, fore, and mizzen by 
admirals, vice-admirals, and rear-admirals, 
respectively. Commodores have a broad 
blue pennant, with one white star, which 
is worn at tlie main when the commodore 
is acting as commander-in-chief. Any 
officer commanding a vessel, except one on 
board of which a flag or broad pennant 
may be worn, shall wear a narrow pennant 
at the main. When powder is being taken 
on board a red flag is hoisted at the fore. 
A yellow flag is the quarantine flag. Flags 
of truce are white, and on water are met 
by a boat or vessel from the senior officer’s 
vessel, in charge of a commissioned officer, 
having a white flag. To lower or strike 
the flag is to pull it down, or take it in, out 
of respect or submission to superiors. To 
lower or strike the flag in an engagement is 
a sign of yielding. A sign of mourning is 
to hoist the flags at a half or two-thirds of 
the height of the masts, if on land at half 
the height of the staff. Besides the xise of 
flags as distinguishing emblems, a very im¬ 
portant use of them at sea, both by national 
and mercantile navies, is as signals according 
to an arranged code. 

Flag, a popular name for many endo¬ 
genous plants wdth sword - shaped leaves, 
mostly growing in moist situations; but 
sometimes particularly appropriated to Iris 
Pscxidaci'rus, nat. order iridacece; also 
termed Flower de Us or Floicer de luce. It 
has sword shaped leaves and yellow flowers, 
grows in marshy places and by the sides of 
streams and lakes. The stout creeping root- 
stock has been recommended for alleviating 
the toothache, and is used for dyeing black 
in the Hebrides. The leaves make excellent 
thatch, and are also employed for making 
bottoms to chairs. 

Flagellants (flaj el-ants; 'Liitin Jlagellare, 
to lash or scourge), the name of a sect in the 
13th century who maintained that flagella¬ 
tion was of equal virtue with baptism and 
other sacraments. They walked in proces¬ 
sion with shoulders bare, and whipped them¬ 
selves till the blood ran down their bodies, 
to obtain the mercy of God and appease his 
wrath against the vices of the age. Kainer, 

7 


a hermit of Perugia, is said to have been its 
founder in 1260. He soon found followers 
in nearly all parts of Italy. Their number 
soon amounted to 10,00O, who went about, 
led by priests bearing banners and crosses. 
They went in thousands from country to 
country, begging alms; and for centuries 
they formed a sort of intermittent order of 
fanatics, frequently reappearing here and 
there in times of extraordinary declension 
or distress. 

Flageolet (flaj'o-let), a small wdnd-instru- 
nient of music, played by means of a mouth- 
j)iece. The tone produced is similar to that 
of the piccolo, but is softer in quality, and 
the range is two octaves. The double flageo¬ 
let consists of two instruments united by one 
mouthpiece, and producing double notes. The 
name flageolet tones is given to those har¬ 
monic tones on the violin, violoncello, and 
other stringed instruments, produced by the 
Anger lightly touching the string on the 
exact part which generates the harmony, 
and not by pressing the string down to the 
finger-board. 

Flag-officer, in regular navy, a general 
distinguishing title for an admiral, vice-ad¬ 
miral, and rear-admiral, who have the right 
to carry flags indicating their rank at the 
mast-head. 

Flag of the Prophet, the Sanjak-sheriff 
or sacred flag of the Mohammedans. It w'as 
originally composed of the turban of the 
Koreish cajitured by Mohammed; but the 
black curtain that hung in front of the 
door of Ayesha, one of Mohammed’s wives, 
was afterwards substituted. It is preserved 
in the seraglio at Constantinople. The care¬ 
fully-guarded banner unfolded at the com¬ 
mencement of a war is not the real sacred 
flag, though it is commonly believed to be so. 

Flag-ship, a ship in which an admiral, 
or the commander of a squadron, hoists his 
flag. 

Flagstone, any sandstone, limestone, &c., 
that is cut or split readily into thin layers, 
and may be used for pavements, floors, &c. 

Flahaut de la Billarderie (fla-o de la be- 
yar-dre), Auguste Charles Joseph, Comte 
DE, French general and diplomatist, born 
1785, died 1870. He had a brilliant career 
under Napoleon I., but on the return of the 
Bourbons he left France and lived in exile 
from 1815 to 1830. He married in England 
the daughter of Admiral Keith, who became 
Baroness Keith in 1823. He returned to 
France in 1830, and w^as ambassador suc¬ 
cessively at Berlin, Vienna, and London. 






FLAMBARD-FLAMINGO. 


Flambard. Kalph, a Norman of humble 
origin who became the chief minister of 
William Rufus. His flagrant extortions 
earned the hatred of the people, and his 
character is painted in the blackest char¬ 
acters by the chroniclers. He was made 
Bishop of Durham; but on the death of 
William he was committed to the Tower, 
from whence he escaped, and instigated 
Robert, duke of Normandy, to invade Eng¬ 
land. He was subsequently restored to Dur¬ 
ham, where he lived peaceably till his death 
in 1128. 

Flambeau, a sort of torch or light made 
of thick wicks covered with wax or other 
inflammable material, and used at night in 
illuminations, processions, &c. 

Flamborough Head, a headland on the 
east coast of England in Yorkshire. It con¬ 
sists of a lofty range of chalk cliffs about 6 
miles long and from 300 to 450 feet high. 
On the extreme 
point of the pro¬ 
montory, at a 
height of 214 feet 
above sea-level, is 
a lighthouse 87 
feet bigh, with a 
revolving light vis¬ 
ible from a dis¬ 
tance of 20 miles. 

Flamboy'ant, a 
style of Gothic ar¬ 
chitecture in use in 
France about the 
same period with 
the Perpendicular 
style in England, 
that is from the 14th to the 16th century. 
It was distinguished by the waving and 
somewhat flame-like tracery of the win¬ 
dows, panels, &c., and is usually regarded as 
a decadent variety of the decorated Gothic. 
The mouldings in this style are often ill 
combined. The pillars are often cylindrical, 
either plain or with a few of the more pro¬ 
minent mouldings of the arches continued 
down them, without any capital or impost 
intervening. The arches are usually two- 
centred, sometimes semicircular, and, in later 
examples, elliptical. 

Flame, a blaze rising from a burning body, 
or any inflammable gas in a state of visible 
combustion. Flame is attended with great 
heat, and sometimes with the evolution of 
much light; but the temperature may be 
intense when the light is feeble, as is the 
case with the flame of burning hydrogen 



Flamboyant Tracery, St. Ouen, 
Rouen. 



gas. The flahie of a candle may be divided 
into three zones: an inner zone containing 
chiefly unburned gas, another zone contain¬ 
ing partially-burned gas, and an outer zone 
where the gas is completely consumed by 
combination with the oxygen of the air. 
The luminosity of flame depends upon the 
presence of extremely small particles of solid 
matter (usually carbon) or of dense gaseous 
products of combustion. When the pressure 
of the gas producing the flame is so great 
that it is all but flaring, it is found that cer¬ 
tain sounds will cause the flame to alter its 
shape, thus producing sensitive flames. 

Fla'men, among the ancient Romans the 
name given to any priest devoted to the 
service of one particular deity. Originally 
there were three priests so called: the Fla- 
men Didlis, consecrated to Jupiter; Flamen 
Martidlis, sacred to Mars; and Flamen 
Quirindlis, who superintended the rites of 
Quirinus or Romulus; but the number was 
ultimately increased to fifteen, the original 
three,lhowever, re¬ 
taining priority in 
point of rank, be- 
in g sty led Maj ores, 
and elected from 
among the patri¬ 
cians, while the 
other twelve, 
called Minores, 
were elected from 
the plebeians. 

Flamin'go, a 
bird of the genus 
Phoeni copter us, 
formerly placed in 
the order of wad¬ 
ing birds, but now 


Flamingo, with Female on nest. 


generally ranked among the Natatores or 
swimmers, and constituting a family Phoe- 
nicopteridae, allied to the Anatidae or ducks. 
Its body is smaller than that of the stork, but 
owing to the great length of the neck and legs 
it stands from 5 to 6 feet high. The beak is 

8 
























FLAMTNTAN WAY-FLANGE.’’ 


nalferl, lamellate fit the edges, and bent as if 
broken; the feet are palmated and four-toed. 
The common flamingo {P. antiquorum) oc¬ 
curs abundantly in various parts of Southern 
Europe, Northern Africa, &c. It is entirely 
scarlet, except the quill-feathers, which are 
jet-black. The tongue is fleshy, and one of 
the extravagances of the Romans during the 
later period of the empire was to have dishes 
composed solely of flamingoes’ tongues. The 
flamingoes live and migrate in large flocks, 
frequenting desert sea - coasts and salt - 
marshes. They are extremely shy and 
watchful. While feeding they keep to¬ 
gether, drawn up artificially in lines, which 
at a distance resemble those of an army; 
and, like many other gregarious birds, they 
employ some to act as sentinels, for; the 
security of the rest. Their food appears to 
be mollusca, spawji, crustaceans, &c., which 
they fish up by means of their long neck, 
turning their head in such a manner as to 
take advantage of the crook in their beak. 
They breed in companies in inundated 
marshes, raising the nest to a certain height 
by heaping up the mud with their feet into 
a small hillock, which is concave at the top. 
In this the female lays her eggs, and it was 
formerly believed that she sat on them with 
her legs hanging down, like those of a man 
on horseback. But the nests are not so 
high as to allow of this, and the birds really 
sit with their legs doubled up under them. 
An American species of flamingo is P. ruber. 

Flajninian Way, the principal northern 
road which led from ancient Rome. It was 
constructed by C. Flaminius the elder in 
220 B.C. during his censorship, and led from 
Rome to Ariminum (Rimini) on the Adri¬ 
atic, 222 miles. Remains of it are yet ex¬ 
tant in various places. 

Flamini'nus, Titus Quintius, Roman 
general, born about 230 b.c., died about 
174. He was quaestor in 199, consul in 
198, terminated the Macedonian war by 
the defeat of Philip at Cynoscephalae 197, 
and proclaimed at the Isthmian games in 
196 the independence of Greece. 

Flamin'ius, Caius, Roman general, was 
tribune in 232 b.c., praetor in 227, consul 
in 223, censor in 220, and again consul in 
217. He had a triumph for defeating the 
Insubrian Gauls; and during his second 
consulship he constructed the Elaminian 
Way and built a circus. In 217 he w^as 
sent asfainst Hannibal into Etruria, and 
was defeated and killed in the battle of 
Lake Thrasymenus (23d June). 

9 


Flamsteed, John, the first astronomer- 
royal of England, was born 1646, died 1719. 
He graduated at Cambi’idge in 1674, took 
orders in the church, but devoted himself 
chiefly to mathematical and astronomical 
pursuits. He was appointed by Charles II. 
astronomical observator to the king, and 
carried on his observations at the Queen’s 
House at Greenwich, until the observatory 
was built for him in 1676. Here he passed 
his life; formed the first trustworthy cata¬ 
logue of fixed stars; and supplied the lunar 
observations by means of which Newton 
verified his lunar theory. His great work, 
Historia Ccelestis, was finished in 1723. In 
1832 the discovery of a collection of his 
letters disclosed a protracted quarrel be¬ 
tween him and Newton. 

Flanders, a region of Europe, now in¬ 
cluded in Holland, Belgium, and France, 
stretching along the German Ocean. The 
erection of the territory into a county took 
place in the 9th century, and was made by 
Philip the Bold, king of France, in favour 
of his son-in-law, Baldwin. It afterwards 
passed to the united houses of Spain and 
Austi'ia, and ultimately to the latter, but 
underwent considerable curtailment by the 
conquests of the French in the west, when 
part of it became French Flanders, and by 
the conquests of the Dutch in the north. 
The remainder still retains its ancient name, 
and forms the modern provinces of East and 
West Flanders, in Belgium.—The Belgian 
province of EASTFLANDEi<s(French,FZandre 
Orientale) has an area of 1157 square miles. 
The surface forms an extensive plain, sloping 
gently eastwards. It wholly belongs to the 
basin of the Schelde. Its soil, partly of a 
sandy and partly of a clayey nature, is so 
industriously and skilfully cultivated that 
it has the appearance of a vast garden. The 
principal crops are wheat and flax. Linen, 
laces, and damask are among the important 
manufactures. Gand or Ghent is the capital. 
Pop. 955,520. —West Flanders (French, 
Flandre Occidentale) has an area of 1248 
square miles. The surface is generally flat; 
the soil ijaturally sandy and poor, but well 
cultivated and fertilized, though not so pro¬ 
ductive as that of East Flanders. The most 
important branch of industry is linen. Great 
quantities of lace also are made. Bruges is 
the capital. Pop. 1892, 744,188. 

Flange, a projecting edge, rim, or rib on 
any object, as the rims by which cast-iron 
pipes are connected together, or the pro¬ 
jecting pieces on the tires of the wheels of 



FLAXK- 

railway-carriages to keep them ou the 
rails. 

Flank, in fortification, that part of a work 
which affords a lateral defence to another. 
In military tactics flank signifies the outer 
extremity of the wing of an army, or of any 
division of an army, as of a brigade, regi¬ 
ment, or battalion. 

Flannel, a woollen fabric of loose texture 
and various degrees of fineness, much used 
as a clothing both in hot and cold countries 
from its properties of pi’omoting insensible 
perspiration, which is absorbed and carried 
off by the atmosphere. Welsh flannels have 
attained a high reputation. In flannel shirt¬ 
ings the wool is frequently mixed with silk, 
linen, and cotton. 

Flat, a character or sign in music, used 
to lower or depress, by the degree of a semi¬ 
tone, any note in the natural scale. It is 
marked thus b. An accidental flat is one 
which does not occur in the signature, and 
which affects only the bar in which it is 
placed. 

Flat-fish, a fish which has its body of a 
flattened form, swims on the side, and has 
both eyes on one side, as the flounder, tur¬ 
bot, halibut, and sole. The sense is some¬ 
times extended to other Ashes which have 
the body much compressed, as the skate and 
other members of the ray family. 

Flathead Indians, tribes) established on 
the Paciflc coast, mainly of the now nearly 
extinct Chinook group of fish-eating Indians. 
They flatten the skull of the infant by pres¬ 
sure. The same custom anciently prevailed 
among many tribes, but the practice is now 
nearly extinct. The name Flathead is im¬ 
properly given to the small civilized tribe 
of Selish Indians, who do not flatten the 
heads of their children. 

Fla'vel, John, nonconformist divine, born 
in Worcestershire 1627, died at Exeter 1691, 
He was curate at Deptford and Dartmouth, 
but was ejected under the Act of Unifor¬ 
mity, when he continued to preach privately. 
After the fall of the Stuarts he returned to 
Dartmouth. His works were long immensely 
popular. 

Flavine (Lat. flavus, yellow), a yellow 
dye-stuff identical with quercitrin, and used 
as a substitute for quercitron bark. It gives 
a fine olive-yellow colour to cloth. 

Flax, the common name of the plants of 
the genus Linum, nat. order Linacece. The 
species, of which there are nearly a hundred, 
are herbs or small shrubs, with narrow leaves, 
and yellow, blue, or even white flowers ar- 


- FLAX. 

ranged in variously-formed cymes. They 
occur in warm and temperate regions over 
the world. The cultivated species is />. 
usitatissirnum. The fibre whicli is used for 
making thread, and cloth called linen, cam¬ 
bric, lawn, lace, &c., consists of the woody 
bundles of the slender stalks. The fine 
fibres may be so separated as to be spun 
into threads as fine as silk. A most useful 
oil is expressed from the seeds, and the re¬ 
sidue, called linseed-cake, is one of the most 
fattening kinds of food for cattle. When 
the plant is ripe it is pulled up by the roots, 



tied together in little bundles, and usually 
left upright on the field till it becomes dry, 
when the seeds are separated, either by 
beating on a cloth or by passing the stems 
through an iron comb. The process of re¬ 
moving the seeds is called rip 2 '>ling. The 
stalks are then retted or rotted in water to 
free the flaxen fibre from the woody core 
or boon of the stem. Two operations are 
necessary to separate the fibres from the 
woody part of the stem. The flax is first 
hroJeen by means of a wooden handle and 
grooved board, or by revoking grooved 
rollers, and then the boon or woody part is 
entirely separated from the fibre by a broad 
fiat wooden blade called a scutchin;/ blade, 
or by a machine in which a number of 
knives attached to the arms of a vertical 
wheel strike the flax in the direction of its 
length, and completely sepai’ate it. The 
flax is next heckled, or combed with a soi’t 
of iron comb, beginning with the coarser 
and ending with the finer, and is now ready 
for spinning. See Linen. 

Flax, New Zealand, a fibre obtained 
from a plant belonging to the order Lilia- 

10 















FLAXMAN-FLEET MARETAGES. 


cepe, the Phormium fenax. It is indigen¬ 
ous in New Zealand and Norfolk Island, 
and grows in great tufts with sword-shaped 
leaves sometimes 6 feet long. The long 
spike, bearing a large number of yellow 
flowers, rises from the centre of the leaves. 
The thick leathery leaves contain a large 
quantity of good strong fibre, which is used 
by the natives of New Zealand for making 
cloth, nets, &c., and would be very valuable 
in commerce but for a gummy matter in 
the leaves which it is difficult to get rid of. 
It has been introduced into European cul¬ 
ture. 

Flaxman, John, one of the most distin¬ 
guished English sculptors, born at York 
1755, died in London 1826. His earliest 
notions of art were derived from casts in 



John Flaxman. 


the shop of his father, who sold plaster 
figures, from many of which young Flaxman 
made models in clay. In 1770 he was ad¬ 
mitted a student of the Royal Academy, 
and for some time earned a living by pro¬ 
ducing designs for Wedgwood the potter. 
In 1787 he went to Italy, where he remained 
seven years, and left many memorials of his 
genius, besides executing designs in outline 
to illustrate Homer, Dante, and vEschylus, 
an extensive series for each. In 1794 he 
returned to England, where he w'as diligently 
occupied with his professional pursuits until 
his death. He had been elected an associate 
of the Royal Academy in 1797, royal aca¬ 
demician 1800, and in 1810 was appointed 
professor of sculpture to that institution. 
His works are very numerous, and are to 
be found all over the country; and a large 

11 


collection of casts from the original models, 
&c., is preserved in University College, 
London. 

Flea, a name for several insects regarded 
by entomologists as constituting a distinct 
order Aphaniptera, because the wings are 
inconspicuous scales. All the species of the 
genus are very similar to the common flea 
{Pulex irritans). It has two eyes and six 
feet; the feelers are like threads; the oral 
appendages are modified into piercing stilets 
and a suctorial proboscis. The flea is re¬ 
markable for its agility, leaping to a sur¬ 
prising distance, and its bite is very trouble¬ 
some. 

Fleabane, a name popularly given to 
several composite plants from their supposed 
power of destroying or driving away fleas, 
as the species of the genus Comjza, which 
were believed to have this power when sus¬ 
pended in a room. The common fleabane 
is Pulicaria dysenterica, found in moist 
sandy places in the south of England, whose 
smoke was supposed to expel fleas. The 
blue fleabane is Eriyeron acre^ common on 
dry banks. 

Flea-beetle, the name given to different 
species of beetles which are destructive to 
plants. The turnip-flea [Haltica nemorum), 
whose larvae are sometimes so destructive to 
the turnip crojjs, furnishes an example. 

Fleche (flash), La, a town in France, de¬ 
partment of Sarthe, on the right bank of 
the Loir, 25 miles south-west of Le Mans. 
It contains a military college, occupying 
part of the extensive buildings of a former 
college belonging to the Jesuits. Pop. 7977. 

Flecknoe (flek'no), Richakd, an English 
poet and dramatic writer, said to have been 
a Roman Catholic priest, contemporai‘y with 
Dryden, and chiefly memorable for having 
had his name, gibbeted by that satirist in 
the title of his satire against Shad well. He 
died in 1678. 

Fleece, Golden. See Aryonauts and 
Jason. 

Fleece, Oeder of the Golden. See 
Golden Fleece. 

Fleet, a general name given collectively 
to the ships of a navy; also any number of 
ships, whether designed for war or com¬ 
merce, keeping in company. 

Fleet Marriages, irregular marriages per¬ 
formed without license by needy clergymen 
in the Fleet Prison, London, from about 
1616 till they were suppressed by the Mar¬ 
riage Act of 1754. These clergymen were 
ready to marry any couples that came before 




FLEET PETSON-FLETA. 


them for a fee proportioned in amount to 
the circumstances of those who were mar¬ 
ried. Sometimes a dram of gin was thought 
sufficient; at other times the fee was rather 
exorbitant. Kegisters of these marriages 
were kept by the officiating parties, and a 
collection of these books, purchased by gov¬ 
ernment in 1821, amounted to between 200 
and 300 large registers, and upwards of 
1000 smaller books. These books were in¬ 
admissible as evidence in a court of justice. 

Fleet Prison, once a celebrated prison in 
London till it was pulled down in 1845. It 
stood on the east side of Farringdon Street, 
and on this site a prison was in existence as 
early as the 12th century, which took its 
name from the creek or stream of the Fleet, 
on the bank of which it was erected. It 
was early used as a place of confinement for 
debtors, and seryed as such down to the 
period of its abolition. It was burned by 
Wat Tyler in 1381, at the Great Fire in 
1666, and by the Gordon rioters in 1780. 
It was the scene of many disgraceful abuses, 
and was called by Pope the ‘ Haunt of the 
Muses,’ from the number of poets who were 
confined in it. 

Fleetwood, a seaport and watering-place 
in England, in the county of Lancaster, on 
the Wyre, near its entrance into Lancaster 
Bay, 18 miles north-west of Preston. It has 
a school of musketry and barracks. The har¬ 
bour is safe and commodious. Pop. 6733. 

Fleming, John, D.D., Scottish naturalist, 
born near Linlithgow in 1785, died at Edin¬ 
burgh 1857. He was successively minister 
of the parish of Bressay, in Shetland; pro¬ 
fessor of natural philosophy at King’s Col¬ 
lege, Aberdeen, and professor of natural 
science at the New College, Edinburgh. He 
wrote a Report on the Economical Miner¬ 
alogy of the Orkney and Zetland Islands; 
the Philosophy of Zoology; British Ani¬ 
mals; and a large number of papers on 
zoology, palaeontology, and geology contri¬ 
buted to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the 
Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, the North British 
Review, &c. 

Flemish Language and Literature. The 
Flemish or Vlaemisch language is a form 
of Low German, differing only slightly in 
pronunciation and orthography from the 
Hutch. It is spoken by a considerable num¬ 
ber of the inhabitants of Belgium, espe¬ 
cially in the provinces of East Flanders, 
West Flanders, Antwerp, Limburg, and 
Brabant. A fragment of a prose translation 
of the Psalms upwards of a thousand years 


old is the oldest extant specimen of the 
Flemish. The ‘father of Flemish poetry,’ 
J akob V an Maerlaut, wrote several romances 
dealing with Merlin and the Holy Grail, 
The Mirror of History, &c., in the 13th 
century; and a version of Reynard the Fox 
belongs to the same period. The 14th cen¬ 
tury was remarkable for the number of 
wandering poets, authors of knightly ro¬ 
mances. The translation of the Bible, which 
is considered the standard for the construc¬ 
tion and orthography of the language, was 
finished in 1618. The 18th century pro¬ 
duced several good writers on philology, but 
was barren in poetic genius. The French 
almost annihilated the native literature, and 
it did not revive till the revolution of 1830, 
since which time it has been very vigorous. 
The leaders in this revival were Willems, 
Blommaert, Van Ryswyck, Conscience, Van 
Huyse, Snellaert, Snieders, He Laet, He- 
decker, Havid, and Bormans. 

Flemish School, of Painting. See 
Painting. 

Flensburg, formerly Flenshorg, a town in 
Prussia, province of Schleswig-Holstein, at 
the west end of the fiord of same name, 20 
miles N.N.E. of the town of Schleswig. It is 
now the most important town in Schleswig. 
Pop. 33,094. 

Flers (flar), a town in France, dep. Orne, 
37 miles north-west of Alencon. It con¬ 
tains the remains of a fine old castle, and 
has manufactures of linen, bleach-works, 
&c. Pop. 11,257. 

Flesh, a compound substance forming a 
large part of an animal, consisting mainly of 
the muscles, with connective tissue, and the 
blood-vessels and nerves,&c., supplying them. 
It consists chiefly of fibrin, with albumen, 
gelatin, h£ematosin,fat, phosphate of sodium, 
phosphate of potassium, phosphate and car¬ 
bonate of calcium, sulphate of potassium, 
and chloride of sodium. The solid part is, 
besides, permeated by an alkaline fluid, called 
flesh-juice. It has a red colour, and contains 
dissolved a number both of organic and in¬ 
organic substances. The organic matter con¬ 
sists of albumen, casein, creatine and cre¬ 
atinine, inosic and several other acids; the 
inorganic, of alkaline sulphates, chlorides, 
and phosphates, with lime, iron, and mag¬ 
nesia. 

Flesh-fly. See Bloio-jly. 

Fleta, a Latin commentary upon English 
law, said to have been written in the Fleet 
Prison in the reign of Edward I. It has 
been attributed to William de Brampton, 

12 



FLETCHER-FLINT. 


and also to Thomas de Weyland, J. de 
Lovetot, and Adam de Strutton. 

Fletcher, Andrew, a Scottish political 
writer, the son of Sir Robert Fletcher, of 
Saltoun, born in 1653, died in London 1716. 
He opposed the court in the Scottish par¬ 
liament, and had to retire to Holland, In 
1685 he joined the enterprise of the Duke 
of Monmouth. He afterwards took refuge 
in Spain and in Hungary, and returned to 
England at the Revolution. He brought 
forward measures to secure the religion and 
liberties of the nation on the death of the 
queen (Anne), and carried various limita¬ 
tions of the prerogative, forming part of the 
Act of Security, rendered nugatory by the 
Scottish union, which he vehemently op¬ 
posed. 

Fletcher, Giles, brother to Phineas 
Fletcher and cousin to the dramatist John 
Fletcher, an English poet and clergyman, 
born 1580, died 1623, He published Christ’s 
Victory and Triumph over Death, in 1620. 

Fletcher, John, See Beaumont and 
Fletcher. 

Fletcher, Phineas, brother to Giles, 
born 1584, died 1650. He entered Cam¬ 
bridge in 1600, and was rector of Hilgay, 
Norfolk. Among his works are The Locus- 
tes, or Appollyonists, a satire against the 
Jesuits; Sicelides, a dramatic piece; The 
Purple Island; and Piscatory Eclogues, 

Fleur-de-lis (flewr-de-le'; Fr., ‘flower of 
the lily’), in her. a bearing 
as to the origin of which 
there is much dispute, some 
authorities maintaining 
that it represents the lily, 
others that it represents 
the head of a lance or some 
such warlike weapon. The rieur-de-lis. 
fleur-de-lis has long been 
the distinctive bearing of the kingdom of 
Fi*ance. 

Fleurus (flew-rus), a town of Belgium, 
province of Hainaut, 7 miles north east of 
Charleroi. In the vicinity, in 1690, the 
French under Marshal Luxembourg de¬ 
feated the Germans under Prince Waldeck; 
and in 1794 the French republican forces 
under Marshal Jourdan defeated the Aus¬ 
trian army. Pop, 5084. 

Fleury (fleu-re), ANDRi; Hercule de, 
cardinal and prime-minister of Louis XV., 
was born in 1653, died in 1743. In 1698 
Louis XIV. gave him the bishopric of 
Frejus, and shortly before his death ap¬ 
pointed him instructor to Louis XV. After 

13 


the death of the regent in 1723 he proposed 
the Due de Bourbon as first minister, but in 
1726 he overturned the government which 
he had himself set up, and from that date 
kept the direction of affairs in his own 
hands. In the same year he was made a 
cardinal. The internal affairs of France 
prospered under his administration, but his 
foreign policy was unfortunate. 

Fleury, Claude, French writer, born 
1640, died 1723. He was educated in the 
Jesuit College at Clermont, and after be¬ 
ginning to practise as a lawyer resolved to 
take orders. In 1672 he became the tutor 
of the young princes of Conti, and after¬ 
wards associated with Fdnelon in the edu¬ 
cation of the young dukes of Burgundy, 
Anjou, and Berri. In 1716 he became con¬ 
fessor to Louis XV. lie had procured ad¬ 
mission into the Academy in 1696 by several 
important works, among which the best 
known are his Histoire du Droit Fran 9 ais, 
Moeurs des Israelites, Moeurs des Chretiens, 
Institution au Droit ecciesiastique, Histoire 
Ecciesiastique. 

Fliedner (fled'ner), Theodore, D.D., Ger¬ 
man clergyman and philanthropist, born 
1800, died 1864. He became pastor of Kai- 
serswerth in 1822, but found his life-work 
in prison reform; the institution of a Pro¬ 
testant order of deaconesses for the relief of 
the sick, the poor, and the fallen; and the 
establishment of schools, training colleges, 
&c. 

Flight. See Flyinrj. 

Flinders, Matthew, English navigator, 
celebrated for his Australian discoveries, 
born in Lincolnshire 1774, died 1814. He 
went to Australia in 1795, and discovered 
Bass Strait in 1798. In 1801 he obtained 
from the British government the command 
of an e.xpedition to explore the Australian 
coasts, in which he spent two years. Re¬ 
turning home he was taken prisoner by the 
French at Mauritius, and detained till 1810, 
after which he published his Voyage to 
Terra Australis. Flinders Island (off the 
N.E. coast of Tasmania) was named after 
him. 

Flint, or Flintshire, a maritime county 
in North Wales, consisting of two separate 
portions, a larger and smaller, the latter 
being distant 6 miles s.e. from the main 
portion, and separated from it by Denbigh¬ 
shire; total area, 169,162 acres, of which 
three-fourths is under crops or in pasture. 
A range of hills of moderate elevation inter¬ 
sects the county lengthways s.w. to N.E, 









FLINT 


FLODDEN. 


There are numerous well-watered and fertile 
valleys, including a portion of the celebrated 
Vale of Clwyd. The county is rich in 
minerals, particularly lead, the mines of 
which are productive. Coal also abounds, 
and copper is obtained in considerable quan¬ 
tities, Flint returns one member to the 
House of Commons. Pop. 77,189.—The 
county town, Flint, a parliamentary and 
municipal borough and seaport, is situated 
on the estuary of the Dee, 13 miles s.w. of 
Liverpool. In the vicinity are extensive 
alkali works and several lead and coal 
mines. There are also large copper works. 
The shipping trade of the port is small. A 
little N.E. of the town, on the shore of the 
estuary, stands the ancient castle of Flint, 
commenced by Henry II. and completed 
by Edward I. It was the prison of Pich- 
ard II,, and has remained in ruins since 
1667. Pop. 5126. 

Flint, Mich,, county-seat of Genesee co., 
64 miles N. w, of Detroit. Pox). 1890, 9803. 

Flint, a variety of quartz of a yellowish 
or bluish-gray or grayish-black colour. It 
is amorphous, and usually occurs in nodules 
or rounded lumps. Its surface is generally 
uneven, and covered with a whitish rind or 
crust, the result of weathering or of the ac¬ 
tion of water percolating through the rocks. 
It is very hard, strikes fire with steel, and 
is an ingredient in glass and in all fine pot¬ 
tery ware. The fracture of flint is perfectly 
conchoidal; though very hard it breaks 
easily in every direction, and affords very 
sharp-edged splintery fragments, formerly 
made into arrow-heads, &c. (See Flint Ini- 
plements.) Its true native place is the upper 
bed of the chalk formation, in which it is 
formed as a series of concretions, the silica 
in sponges and in other marine animals which 
lived on the sea floor while the chalk was 
being deposited being attracted into no¬ 
dules. 

Flint-glass, a species of glass, so called 
because pulverized flints were originally 
emploj’ed in its manufacture. It is exten¬ 
sively used for domestic purposes. Its dis¬ 
persive power in regard to light renders it 
invaluable in the manufacture of the object- 
glasses of telescopes and microscopes, as by 
combining a concave lens of flint-glass with 
one or two convex lenses of crown-glass, 
which possesses amuch less dispersive power, 
a compound lens is formed in which the 
prismatic colours arising from simple refrac¬ 
tion are destroyed, and the lens rendered 
achromatic. Quartz and fine sand are now 


substituted for flint in the manufacture of 
this glass. 

Flint Implements, implements of flint 
used by man while unacquainted with the 
use o’f metals. For such implements gra¬ 
nite, jade, serpentine, jasper, basalt, and 
otiher hard stones were also used, but the 
most numerous were formed of flint. They 
consist of arrow-heads, axe-heads, lance- 
heads, knives, wedges, &c. (See Celts.) Flint 
implements are still used by some savage 
tribes. 

Flint-lock, a musket-lock in which fire is 
produced by a flint striking on the steel 
pan, now superseded by locks on the pep- 
cussion principle. 

Floating Batteries, batteries erected 
either on simple rafts or on the hulls of 
ships, for the defence of a coast or for the 
bombardment of an enemy’s ports. They 
were used notably at the siege of Gibraltar 
(1779-83) and during the Eussian war 
(1854). 

Floating Breakwater. See Breaktoater. 

I’loating Docks. See Docks. 

I'loating Island, an island formed in a 
lak(i or other inland water, consisting gen¬ 
erally of a mass of earth held together by 
interlacing roots. Sometimes such islands 
are large enough to serve as pasture grounds. 
Artificial floating islands have been formed 
by placing lake mud on rafts of wicker¬ 
work covered with reeds. 

Floating Quartz, or Floatstone, a por¬ 
ous variety of quartz of a spongy texture, 
whitish-gray in colour, so light as to float 
in water. It frequently contains a nucleus 
of common flint. 

Flobecq (flo-bek), a town of Belgium, 
prov. of Hainaut, 20 miles n.e. of Tournai. 
Pop. 5200. 

Flock, the refuse of cotton and wool, or 
the shearing of woollen goods, &c., used for 
stuffing mattresses, furniture, &c. Flock- 
paper is a kind of wall-paper, having raised 
figures resembling cloth, made of flock, or 
of cloth cut up very fine, and attached to 
the paper by size or varnish. 

Flodden, a village of England, in Nor¬ 
thumberland, about 5 miles s.e. of Cold¬ 
stream. Near it was fought the cele¬ 
brated battle in which James IV. of Scot¬ 
land was defeated by the Earl of Surrey 
(Sept. 9, 1513). The loss of the Scots was 
from 8000 to 10,000 men, including the 
king, the Archbishop of St. Andrews, and 
a large number of the nobles; that of the 
Eilglish from 6000 to 7000. At the begiu- 

14 



FLOGGING 


FLORENCE. 


mng of tile battle the armies mustered re¬ 
spectively 30,000 and 32,000 men. The 
English victory was so near a defeat that 
Surrey was unable to prosecute the war with 
any vigour. 

Flogging, the infliction of stripes or blows 
with a whip, lash, or scourge, especially as 
a judicial' punishment. As a punishment 
it has practically ceased in both the army 
and navy. The whipping-post is still main¬ 
tained as ])art of the i)eual methods in the 
State of Delaware. The chastisement is 
chiefly imposed for larceny and other 
grades of theft. The punishment of the 
knout in Russia and of the bastinado in 
the East are severe forms of this punish¬ 
ment. 

Flood, Henry, Irish orator and politician, 
born near Kilkenny 1732, died 1791. He 
entered the Irish parliament in 1759, was 
privy-councillor for Great Britain as well 
as for Ireland in 1775, vice-treasurer for 
Ireland 1775-81. In 1783 he had a per¬ 
sonal dispute in the house with Grattan, 
when a remarkable display of the power of 
invective was made on both sides. He 
afterwards became a member of the British 
parliament. His speeches and some poetical 
pieces have been published. 

Floor-cloth, a useful substitute for carpet, 
the basis of which is a strong open canvas. 
It is woven 6 to 8 yards wide, and in lengths 
of from 100 to 113 yards. A length of 60 
to 100 feet of canvas is stretched in a frame, 
brushed with glue-size, and rubbed with 
pumice-stone. It then receives two or three 
foundation coats of paint on each side. Each 
coat on the front is smoothed with pumice- 
stone. When this operation is completed 
the cloth is transferred to the printing- 
room, where the pattern is printed in oil 
colours by blocks, as in calico-printing. 

Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and 
spring, whose worship was established at 
Rome in the earliest times. Her festival, 
the Eloralia, was celebrated from April 28 
to IMay 1 with much licentiousness. In bo¬ 
tany, flora signifies the plants of a region 
collectively, as fauna signifies the animals. 

Floral Games. See Jeux Floraux. 

Floreal (flo-ra-al; month of flowers), the 
eighth month in the calendar of the French 
revolution. It began April 20, and ended 
May 19. 

Florence (Italian, Firen^; in old Italian 
and in poetry, Fiorenza; ancient Florentia 
Tuscorum), a celebrated city of Italy, capital 
of a province of same name, 143 miles north¬ 

15 


west from Rome, and 50 miles e.n.E. from 
Leghorn. The city is surrounded by hills, 
and is beautifully situated on both banks of 
the Arno, but the greater part of it lies on 
the right bank. Six bridges connect the 
banks of the Arno: the Ponte alle Grazie, 
constructed 1235, restored 1835; the Ponte 
Vecchio, said to date from the Roman period, 
reconstructed 1362, and consisting of three 
arches, on which are rows of shops, and over 
which a covered way is carried to connect 
the Pitti Palace and the LTflizi; the Ponte 
Santa Trinita, erected soon after 1567, 
adorned with statues; the Ponte alia Car- 
raja, 1218, restored in 1337, and again in 
1559. There are, besides, two suspension 
bridges. On either side of the Arno is a 
spacious quay called the Lung’ Arno, a fa¬ 
vourite promenade. The private dwellings 
are mostly handsome, and the palaces, of 
which there are many, are noble and im¬ 
pressive sti'uctures. The city contains nu¬ 
merous piazzas or squares, the most impor¬ 
tant of which is the Piazza della Signoria, 
surrounded by important buildings, and 
at]/)rned with a marble fountain, and a bronze 
statue of Cosmo I. by John of Bologna. 
In this piazza is situated the Palazzo Vec¬ 
chio, originally the seat of the government 
of the republic, and subsequently the resi¬ 
dence of Cosmo I. The most remarkable 
building in Florence is the Duomo, or cathe¬ 
dral of St. Maria del I'iore, erected 1298- 
1474, but its fagade not completed till 1887, 
surmounted by the magnificent dome of 
Brunelleschi, and situated in a spacious 
square nearly in the centre of the city. 
Near the cathedral are the campanile de¬ 
signed by Giotto, and the small church of 
St. John (San Giovanni), the Baptistery, the 
three bronze gates of which, with figures 
in high relief, are celebrated as among the 
most beautiful works of the kind extant. 
One of these is by Andrea Pisano, the two 
others by Ghiberti. The church of S. Croce 
is the burial-place of many of the most emi¬ 
nent Tuscans, contains much fine sculpture 
and many interesting tombs, amongst others 
those of Michael Angelo Buonarotti, Galil^, 
Machiavelli, and Alfieri. In the Piazza S. 
Croce stands Dante’s monument by Pazzi, 
inaugurated 1865. The chief art collection 
is the Galleria degli Uffizi. In this gallery 
are contained specimens of painting and 
statuary by the greatest masters in these 
arts. In statuary, among numerous an¬ 
tiques may be specified the Venus de’ Me¬ 
dici, the Apollino, the Knife-grinder, the 



FLORENCE. 


Dancing Faun, the Wrestlers, and the group 
of Niobe and her Children; and in painting 
there are works by Michael Angelo, Raph¬ 
ael, Titian, Fra Angelico, Fra Bartolomeo, 
Andrea del Sarto, Correggio, Guido, and 
numerous others of the first names in vari¬ 
ous schools. Other important art collections 
are preserved in the various churches and 
palaces, one of the principal being that in 
the Pitti Palace. The building formerly 


known as the Bargello^ erected about 1250 
for the chief magistrate of the republic, and 
subsequently used as a prison, has recently 
been restored, and is now opened as a na¬ 
tional museum, illustrative of the history of 
Italian culture and art in medieval and mo¬ 
dern times. The Laurentian or Medicean 
Library contains upwards of 9000 ancient 
MSS. The Magliabecchian Library is the 
great repository of printed books. The 



Florcuue—Piazza della Siguoria, Palazzo Veccliio, Loggia de Lanzi. 


Biblioteca Marucelliana and tlie Biblioteca 
Riccardiana are also important public libra¬ 
ries. The charitable institutions are numer¬ 
ous and important. Schools and other liter¬ 
ary and educational establishments are also 
numerous. The manufactures have greatly 
fallen off, but still embrace woollens, silk, 
straw-hats, porcelain, mosaics, and numei'ous 
objects in the line arts. 

Florence was probably founded by the Ro¬ 
mans in the 1st century B.C., and early at¬ 
tained considerable prosperity. During the 
dark ages it was frequently devastated, but 
it revived about the beginning of the 11th 
century, at which time the Florentines be¬ 
came extensive European traders. Their silk 
and woollen fabrics excelled, and their skill 
as workers in gold and jewels was unsur¬ 
passed. About this time Florence took an 


active part in the feud which broke out be¬ 
tween the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the town 
generally supporting the former against the 
imperial party. In 1283 a species of republic 
was constituted; but about the year 1300 the 
party struggles again burst forth between 
the same rival families under the new names 
of the IT kites and the Blacks, in which the 
Blacks (the Guelphs) were eventually vic¬ 
torious, and the \V^hites, among whom was 
the poet Dante, banished. In the course of 
these ti'oubles a family of merchants named 
the Medicis rose to great influence in Floren¬ 
tine politics. One of them, Cosmo, born 
1389, was the founder of the political great¬ 
ness of his house. His grandson Lorenzo, 
surnamed II Magnifico, as a statesman, 
scholar, and patron of art and literature, 
attained the highest celebrity. Under him- 

i.6 















































































FLORENCE-FLORIDA. 


Florence, which, though calling itself a 
republic, was in reality ruled by him, rose 
to a great pitch of opulence and power, and 
notwithstanding the hostility of the pope 
he exercised a great influence throughout 
Italy. On the fall of the republic in the 
16th century a member of a lateral branch 
of the Medici, the line of Cosmo having be¬ 
come extinct, was placed by Charles V. as 
Duke of Florence. The ducal dynasty of 
Medici continued to rule till the year 1737, 
when, becoming extinct, they were suc¬ 
ceeded by Francis of Ijorraine, afterwards 
emperor of Germany. From this period the 
history of Florence merges into that of Tus¬ 
cany until its amalgamation with the King¬ 
dom of Italy. From 1865 till 1871 it held 
the dignity of capital of the kingdom, the 
seat of government being transferred to it 
from Turin. Amongst the illustrious men 
it has produced are Dante, Petrarch, Boc¬ 
caccio, Guicciardini, Lorenzo de’ Medici, 
Galileo, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, 
Benvenuto Cellini, Andrea del Sarto, Ame¬ 
rigo Vespucci, Macchiavelli, and others. 
Population, census of 1890, 191,453.—The 
province has an area of about 2262 English 
square miles. The surface is beautifully 
diversified by mountains, valleys, and plains. 
The climate is generally mild and healthy, 
and the soil very fertile. Pop. 819,531. 

Florence, Council of, along with that 
of Ferrara, a continuation of the Council of 
Basel. At Florence its sessions continued 
at intervals from 1439 to 1442. Its object 
was a reunion of the eastern and western 
churches; but the seeming agreement come 
to was soon after repudiated by a council at 
Constantinople. 

Florence, Lauderdale co., Ala., head of 
steam navigation on Tennessee river ; con¬ 
tains State Normal School and a flourish¬ 
ing female college. Pop. 1890, 6012. 

Florentine Work, a kind of mosaic work, 
consisting of precious stones and pieces of 
white and coloured marble, which has long 
been produced in Florence. It is applied 
to jewellery, and used for table tops, &c. 

Flo'res, or Floris, an island of the Indian 
Archipelago, one of the chain which extends 
east from Java. It is about 230 miles long 
and from 15 to 35 miles wide, and has a 
mountainous surface, with several volcanic 
peaks. 'The natives are tall and robust 
frizzly-haired savages, belonging to the dark 
Papuan race. The island is under Dutch 
supremacy. Sandal-wood, bees’-wax, and 
horses are exported. The passage between 
VOL. IV. 17 


the east end of the island and those of Solor 
and Adenara is called Flores Strait; and the 
part of the Pacific north of the Flores chain 
and south of Celebes is called the Flores Sea. 

Flo'res, the most westerly island of the 
Azores, about 30 miles long by 9 miles 
broad, with a hilly surface. The chief pro¬ 
ducts are wheat, pulse, and poultry, and 
great numbers of small cattle are reared. 
Pop. about 10,000. 

Flor'et, a single small flower in a compact 
inflorescence, as in the compound flower of 
the Compositse, or in the spikelet of grasses. 

Florian, Jean Pierre Claris dk, French 
writer, born 1755, died 1794, He was pat¬ 
ronized by Voltaire, and gained fame as a 
writer of fables, pastorals, romances, and 
comedies. He was imprisoned during the 
revolution, but the fall of Robespierre saved 
him from the guillotine. His romances Gala- 
tee, Estelle, Gonzalve de Cordoue, Numa 
Pompilius, his fables, and translation of 
Don Quixote are his best works, 

Florian, St., the patron saint of Poland, 
born about 190, died by drowning during 
the Diocletian persecution, 230. He is re¬ 
presented as pouring out flames from a ves¬ 
sel, and his protection is sought against fire. 

Floriculture, the culture or cultivation 
of flowers or flowering plants, whether in 
open beds, in gardens, in conservatories or 
greenhouses, or in rooms in dwelling-houses. 

Flor'ida, one of the United States, form¬ 
ing the south-eastern extremity of the 
country, and having the Gulf of Mexico on 
the south and west, and the Atlantic on the 
east. It consists partly of apeninsulastretch- 
ing s. for about 400 miles, partly of a long, 
narrow strip of land running along the Gulf 
of Mexico to a distance of 350 miles from 
the Atlantic coast-line. The peninsula is 
about 90 miles in width, and contains about 
four-fifths of the total area, which is 59,268 
sq, miles. The surface is in general level, 
rising little above the sea, especially in the 
southern parts, where it is almost one con¬ 
tinued swamp or marsh. The northern por¬ 
tion is more broken and elevated, but the 
whole coast is flat. The principal river is 
the St. John’s, flowing northwards through 
peninsular Florida to the Atlantic, Its 
tributary, the Ocklawaha, has its course so 
flat that for a long distance it spreads out 
into the forest for half a mile or more on 
either side, so that nothing is seen but trees 
and water. The Appalachicola, Suwanee, 
&c., flow into the Gulf of Mexico. There 
are many lakes throughout the peninsula^ 








FLORIDA 


FLORUS. 


the largest being Okeechobee (area 650 sq. 
miles). Numerous islands are scattered 
along the south and west coasts, the most 
remarkable of which is a group, or rather 
a long chain, called the Florida Keys at 
the southern extremity of Florida. The 
most important of these is Key West, con¬ 
taining the city and naval station of same 
name. The state produces tropical plants 
and fruits in great perfection, especially 
oranges, lemons, limes, shaddock, &c. The 
planting of orange groves has been carried 
on extensively in recent times, and oranges 
are now a speciality of Florida. Tobacco, 
cotton, sugar, maize, potatoes, rice, oats, &c., 
are among the other productions. The 
forests form an. important source of wealth. 
The minerals are unimportant. The wild 
animals comprise panthers, cougars, wolves, 
bears, foxes, raccoons, opossums, deer, &c. 
Birds are extremely numerous and various. 
The coasts, rivers, and lakes swarm with 
fish; tortoises and turtles also abound. The 
swamps and other inland waters are infested 
with alligators. Snakes are numerous, but 
most of them are harmless. The climate 
in general is excellent, and the state is 
much frequented as a winter health resort 
for invalids, many large and elegant hotels 
having been built for the accommodation 
of visitors. Florida, long in a backward 
condition, has recently made great advances 
in prosperity, being now well supplied with 
means of communication, and towns and 
villages rapidly springing up. Tallahassee 
is the capital and seat of government, but 
the largest town is Key West (pop. 18,080); 
Jacksonville and Pensacola are thrivinof 
ports; St. Augustine is the oldest town in 
the United States. Proposals have been 
made to construct a ship-canal through 
Florida as a short route from the Atlantic 
to the Grulf of Mexico. Florida was first 
explored in 1512 and 1516 by Ponce de 
Leon, a Spanish adventurer. It was ceded 
to Great Britain by Spain in 1763 in ex¬ 
change for Cuba; reacquired by the Spani¬ 
ards in 1781, and confirmed to them at the 
peace of 1783. It was ceded to the United 
States in 1821, and organized as a territory 
in 1822. A long series of conflicts with the 
Seminole Indians retarded its prosperity. 
In 1845 it was admitted into the Union. 
In 1861 it seceded from the Union, to which 
it was not readmitted till 1868. Pop. in 
1870, 187,748; in 1880, 267,351, of whom 
125,317 were coloured ; in 1890, 391,422, 
pf whom 166,678 were coloured. 


Florida, Gulf of, the narrow sea between 
Florida, Cuba, and the Bahama Islands. 

Florida Keys. See Florida. 

Florid'eae, a name given to the rose-spored 
algae, now more generally known as rhodo- 
sperms. 

Florid Gothic, that highly-enriched va¬ 
riety of Gothic architecture which prevailed 
in England in the 15th and at the beginning 
of the 16th century; often called the Tudor 
style, as it prevailed chiefly during the Tudor 
era. 

Florin, a name given to different coins of 
gold or silver of different values, and to 
moneys of account, in different countries. 
The English florin is 2s. or one-tenth of a 
pound sterling; the Austrian gulden or 
florin and the guilder or florin of Holland 
are each Is. 8(7. A gold florin, value 6s., 
was used in England in the reign of Ed- 
wax’d III. 

Florinians, a sect of Gnostics of the 2d 
century, so called from Florinus, a Roman 
priest who was excommunicated by Pope 
Eleutherius in 176. 

Florio, John, lexicographer and trans¬ 
lator, born in London of Italian parents in 
1545, died 1625. He taught French and 
Italian in Oxford LTniversity. He was ap¬ 
pointed by James I. teacher of languages to 
the queen and Prince Henry. His chief 
works are his Italian and English Die- 
tionary, the World of Words, and his trans¬ 
lation of Montaigne. Shakespeare is said 
to have ridiculed him in the character of 
Holofernes in Love’s Labour’s Lost. 

Floris, Frans, a Flemish painter, whose 
family name was Vriendt, born at Antwerp 
in 1520, died there 1570. At Antwerp he 
established a school for painters, which pro¬ 
duced many eminent artists. His chief works 
are: The Fall of the Rebel Angels, in the 
Louvre; The Last Judgment, in the church 
of Notre Dame, Brussels; and The Assump¬ 
tion, in Antwerp Catheciral. Other works 
are to be met with in Flanders, Holland, 
Spain, Paris, Vienna, and Dresden. 

Florus, ANNiEUS, a Roman historian, was 
probably a native of Spain or Gaul. He is 
variously styled in the MSS.: in some L. 
Annceiis Florus, in others L. Julius Florus, 
in others L. Annaeus Seneca, and in one simply 
L. Anneeus. He lived in the beginning of 
the second century after Christ, and wrote 
an epitome of Roman history in four books, 
from the foundation of the city to the first 
time of closing the temple of Janus, in th« 
reign of Augustus. 


18 



FLOSS-SILK-FLOWER, 


Floss-silk, the portions of ravelled silk 
broken off in reeling the silk from the co¬ 
coons, carded and spun into a soft coarse 
yarn, and used for common fabrics, em¬ 
broidery, &c. 

Flotow (fio'to), Friedrich Adolphus 
VON, German musical composer, born 1812, 
died 1883. He studied music in Paris, but 
his earlier operas did not find favour with 
the Parisian opera-house directors, so he had 
to content himself with performances in the 
aristocratic private theatres. At length the 
Naufrage de la Meduse was successfully pro¬ 
duced at the Renaissance Theatre in 1839. 
This was followed by L’Esclave de Camoens 
(1843), and L’Ameen Peine (1846),performed 
in London as Leoline. Alessandro Stradella 
was first performed at Hamburg in 1844, 
and his most successful work, Martha, at 
Vienna in 1847. Among his other works 
are Indra (1853), La Veuve Grapin (1859), 
L’Ombre ( 1869 ), and L’Enchanteresse 
(1878). He was director of the court 
theatre at Schwerin from 1855 to 1863; the 
last years of his life were chiefly spent at 
Vienna. 

Flotsam, Jetsam, and Ligan, in law. 
Flotsam, or jloatsam, is derelict or ship¬ 
wrecked goods floating on the sea; jetsam, 
goods thrown overboard which sink and 
remain under water; and ligan, goods sunk 
with a wreck or attached to a buoy, as a 
mark of ownership. When found such 
goods may be returned to the owner if he 
appear; if not, they are the property of the 
crown. 

Flounder, one of the flat-fishes, family 
Pleuronectidae, genus Pleuronectes or Pla- 
tessa, the common flounder being the Pleu¬ 
ronectes or Platessa flesus. It is one of the 
most common of the flat-fishes, and is found 
along the shores of almost all countries. 
The body is extremely flattened at the sides. 
Flounders have been successfully trans¬ 
ferred to fresli-water ponds. They feed upon 
Crustacea, worms, and small fishes, and are 
much used as food. The Argus-flounder 
js the P. argus, a native of the American 
seas. 

Flour, the edible part of wheat, or any 
other grain, reduced to powder, and sepa¬ 
rated from the bran and the other coarser 
parts by sifting. The quality of flour de¬ 
pends principally on the fineness of the 
sieves through which it is passed and the 
amount of bran which it contains. The 
finest flour is obtained in the first grinding 
of the wheat. The other kinds—biscuit 

19 


flour, middlings, seconds, kc .—consist of the 
flour which remains after the first grind¬ 
ing, ground and passed through coarser 
sieves. 

Flourens (fl6-ran), Gustave, French 
socialist, born at Paris 1838, died 1871. In 
1863 he was deputy professor in the College 
of France, and published his lectures under 
the title of Histoire de 1’Homme. After 
being engaged in democratic movements in 
Turkey and Italy he joined the Paris Com¬ 
mune in 1871, and was killed in a conflict 
at Rueil, near Malmaison. 

Flourens, Marie Jean Pierre, French 
physician and physiologist, born 1794, died 
1867. In 1828 he was elected a member of 
the Academy of Sciences, in 1832 was ap¬ 
pointed to the chair of comparative anatomy 
at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. In 1833 
he became permanent secretary to the Aca¬ 
demy of Sciences, in 1840 member of the 
French Academy. In 1846 he was created 
by Louis Philippe a peer of France. His 
works include Experiences sur la Systfeme 
Nerveux, Developpement des Os, Anatomic 
de la Peau, M^moires d’Anatomic et de 
Physiologic Compar^es, Dc 1’Instinct et de 
r Intelligence des Animaux, Dc la Vie et de 
ITntelligence (1858). 

Flower, in popular language, the blossom 
of a plant, consisting chiefly of delicate 
and gaily-coloured leaves or petals; in 
botany, the organs of reproduction in a 
phenogamous plant. A complete flower 
consists of stamens andi pistils together with 
two sets of leaves which surround and pro¬ 
tect them, the calyx and corolla. The sta¬ 
mens and pistils are the essential organs of 
the flower. They occupy two circles or rows, 
the one within the other, the stamens being 
in the outer row. The stamens consist of a 
stalk or filament supporting a roundish body, 
the anther, which is filled with a powdery 
substance called the poUen. The pistil con¬ 
sists of a closed cell or ovary at the base, •cm- 
taining ovules, and covered by a style which 
terminates in the stigma. These organs are 
surrounded by the corolla and calyx, which 
together are called the floral envelope, or 
when they both display rich colouring the 
perianth. The leaves of the corolla are 
called petals, and those of the calyx sepals. 
Some flowers want the floral envelope, and 
are called achlamydeous; others have the 
calyx but are without the corolla, and are 
called monochlamydeous. Flowers are gen¬ 
erally bisexual, but some plants have uni¬ 
sexual flowers; that is, the pistils are in one 









FLOWER-DE-LIS-FLUORIDE. 


flower and the stamens in another. See 
also Botany. The figure shows the flower 
of Cheiranthus Cheivi (common wallflower): 
a, peduncle ; h, calyx ; 
c, corolla; d, stamens; 
e, pistil. 

Flower-de-lis. See 

Fleur-de-lis. 

Flowering-fern, the 
popular name of Os- 
munda regdlis, nat. or¬ 
der Osmundacese. It is 
one of the noblest and 
most striking of our 
ferns, and grows in boggy places and wet 
margins of woods. It derives its name 
from the upper pinnae of the fronds being 
transformed into a handsome panicle co¬ 
vered with sporangia. 

Flowering - rush {Butomus umbelldtus), 
nat. order Butomaceae, a beautiful plant 
found in pools and wet ditches of England 
and Ireland, but rare in Scotland. The 
leaves are 2 to 3 feet long, linear, triangu¬ 
lar, their sharp edges sometimes cutting the 
mouths of cattle, whence their generic name 
Butomus (ox-cutting). The scape or flower¬ 
ing stem terminates in a large umbel of 
rose-coloured flowers. 

Flowers, formerly a chemical name for 
fine particles of bodies in the form of a 
powder or mealy substance, as ihe flowers of 
sulphur, &c. 

Flowers, Aktificial, imitations of real 
flowers, made of various materials. These 
are not a modern invention. The Romans 
excelled in the art of imitating flowers in 
wax, and in this branch of the art attained 
a high degree of perfection. The Egyptian 
artificial flowers were made of thin plates 
of horn stained in different colours, some¬ 
times also of leaves of copper gilt or silvered 
over. In modern times the Italians were 
the first to acquire celebrity for the skill 
and taste they displayed in this manufac¬ 
ture, but they are now far surpassed by 
English and French manufacturers, but 
more especially by the latter. Among ma¬ 
terials used in this manufacture are cam¬ 
bric, muslin, satin, velvet, and other woven 
fabrics, feathers, india-rubber, blown glass, 
mother of pearl, brass, &c. 

Fluid, a body whose particles on the 
slightest pressure move and change their 
relative position without separation; a liquid 
or a gas, as opposed to a solid. Fluids are di¬ 
vided into liquids, such as water and bodies 
in the form of water; and gaseous bodies or 


aeriform fluids. Liquids haw been also 
termed non-elastic fluids, for although they 
are not altogether void of elasticity, they 
possess it only in a small degree. Air and 
aeriform bodies have been called elastic 
fluids on account of their great elasticity. 

Flukes, or Fluke-worms, a name given 
to certain parasitic Scolecida (tape-worms, 
&c.), belonging to the division of Platy- 
elinia or Flat-worms, and included in the 
order Trematoda. They inhabit various situ¬ 
ations in different animals—mostly in birds 
and fishes. The Distbma hepaticum exists 
in large numbers in the livers of sheep, and 
causes the disease known as ‘rot.’ Like 
the tape-worms the flukes pass through an 
elaborate development. 

Fluohy'dric Acid, same as Hydrofluoric 
acid. 

■ Fluores'cence, a name given to the phe¬ 
nomena presented by the invisible chemical 
rays of the blue end of the solar spectrum 
when they become luminous and visible by 
being sent through uranium glass, or solutions 
of quinine, horse-chestnut bark, or Datura 
Stramonium. In this way green crystals, as 
of fluor-spar, may give out blue rays, due not 
to the colour of the surface of the body, but 
to its power of modifying the rays incident 
on it. The phenomenon appears to be iden¬ 
tical with phosphorescence. It is due to the 
refrangibility of the rays being lowered or 
degraded by the action of the substance. 
The term fluorescence is applied to the phen¬ 
omenon if it is observed while the body is 
actually exposed to the source of light; phos¬ 
phorescence to the effect of the same kind, 
but usually less intense, which is observed 
after the light from the source is cut off. 
Both forms of the phenomenon occur in a 
strongly-marked degree in the same bodies. 
Canary-glass, which is coloured with oxide of 
uranium, is a very convenient material for the 
exhibition of fluorescence. A thick piece of 
it held in the violet or ultra-violet portion 
of the solar spectrum is filled to the depth 
of from I to of an inch with a faint nebu¬ 
lous light. If the solar spectrum be thrown 
upon a screen freshly washed with sulphate 
of quinine, the ultra-violet portion will be 
visible by fluorescence; and if the spectrum 
be very pure, the presence of dark lines 
in this portion will be detected. For a 
similar phenomenon, presented by the ultra- 
red rays of the spectrum, see Calorescence. 

Flu'oride, in chemistry, a compound ob¬ 
tained by heating hydrofluoric acid with 
certain metals, by the action of that acid 

20 





FLUORINE 


FLY. 


on metallic oxides or carbonates, by heating 
electro-negative metals, as antimony, with 
fluoride of lead or fluoride of mercury, and 
in other ways. 

Flu'orine, a very widely distributed ele¬ 
ment, which is known chiefly only in com¬ 
bination, though it has recently been isolated 
by De Moissan as a colourless gas, that 
attacks almost every substance and is the 
most active element known. Its most abun¬ 
dant compound is calcic fluoride, which not 
only exists in the mineral kingdom as fluor¬ 
spar (which see), but forms an essential part 
of the bones and teeth of animals. Fluorine 
has also been detected in the blood, milk, 
and urine; in plants; in volcanic sublimates; 
in rocks; in coprolites and mineral phos¬ 
phates ; and in a variety of minerals. Com¬ 
bined with hydrogen it forms hydrofluoric 
acid. 

Fluor-spar, Deebtshire Spar, or Fluor¬ 
ine (CaFj), fluoride of calcium, a common 
mineral found in great beauty in Derbyshire. 
It generally occurs massive,but crystallizes in 
simple forms of the monometric system—viz. 
the cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, &c., and 
in combinations of the cube and octahedron. 
Pure fluor-spar contains 48'7 per cent fluo¬ 
rine, 51'3 calcium. It is of frequent occur¬ 
rence, especially in connection with metal¬ 
liferous beds, as of silver, tin, lead, and cobalt 
ores. It is sometimes colourless and trans¬ 
parent, but more frequently it exhibits tints 
of yellow, green, blue, and red. From the 
general prevalence of a blue tint in the 
Derbyshire specimens it is there known as 
Blue-john. It is often beautifully banded, 
especially when in nodules, which are much 
prized for the manufacture of vases, and it 
is made into a great variety of articles, chiefly 
ornamental. It is used as a flux in metal¬ 
lurgy, and is a source of hydrofluoric acid. 
Its specific gravity is 3*14, but it is of 
very inferior hardness (4), being scratchable 
by apatite. 

Flushing (Dutch, Vlissingen), a seaport 
in Holland, province of Zeeland, on the 
island of Walcberen, at the mouth of the 
Hond, or West Schelde, here between 2 
and 3 miles broad. It is strongly fortified, 
and has an extensive trade. Pop. 10,288. 

Flushing, Queens co., N. Y., a favourite 
residence of N.Y. businessmen. Pop. 8436. 

Flute, a portable musical instrument, con¬ 
sisting of a tube furnished with six holes 
for the fingers, and from one to fourteen 
keys which open other holes. The sound, 
which is soft and clear in quality, is pro* 

21 


duced by blowing with the mouth into an 
oval aperture at the side of the thick end of 
the instrument. Its useful compass is about 
two and a half octaves, including the chro¬ 
matic tones. It is usually made in four 
pieces, and of box or ebony, sometimes, how¬ 
ever, of ivory, silver, or even of glass. 

Fluting, in architecture, channels or fur¬ 
rows cut perpendicularly in the shafts of 
columns. It is used in the Doric, Ionic, Cor¬ 
inthian, and Composite orders, but never in 
the Tuscan. When the flutes are partially 
filled up by a smaller round moulding they 
are said to be cabled. 

Flux, a substance or mixture added to 
assist the fusion of minerals. In the large 
way, limestone and fluor-spar are used as 
fluxes. In the smelting of iron the flux 
must be such that it will combine with the 
earthy matter of the ore, and form a slag, 
which must neither be too refractory nor 
fusible. The fluxes made use of in assays 
or chemical experiments consist usually 
of alkalies and alkaline salts, as borax, 
cyanide of potassium, carbonate of potas¬ 
sium, carbonate of sodium, common salt, 
which render the earthy mixtures fusible 
by converting them into glass. The fluxes 
used in pottery are various, but almost all 
consist of litharge or red-lead, borax, car¬ 
bonates of potassium and sodium, and sand. 

Fluxions, in mathematics, the analysis of 
infinitely small variable quantities, an old 
method of calculation first invented by 
Newton, which does not essentially differ 
from that employed in the differential cal¬ 
culus invented hy Leibnitz, except in the 
notation. Newton’s notation was adhered 
to by English writers up to the early part 
of the present century, but the differential 
calculus is now universally employed. 

Fly, a winged insect of various genera and 
species, whose distinguishing characteristics 
are that the wings are transparent and have 
no cases or covers. By these marks flies are 
distinguished from beetles, butterflies, grass¬ 
hoppers, &c. The true flies or Diptera have 
only two wings, viz. the anterior pair. In 
common language, fly is the house-fly, of 
the genus Musca. The house-fly is found 
wherever man is, and in hot weather causes 
a good deal of annoyance. It is furnished 
with a suctorial proboscis, from which, 
when feeding on dry substances, it exudes 
a liquid, which, by moistening them, fits 
them to be sucked. From its feet being 
beset with hairs, each terminating in a disc 
which is supposed to act as a sucker, it 








FLY-- FLYING DUTCHMAN. 


can walk on smooth surfaces, as a ceiling, 
even with its back down. The female lays 
her eggs in dung or refuse; the larvae are 
small white worms. They change into pupae 
without casting their skins, and in from eight 
to fourteen days the perfect fly emerges. 
The very small flies and the very large ones 
often seen about houses belong to other 
species. See Blow-fly, Bot-fly, Gad-fly. 

Fly, a name formerly given to a double- 
seated carriage or public conveyance; after¬ 
wards applied to hackney-carriages or cabs. 

Fly-catcher, a name originally given to 
certain insessorial birds of the genus Musci- 



White-collared Flycatcher {Muscicdpa albicollis ). 

cdpa, tribe Dentirostres, with a bill flattened 
at the base, almost triangular, notched at 
the upper mandible, and beset with bristles. 
Two species are British—the spotted fly¬ 
catcher {M. grisSla) and the pied fly-catcher 
{M. (or FicedUla) atricapilla), both about 
the size of a sparrow. They perch on a 
branch, where they remain immovable 
watching for insects, only leaving to make 
a sudden dart at a passing fly, which they 
seize with a snap of the bill, and then re¬ 
turn. The white-collared fly-catcher {M. 
albicollis) is a native of southern Europe. 
Numerous other birds receive the name of 
fly-catchers, and some, as the paradise fly¬ 
catchers of the Old World, are brilliantly 
coloured. In America some of the tyrant 
birds (Tyrannidse) are named fly-catchers. 

Flying, the power of locomotion through 
the air, possessed by various animals in 
different degrees. Birds, bats, and many 
insects can raise themselves into the air and 
sustain themselves there at will. Squirrels, 
phalangers, some lizards, one of the tree- 
frogs, and flying-fish can move through the 
air in one direction for a short time, but 
cannot, strictly speaking, fly. The wing of 
a bird or insect is an elastic flexible organ, 
with a thick anterior and a thin posterior 
margin; hence the wing does not act like a 
solid board, but is thrown into a succession 


of curves. When a bird rises from the 
ground it leaps up with head stuck out and 
expanded tail, so that the body is in the 
position of a boy’s kite when thrown up. 
The wings are strongly flapped, striking 
forwards and downwards, and the bird 
quickly ascends. It has been shown that 
the wing describes a figure of 8 in its action, 
the margin being brought down so that the 
tip of the wing gives the last blow after the 
part next the trunk has ceased to strike; 
hence, standing in front of a bird, the wing 
would be divided into two, the upper sur¬ 
face of one half and the lower surface of the 
other being visible at the same time. These 
portions are reversed when the wing is 
drawn back and towards the body, before 
beginning another stroke; but it will be ob¬ 
served that during retraction the wing is 
still sloped, so that the resemblance to a 
kite is maintained. There are many vaiie- 
ties of flight among birds; of these the 
most remarkable is the sailing motion, in 
which the wings are but slightly moved. 
Probably the original impetus is maintained 
by the kite-like slope of the wing, and ad¬ 
vantage may be taken of currents by a ro¬ 
tation of the wing at the shoulder, a move¬ 
ment invisible at any distance. If the ex¬ 
tinct Pterodactyles are excepted, all animals 
other than birds, bats, and insects, which 
move through the air, as squirrels, flying- 
dragons, &c., do so as parachutes, going 
from higher to lower levels, but never ris¬ 
ing, nor flying horizontally. 

Flying, Artificial. See Aeronautics. 

Fl 3 dng-bridge, a bridge made of pon¬ 
toons, light boats, hollow beams, casks, or 
the like. They are made as occasion re¬ 
quires, chiefly for the passage of troops. 
The term is also applied to a kind of ferry 
in which the force of the current of a river 
is applied to propel a boat guided by a cable 
fastened from the one side to the other. 

Flying-buttress. See Buttress. 

Flying-dragon, or Flying-lizard. See 
Dragon. 

Flying Dutchman, a phantom ship said to 
be seen in stormy weather off the Cape of 
Good Hope, and thought to forebode ill luck. 
One form of the legend has it that the ship 
is doomed never to enter a port on account 
of a horrible murder committed on board; 
another, that the captain, a Dutchman, 
swore a profane oath that he would weather 
the Cape though he should beat there till 
the last day. He was taken at his word, 
and there he still beats, but never succeeds 

22 




PLYTNG-FTSH-FOCUS. 


in rounding the point. He sometimes hails 
vessels and requests them to take letters 
home from him. The legend is supposed 
to have originated in the sight of some ship 
reflected from the clouds. It has been made 
the groundwork of one or two novels, and 
an opera by Wagner. 

Flying-fish, a name common to various 
fishes which have the power of sustaining 
themselves for a time in the air by means 
of their large pectoral fins. Generally, how¬ 
ever, the name is limited to the species of 
the genus Exocoetus, which belongs to the 
family Scornberesocidee (mackerel - pikes). 
The pectoral fins, which are very large, are 
the principal instruments in their flight, 
serving to sustain the fish temporarily in 
the air after it has acquired an initial velo¬ 
city in its rush through the water. It can 
pass through the air to a considerable dis¬ 
tance, sometimes as much as 200 yards, 
which it does to escape from the attacks of 
other fishes, especially the dolphin. It is 
most common between the tropics. The 
best-known species are E. voUtans, abun¬ 
dant in the warmer parts of the Atlantic, 
and E. exiliens of the Mediterranean. By 



Common Flying-fish {Exoccetus voUtans). 


some naturalists this genus has been sub¬ 
divided into several, characterized by the 
presence or absence of barbels. 

Flying-fox. See Fox-hat. 

Flying-lemur, a name given to insecti¬ 
vorous mammals, natives of the Indian 
Archipelago and belonging to the genus 
Galeopithecus. They possess a flying mem¬ 
brane, which extends as a broad expansion 
from the nape of the neck to the tail. By 
V means of this membrane they can take ex¬ 
tended leaps from tree to tree. 

Flying-phalanger, a popular name of 
the members of a genus of nocturnal mar¬ 
supials {Petaurus) nearly allied to the true 
phalangers. A fold of the skin extends 
along the flanks, and this acting as a para¬ 
chute enables the animal to leap great dis¬ 
tances, its heavy tail serving as a rudder to 
guide its course in the air. These animals 
inhabit New Guinea and Australia, where 

23 


they are known as ‘flying-squirrels.’ The 
species vary in size, the smallest being no 
bigger than a mouse. They feed on fruit, 
leaves, insects, &c. 

Fl3dng-squid, the popular name of a genus 
of cephalopodous molluscs {Ommastrephes), 
allied to the calamaries or squids, having 
two large lateral fins, which enable them 
to leap so high out of the water that they 
sometimes fall on ships’ decks. 

Flying-squirrel {PterSmys), a genus of 



European Flying-squirrel (Pterdmys siberieus). 


rodent animals, family Sciuridae (squirrels), 
to which the skin of the flank, extending 
between the fore and hind legs, imparts the 
faculty of supporting themselves for a mo¬ 
ment in the air, as with a parachute, and 
of making very great leaps. The European 
flying-squirrel {P. or SciuroptSrus siberieus) 
is a native of the forests in the colder parts 
of Europe and Asia; the American flying- 
squirrel {P. volucclla) lives in troops in the 
western parts of North America. 

Fly-trap, the only species known of a 
genus of plants (Dioncea), nat. order Dros- 
eraceae, also called Venus’s fly-trap. See 
Dioncea. 

Fly-wheel, a wheel with a heavy rim 
placed on the revolving shaft of any ma¬ 
chinery put in motion by an irregular or 
intermitting force, for the purpose of render¬ 
ing the motion equable and regular by means 
of its momentum. A fly-wheel is also used 
as an accumulator of force; thus, when a 
small steam-engine sets in motion a very 
large fly-wheel, the wheel acts as a reservoir 
of all the small pressures which have been 
communicated to it, and having thus con¬ 
centrated them can apply them all together 
and at once when some great effect is to be 
produced. 

Fo, the Chinese name of Buddha. See 
Buddha. 

Focus, (1) in optics, a point in which any 
number of rays of light meet after being 
reflected or refracted by a mirror or a lens. 





FCETUS - 

(2) In geom. an important point on the prin¬ 
cipal axis of the parabola, ellipse, and hyper¬ 
bola. The ellipse and hyperbola have each 
two foci, the parabola one, though in the 
latter case we may suppose a second focus 
at an infinite distance. The foci were so 
called from the fact that rays of light pro¬ 
ceeding from one focus and reflected from a 
corresponding reflecting surface pass through 
the other focus. 

Foetus. See Fetus. 

Fog, a cloud at or near the surface of the 
earth, produced by the condensation of the 
invisible vapour of the atmosphere into 
minute watery particles, this condensation 
being caused by a cold current of air, or 
the contiguity of a cold surface. Fogs are 
more frequent in those seasons of the year 
when there is a considerable difference of 
temperature in the different parts of the 
day. In low, moist places, and in confined 
places, as valleys, bays, or lakes, surrounded 
by high lands, they are much more pre¬ 
valent than in open countries or elevated 
sj)ots, where they are quickly dispersed by 
the winds. The disagreeable pungency of 
fogs in large towns is due to the presence 
of smoke and other impurities. Recent ex¬ 
periments would seem to show that there 
is an intimate connection between fogs and 
the invisible dust of the atmosphere; that 
in fact the invisible atmospheric dust is not 
only necessary to the formation of fogs, but 
also of clouds and rain. 

Foggia (foj'a), a town of S. Italy, pro¬ 
vince of Foggia, 79 miles N.E. of Naples, 
with regular and spacious streets. Its prin¬ 
cipal edifice is a Gothic cathedral. The 
trade is chiefly in corn, for which immense 
granai’ies have been formed under the 
streets. Pop. 36,852.—The province, which 
is partly bounded by the Adriatic, has an 
area of 2954 sq. m. It possesses rich pas¬ 
tures, and produces saffron, wine, &c. Pop. 
1891, 393,485. 

Fog-signals, signals given by means of 
sound to warn vessels during fogs, when 
lights or other visible signals cannot be 
perceived. Various kinds of fog-signals are 
used, among which may be mentioned bells, 
drums, gongs, guns, compressed-air Avhistles, 
steam-whistles, and fog trumpets or horns. 
One of the most powerful signals is the 
siren fog-horn, the sound of which is pro¬ 
duced by means of a disk perforated by 
radial slits made to rotate in front of a fixed 
disk exactly similar, a long iron trumpet 
forming part of the apparatus. The disks 


- FOKIEN. 

may each contain say twelve slits, and the 
moving disk may revolve 280U times a 
minute; in each revolution there are of course 
twelve coincidences between the slits in 
the two disks; through the openings thus 
made steam or air at a high pressure is 
caused to pass, so that there are actually’- 
33,600 puffs of steam or compressed air 
every minute. This causes a sound of very 



great power, which the trumpet collects 
and compresses, and the blast goes out as 
a sort of sound beam in the direction re¬ 
quired. Under favourable circumstances 
this instrument can be heard from 20 to 30 
miles out at sea. Fog-signals are also used 
on railways during foggy -weather; they con¬ 
sist of cases filled with detonating pow’der, 
which are laid on the rails and exploded by 
the engine when it comes up to them. 

Fohr (fe^^r), a Prussian island in the 
North Sea, off the w. coast of Schleswig; 
area, 28 sq. m.; pop. about 4000, mostly 
Frisians engaged in fishing, the capture of 
wild fowl, and agriculture. 

Foil, a thin leaf of metal, as gold or tin, 
used for various purposes. 

Foil, in fencing, a rod of steel, represent¬ 
ing a sword, with a handle or hilt at one 
end, and a leather button at the other to 
prevent accidents. Foils measure from 31 
to 38 inches in length. 

Foix (fwa), a town of France, capital of 
dep. Ariege, in a valley at the foot of the 
Pyrenees, with remains of the old castle of 
the counts of Foix, and an old church and 
abbey. Pop. 5860. 

Foix, Gaston de. See Gaston. 

Fokien, a maritime province of South¬ 
eastern China; area, 53,480 sq. m. (inclusive 
of Formosa, which now is administratively 
separate). The coast is deeply indented by 

24 



































FOKSCHANT-FONTAINEBLEAU. 


l!>ays anrl stnrlded with islands. The interior 
is g^enerally mountainous, but is highly cul¬ 
tivated and generally fertile. The principal 
products are rice, wheat, barley, tea, silk, 
sugar, indigo, camphor, and tobacco. The 
capital is Foo-choo-foo. Pop. 25,790,556. 

Fokschani (-sha'ne), a town of Eoumania, 
on the Miklov, 104 miles N.E. Bukarest, with 
an important trade. Pop, 1890, 17,039. 

Folc-land, that is Polkland, the land of 
the people, that portion of Anglo-Sa.xon 
England which was retained on behalf of 
the community. It might be occupied in 
common or possessed in severalty, but could 
not become allodial estate or absolute pri¬ 
vate property except with the consent of 
the Witan or highest council in the land. 
From time to time large grants were made 
both to individuals and to communities; 
and land thus cut off from folc-land was 
called hoc-land or ‘book-land.’ Plltimately 
the king practically acquired the disposal 
of it, and the remnant of folc-land became 
crown lands. See Feudal^ System. 

Folc-mote, in Anglo-Saxon England, an 
assembly of the people to consult respecting 
public affairs. 

Foley, John Henry, sculptor, born in 
Dublin 1818, died at Hampstead 1874, 
He was admitted a student of the Eoyal 
Academy in 1835, In 1848 he was elected 
an associate, and in 1858 an academician. 
His works are numerous and highly esteemed. 
They include statues of Seldenand Hampden 
in Westminster; Goldsmith, Burke, and 
O’Connell in Dublin; Lord Hardinge and 
Outram for India; Lord Clyde in Glasgow; 
the group Asia and the colossal statue of 
Prince Albert for the Albert Memorial, 
Hyde Park, Foley was buried in St. Paul’s 
Cathedral. 

Foliation, in geol. the property or quality 
in certain rocks of dividing into thin lam in® 
or plates. 

Foligno (fo-len'yo), a town of Ceutral 
Italy, province of Perugia, in a beautiful 
vale of the Apennines, watered by the Cli- 
tumnus. Public buildings worthy of notice 
are the cathedral and the Palazzo Com- 
munale. Pop. 8753. 

Folkestone (fbk'ston), a seaport, England, 
county Kent, 6 miles w. by s. of Dover, 
terminus of the South-eastern Eailway, and 
a chief station for steamers to and from 
Boulogne. It is a favourite watering-place, 
and has a considerable shipping trade. 
Folkestone is included in the parliamentary 
borough of Hythe. Pop. 1891, 23,700. 


Folk-lore, a useful term of recent intro¬ 
duction into the English language, signifying 
a scientific study of popular tales, traditions, 
primitive beliefs and superstitions, popular 
customs, usages, festivals, games, &c. Folk¬ 
lore, though it takes cognizance of many ap¬ 
parently trivial matters, is of great impor¬ 
tance in the science of comparative mytho¬ 
logy, and helps to throw much light on the 
relationships between races, and on the ori¬ 
gin and development of religious beliefs and 
ceremonies. It is, therefore, of great assis¬ 
tance to the ethnologist, the sociologist, and 
the historian, as well as to the student of 
comparative mythology and of the science 
of religion. 

Fomentation, in med. the apjJication of 
warm liquids to a part of the body, by 
means of flannels or other cloths dipped in 
hot water or medicated decoctions, for the 
purpose of easing pain by relaxing the skin 
or of discussing tumours. 

Fonblanque (fon'blangk), Albany Wil¬ 
liam, English journalist, born in 1797, died 
1872. He was educated for the bar, but, 
devoting himself to journalism, he gained 
a position on the Times, the Morning Chro¬ 
nicle, and succeeded Leigh Hunt as editor 
of the Examiner. A reprint of many of 
his articles, under the title England under 
Seven Administrations, appeared in 1837. 
In 1852 he was appointed chief of the sta¬ 
tistical department of the Board of Trade. 

Fond du Lac, a city of the United States, 
Wisconsin, at the south end of Winnebago 
Lake, at the entrance of Fox River, 60 
miles N. by w. of Milwaukee. It is the 
centre of several railways, and has a large 
trade. The manufactures include iron¬ 
founding, carriage and wagon making, tan¬ 
ning, saw-milling, &c. Pop. 1890, 12,024. 

Fondi, a town of South Italy, near a coast 
lagoon to which it gives name, prov. Caserta. 
It is a bishop’s see, and contains a cathedral. 
Fondi stands in a plain, the ancient Ccecu~ 
hus Ager, which produced the famous Caecu- 
ban wine. Pop. 6773. 

Font, the vessel which contains the water 
for baptism in a church. It is frequently 
sculptured in stone or marble, with richly 
decorative designs. 

Fontaine, Jean de la. See La Fontaine. 

Fontainebleau (fon-tan-blo), a town of 
France, dep. Seine-et-Marne, in the midst 
of the forest of same name, about 2 miles 
from the Seine and 37 miles s.s.e. Paris. 
It owes its origin chiefly to the palace, and 
is a quiet place, with broad, clean streets. 









FONTANA 


FONTEVRAULT. 


Pop. 13,340, The castle or palace of Fon¬ 
tainebleau is ore of the most magnificent 
in France. It occupies the site of a forti¬ 
fied chateau founded by Louis VII. in 1162; 
this was converted into a magnificent palace 
by Francis I.; much added to by Henry 
IV., Napoleon I., Louis Philippe, and Na¬ 
poleon HI. The park is laid out like a vast 
garden, and adorned with statues, temples, 
fountains, lakes, and waterfalls. The forest, 
which is about 50 miles in circumference. 


covers an area of 42,500 acres, affords nume¬ 
rous pleasant walks, and abounds with game, 
Fonta'na, Domenico, Italian architect 
and engineer, born in 1543, died 1607. He 
was employed by Pope Sixtus V. in many 
great works, among the chief of which was 
the erection of the Egyptian obelisk in 
front of St. Peter’s. Among other build¬ 
ings erected by Fontana, were the Lateran 
Palace and the library of the Vatican. He 
also executed important works at Naples. 



Palace of Fontainebleau. 


Fontana, Prospeko, Italian painter, born 
at Bologna 1512, died at Rome 1597. He 
excelled in design and composition, and 
adorned several churches in Rome and Bo¬ 
logna with historical frescoes. Among his 
pupils were his daughter Lavinia (born 
1552, died 1614), who excelled in portraits, 
and the brothers Caracci. 

Fontenay - le - Comte (font - na-le-korit), 
French town, dep. Vendee, 27 miles n.e. of 
La Rochelle. Has a fine Gothic church 
with spire 311 feet high; manufactures 
coarse linen and woollen cloths, and is an 
entrepot for the Gironde and Charente 
wines. Pop. 9282. 

Fontenelle (font-nal), Bernard le Bo- 
vier de, French author, born at Rouen 
1657, died 1757. In 1674 he went to Paris, 
and soon became known by his poetical effu¬ 
sions and learned works. Before the age of 
twenty he had assisted in the composition 
of the operas of Psyche and Bellerophon, 
which appeared under the name of his uncle, 
Thomas Corneille. In 1681 he brought out 


his tragedy Aspar; but it and the other 
dramas and pastorals with which he opened 
his literary career were on the whole un¬ 
successful. In 1683 appeared his Dialogues 
of the Dead, which were favourably re¬ 
ceived. His Discourse on the Plurality of 
Worlds (1686) was the first book in which 
astronomical subjects were discussed with 
taste and wit. Among his other works are 
the History of Oracles and an Essay on the 
Geometry of the Infinite. 

Fontenoy, a village in Belgium, province 
of Hainaut, celebrated for the battle of May 
11, 1745, in which the French under Mar¬ 
shal Saxe defeated the British, Austrian, 
and Dutch allied forces under the Duke of 
Cumberland. 

Fontevrault (fon-te-vro), a village of 
N. W.France, dep. Maine-et-Loire, in a valley 
10 miles south-east of Saumur. Here was 
formerly a rich Benedictine abbey (now a 
prison) founded in 1099, containing both 
monks and nuns, and governed by an abbess. 
The abbey became the head of an order, and 

26 
























































































FOOT. 


FOO-CHOW 


had many dependencies. The old monastic 
buildings, covering from 40 to 50 acres, are 
now used as a central prison. In the abbey 
church are the tombs of Henry II. and of 
Richard I., kings of England and counts of 
Anjou, of Eleanor, wife of Henry II., and 
Elizabeth, wife of John, king of England. 

Foo-chow, a town of China, capital of 
the province of Fokien, on the Min, 125 
miles N.E. of Amoy. It consists of the 
town proper, surrounded by walls, and of 
extensive suburbs stretching along both 
sides of the river, and communicating by a 
stone bridge. Foo-chow is one of the five 
ports thrown open by the Treaty of 1843. 
The trade is very extensive, but the navi¬ 
gation of the river from the sea to the har¬ 
bour is difficult. Foo-chow has a large ar¬ 
senal and dockyard superintended by Euro¬ 
pean officers; it is also a great literary centre. 
Pop. estimated at 630,000. 

Food. See Aliment and Dietetics. 

Fool. See Jester. 

Foolah. See Fellatah. 

Fools, Feast of, the name given to fes¬ 
tivals regularly celebrated, from the 5th to 
the 16th century, in several countries of 
Europe, by the clergy and laity, with the 
most absurd ceremonies. The feast of fools 
was an imitation of the Roman Saturnalia, 
and, like this, was celebrated in December. 
The chief celebration fell upon the day of 
the Innocents, or upon New-year’s Day; 
but the feast continued from Christmas to 
the last Sunday of Epiphany. The young 
people, who played the chief parts, chose 
from among their own number a mock pope, 
archbishop, bishop, or abbot, and consecrated 
him, with many ridiculous ceremonies, in 
the chief church of the place. They often 
travestied the performance of the highest 
offices of the church, while others, dressed 
in different kinds of masks and disguises, 
engaged in indecent songs and dances, and 
practised all possible follies in the church. 
Except from their association with the Satur¬ 
nalia nothing is known of the origin of these 
extravagancies, which appear to have been 
very ancient. They were most common in 
France, but the feast was also observed in 
Spain, Germany, England, and Scotland. 
In France it survived till the year 1644. 

Foolscap, paper of the smallest regular 
size but one (about 13^ by 16^ inches); so 
called from its water-mark in early times 
being the outline of a fool’s head and cap, 
for which British paper-makers now sub¬ 
stitute the figure of Britannia. 


Fool’s Parsley, the popular name of 
jEthusa Cynapium, nat. order Umbelli- 
ferae, grows wild in some places in the 
Northern States. It is commonly be¬ 
lieved to be poisonous, and serious accidents 
are said to have occurred from its being 
mistaken for parsley; but if poisonous it is 
so only in certain localities. Its unilateral 
reflexed floral leaves distinguish it from 
most plants to which it is allied, 

Foo-shan, a town, China, prov. of Quang- 
tong, 21 miles s.w. of Canton, on one of the 
branches of the delta of the Si-kiang. Pop. 
200,000. 

Foot, a measure of length, the name of 
which is derived from the length of the 
human foot, containing 12 linear inches.— 
Square foot is a square whose side is one 
foot, and is therefore equal to 144 square 
inches.— Cubic foot is a cube whose side is 
1 foot, and the cube contains 1728 cubic 
inches. The foot is a common measure in 
various countries, but its dimensions vary 
considerably. 

Foot, in prosody, a measure consisting of 
a variety of syllables, two, three, or four, in 
combinations of long and short, or accented 
and unaccented. In Greek and Latin verse 
the feet depend on the quantity or length 
of the syllables, each foot having a distinc¬ 
tive name—trochee, iambus, dactyle, ana- 
pest, &c. The same names are applied to 
English measures, an accented syllable in 
English being held to be equivalent to a 
long syllable in Latin or Greek, and an un¬ 
accented syllable to a short. 

Foot, in animals, the lower extremity of 
the leg; the part of the leg which treads the 



° 6 

Skeleton of the Human Foot. 


a to 6 5, Tarsus, bbtoce. Metatarsus, cciod. Pha¬ 
langes. 1, Os calcis, calcaneum, or heel-bone. 2, Astra¬ 
galus. 3, Scaphoid bone, 4, Inner cunoid bone. 5, Middle 
cunoid bone. 6, Outer cunoid bone. 7, Cuboid bone. 8 to 
12, Metatarsal bones. 13, First row of phalanges. 14, Last 
row of phalanges. 

earth in standing or walking, and by which 
the animal is sustained and enabled to step; 
or that surface of the body by which pro¬ 
gression is effected among the mollusca. 
The foot of man is composed of twenty-six 
bones, seven of which constitute the tarsus 
or anMe, which articulates with the leg and 










FOOTA 


FOOT-POUND. 


corresponds to the carpus (wrist). Five bones 
form the metatarsus, which corresponds to 
the metacarpus, and articulates with the tar¬ 
sus behind, and with the toes in front. The 
foot is narrow and thick in its posterior part, 
thinner and broader anteriorly; it forms a 
right angle with the leg, and rests upon the 
ground at the extremities only. The middle 
portion is in the form of an arch, and, in 
consequence, resists shocks and supports 
pressure much better than it could if it 
were flat and touched the ground through¬ 
out its whole length. 

Foota, a territory of Senegambia, W. 
Africa, on the lower Senegal, which bounds 
it on the north-east. It includes Foota 
Toro, and other districts. Area, about 15,000 
sq. m.; pop. estimated at 400,000. The 
natives profess Mohammedanism, and the 
country is divided into three districts, each 
governed by its own chief, subject to a sove¬ 
reign chosen from a few privileged families. 
It is now under French influence. 

Foota-jallon, a region of West Africa, 
intersected by lat. 11° N. and Ion. 11° w. 
It is extremely mountainous, and is the 
source of the rivers Senegal, Gambia, and 
Grande. Large herds and flocks are pas¬ 
tured in the highlands; and the soil pro¬ 
duces in abundance oranges and bananas, 
and palm-trees, which furnish dates, wine, 
and oil. The inhabitants are Mohamme¬ 
dans, and are governed by an elective chief. 

Foot-and-mouth Disease, a highly con¬ 
tagious eczematous affection which attacks 
the feet and mouths of cattle, manifesting 
itself by lameness, indisposition to eat, and 
general febrile symptoms, with ultimately 
eruptions of small vesicles on the parts 
affected, and general indisposition of the 
animal. The disease occasionally spreads to 
the udder of milch-cattle, and it is believed 
that it may be communicated to persons 
who drink the milk of cows so affected. 

Football, an outdoor game of consider¬ 
able antiquity. In former times towns and 
villages were often matched against each 
other, the whole of the able-bodied inhabi¬ 
tants taking part in the struggle; the goals 
being often miles apart, and usually consist¬ 
ing of natural objects, as a brook or river. 
The modern form of the game is played by 
two parties of players, on a large level piece 
of ground, generally oblong in shape, and 
having in the middle of either of the ends 
a goal formed by two upright posts 6 to 8 
yards apart, with a bar or tape extended 
bitween them at the height of 8 or 10 feet 


from the ground. There are various styles 
of playing the game, but the two recognized 
in all important matches are the Rugby 
game and the Football Association game. 
In both games the main object is for either 
party to drive the ball (which is Tciclced off 
in the centre of the field) through the goal 
that their opponents are guarding, and thus 
count a goal against them. In the Rugby 
game the goal-posts are 18J feet apart, and 
joined by a cross-bar at a height of 10 feet 
from the ground; and to score a goal the 
ball must be kicked over this bar by one of 
the opposite side. In the Association game 
the upright poles are 8 yards apart, and 
joined at 8 feet from the ground by a tape, 
under which the ball must pass to secure a 
goal. The Rugby game is much rougher 
and less scientific than the Association 
game, which discourages rough play and 
relies mainly on the skilful manoeuvring of 
the ball with the feet, it being forbidden to 
touch the ball with the hands; while by the 
Rugby rules the player may catch the ball 
in his hands, run with it, and kick it drop¬ 
ping. When a goal is made, or at some 
other arranged interval, the parties change 
ground for the next struggle, so that any 
inequalities of situation may be balanced. 

Foote, Samuel, English comic writer and 
actor, born about 1720 at Truro, died at 
Dover 1777. He was educated at Oxford, 
and entered the Temple; but after a course 
of dissipation, to which his small fortune 
fell a sacrifice, he turned his attention to 
the stage. He appeared first in Othello, 
but had little sitccess as a tragedian. In 
1747 he opened the theatre in Haymarket, 
with a dramatic piece which he entitled 
The Diversions of the Morning. It con¬ 
sisted of some very humorous imitations of 
well-known characters, in detached scenes, 
written by Foote, who always took the 
leading parts himself. After 1752 he per¬ 
formed alternately in London and Dublin. 
He did not obtain a patent for the Hay- 
market till 1766.- Of his numerous plays, 
above twenty in number, hardly one is now 
acted. His humour is described by Dr. 
Johnson and other witnesses as irresistible. 

Foot-guards. See Guards. 

Foot-lights, in theatres, the row of lights 
placed on the front of the stage and on a 
level with it, to light it up. 

Foot-pound, in physics, the term express¬ 
ing the unit selected in measuring the work 
done by a mechanical force. A foot-pound 
represents 1 lb. weight raised through a 

28 



FOOT-ROT-FORBES.* 


height of 1 foot; and a force equal to a cer¬ 
tain number of foot-pounds, fifty for ex¬ 
ample, is a force capable of raising 50 lbs. 
through a height of 1 foot. 

Foot-rot, a disease in the feet of sheep, 
the more common form of which is an in¬ 
ordinate growth of hoof, which at the toe, 
or round the margin, becomes turned down, 
cracked, or torn, thus affording lodgment 
for sand and dirt. In the second form of 
the disease the foot becomes hot, tender, 
and swollen; there are ulcerations between 
the toes, followed by the sprouting of proud 
flesh. 

Footstalk —(1) In botany, a petiole; the 
stalk supporting the leaf, or connecting it 
with the stem or branch. (2) In zoology, 
a process resembling the footstalk in botany, 
as the muscular process by which certain 
of the Brachiopoda are attached, the stem 
which bears the body in barnacles, the stalk 
which supports the eyes in certain crusta¬ 
ceans. 

Foraminif era, an order of animals of low 
type belonging to the class Rhizopoda, sub¬ 
kingdom Protozoa, furnished with a shell or 




4 5 

Foraminifera (recent). 


1, Planorbulina Ugeriana. 2, Triloculina tricarinata. 
3, Globigerina bulloides. 4, Rotalia Beccarii. 5, Nouio- 
nina turgida. 

test, simple or complex, usually perforated 
by pores [foramina), whence the name. The 
shell may be composed of horny matter, or of 
carbonate of lime, secreted from the water 
in which they live. Owing to the resem¬ 
blance of their convoluted chambered shells 
to those of the nautilus, they were at first 
reckoned among the most highly organized 
molluscs. In reality they are among the 
simplest of the protozoa. The body of the 
animal is composed of granular, gelatinous, 
highly elastic sarcode, which not only fills 
the shell, but passes through the perfora¬ 
tions to the exterior, there giving off long 
thread - like processes called pseudo 2 )odia 

29 


interlacing each other so as to form a net 
like a spider’s web. Internally the sarcode- 
body exhibits no structure or definite organs 
of any kind. Foraminifera appear very 
early in the geological formations. The 
great formation known as white chalk is 
largely composed of foraminiferous shells, 
while another remarkable formation known 
as Nummulitic Limestone receives its name 
from the presence of coin-shaped foramini- 
fers, generally about as large as a shilling. 

Forbes, Duncan, of Culloden, Scottish 
lawyer. Lord-president of the Court of Ses¬ 
sion, born 1685, died 1747. He studied 
law at Edinburgh and Leyden; was called 
to the bar in 1709, and immediately after 
appointed Sheriff of Midlothian. In 1716 
he was advocate-deputy, in 1722 member 
of parliament for the Inverness burghs, in 
1725 lord-advocate, and in 1737 lord-presi¬ 
dent of the Court of Session. In 1734, in 
consequence of the death of his brother, he 
fell heir to the estate of Culloden. He de¬ 
voted himself to the improvement of the 
industry of Scotland, and materially aided 
in laying the foundations of that commer¬ 
cial prosperity to which bis country has since 
attained. He also effected many improve¬ 
ments in the procedure of the Coui’t of Ses¬ 
sion. It was mainly owing to his exertions 
that the rebellion of 1745 was prevented 
from spreading more rapidly among the 
clans; but so ungratefully was he treated 
by the government, that he was never able 
to obtain repayment of the large sums he 
had expended to uphold it. He wrote sev¬ 
eral religious works; Thoughts on Religion; 
Reflections on the Sources of Incredulity in 
Regard to Religion; Letter to a Bishop; &c. 

Forbes, Edward, British naturalist, was 
born at Douglas, Isle of Man, 1815, died 
at Edinburgh 1854. He early devoted him¬ 
self to science, and having made scientific 
journeys in Norway, Sweden, France, Ger¬ 
many, &c., he was attached to a scientific 
expedition to the Mediterranean, the result 
of which appeared in a report presented to 
the British Association, and in Travels in 
Lycia. In 1842 he became professor of 
botany at King’s College, London. On the 
opening of the School of Mines Forbes was 
appointed lecturer on natural history as 
applied to geology and the arts. He still 
retained his professorship of botany at King’s 
College, and continued to contribute annu¬ 
ally some of his most valuable memoirs to 
the British Association, besides writing for 
scientific and literary journals. In 1853 he 











FORBES 


FORCELLINI. 


was appointed to the chair of natural his¬ 
tory in Edinburgh. Among his more im¬ 
portant works, which include a great number 
of valuable papers on zoological, botanical, 
and literary subjects, are a History of the 
Star-fishes and History of British Mollusca. 

Forbes (forbz or for'bes), James David, 
Scottish scientist, born 1809, died 1868. He 
was educated at Edinburgh University, and 
admitted to the Scottish bar. In 1833 
he was appointed to the chair of natural 
philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. 
In 1860 he became principal of the United 
Colleges of St. Salvador and St. Leonard, 
in the University of St. Andrews. His fame 
rests chiefly on his study of glaciers. His 
chief publications on this subject are: Travels 
through the Alps of Savoy; Norway and its 
Glaciers; Tour of Mont Blanc and Monte 
Eosa; and Occasional Papers on the Theory 
of Glaciers, Forbes’ theory of the glacier 
was that it was a viscous body, urged down 
slopes of a certain inclination by the mutual 
pressure of its parts. See Glaciers. 

Forbes, Sir John, a Scottish physician, 
a homoeopathist, phrenologist, and believer 
in mesmerism, born 1787, died 1861. He 
received his professional education at Aber¬ 
deen and Edinburgh, graduating M.D. at 
the latter in 1817. In 1840 he settled in 
London, and soon became physician extra¬ 
ordinary to the Prince Consort, and physi¬ 
cian to the Queen. In 1853 he w^as knighted. 
His first works were his translations of the 
writings of Avenbrugger and Laennec on 
auscultation and the use of the stethoscope. 
To the Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine, 
of which he was joint-editor, he contributed 
some of the best articles in the work. He 
was the founder of the British and Foreign 
Medical Eeview, and published a number 
of professional and other works. 

Forbes MacKenzie Act, the popular title of 
an act for the better regulation of the public- 
houses of Scotland, passed 15th August, 1853. 
It was introduced in the House of Commons 
by Forbes MacKenzie, member for Liver¬ 
pool, although its author was Lord Kinnaird. 
See Licensing Acts. 

Forbidden Fruit, a name fancifully given 
to the fruits of various trees grown in tropical 
countries, as the shaddock {Citrus decumd- 
nus), a sort of thick-skinned orange (Citrus 
paradisi), and the poisonous fruit of the 
Tabernamontdna dichotoma, a tree of Cey¬ 
lon, traditionally said to be the fruit of 
which Adam and Eve ate at the time of the 
fall in Eden, 


Force, that which is the source of all 
active phenomena occurring in the material 
world, and of which motion, gravitation, 
heat, light, electricity and magnetism, cohe¬ 
sion, and chemical affinity are believed to be 
exhibitions. Mechanical force is the power 
which produces or modifies motion or tends 
to do so. It has its origin in three causes; (1) 
gravitation; (2) the unknown cause of the 
phenomena of light, heat, and electricity; 
and (3) life. Mechanical forces are of two 
sorts: one of a body at rest, being the same 
as pressure or tension; the other of a body 
in motion, being the same as impetus or mo¬ 
mentum. When two forces act on a body 
in the same line of direction the resulting 
force, or resultant as it is called, will be the 
sum of both forces. If they act in opposite 
directions the body will remain at rest if 
the forces be equal; or, if the forces be un¬ 
equal, it will move with a force equivalent 
to their difference in the direction of the 
greater. If the lines of direction make an 
angle with each other the resultant will be 
a mean force in an intermediate direction. 
The composition of forces is the combining 
of two or more into one (actually or hypo¬ 
thetically), which shall have the same effect 
when acting in some given direction; the re¬ 
solution of forces is the decomposing of a 
single force into two or more forces, which, 
acting in different directions, shall be equi¬ 
valent to the single force. Forces have dif¬ 
ferent denominations according to their na¬ 
ture and the manner in which they act: thus 
we have accelerating forces, constant forces, 
parallel forces, uniform and variable forces, 
&c. The unit of force is a single force in 
terms of which the amount of any other 
force is ascertained. See Dynamics, Energy. 

Forcellini (for-chel-e'ne), Egidio, an Ita¬ 
lian lexicographer, born 1688, died 1768. 
The poverty of his parents deprived him of 
early advantages, and he was almost grown 
up when he began to study Latin in the 
seminary at Padua, Forcellini made rapid 
progress in Latin and Greek, and assisted 
his teacher Facciolati in his new and greatly 
augmented edition of Calepin’s dictionary 
of seven languages. The two friends then 
resolved to publish a complete Latin dic¬ 
tionary. The execution of this great work, 
occupying nearly forty years of his life, de¬ 
volved entirely upon Forcellini, though he 
had the counsel and supervision of his old 
teacher. It was published under the title 
AEgidii Forcellini totius Latinitatis Lexicon, 
&c. (Padua, 1771, four vols. folio). 

30 





FORCEPS-FORESHORTENING. 


For'ceps, a general name for a two-bladed 
instrument on the principle of pincers or 
tongs, used for seizing and holding, and for 
extracting objects, which it would be im¬ 
practicable thus to treat with the fingers. 
Such instruments are used by watchmakers 
and jewellers in delicate operations, by den¬ 
tists in forcibly extracting teeth, for grasping 
and holding parts in dissection, for extract¬ 
ing anything from a wound, taking up an 
artery, and by accoucheurs. 

Force-pump. See Pump. 

Forcible Detainer, in English law, a vio¬ 
lent withholding of the lands, &c., of an¬ 
other from his possession. 

Forcible Entry, in English law% the vio¬ 
lently taking possession of lands or tene¬ 
ments. 

Forcing, a method of cultivation by which 
plants, flowers, and fruits are raised at an 
earlier season than the natural one by pro¬ 
tecting them under glass, in hot or cold 
frames, by using stimulating fertilizers, and 
other means. 

Ford, John, an early English dramatic 
author, born in 1586, died about 1640. He 
entered the Middle Temple in 1602, and 
appears to have practised as a lawyer. In 
1606 he published a monody on Charles 
Blount, Lord Mountjoy, afterwards Earl of 
Devonshire. His dramas are; The Lover’s 
Melancholy (1629); ’Tis a Pity she’s a Whore 
(1633); The Broken Heart (1633); Perkin 
Warbeck (1634); The Fancies Chaste and 
Noble (1638); The Lady’s Trial (1639); 
The Sun’s Darling (1657), and several others 
written in conjunction with Dekker, Web¬ 
ster, and others. 

For'dun, John, the father of Scottish his¬ 
tory, born probably at Fordoun, Kincardine¬ 
shire, soon after 1300; died about 1386. He 
wrote the first five books of his history known 
as the Scotichronicon (in Latin), bringing it 
down to 1153, and part of the sixth, and left 
materials for its continuation down to his 
own period. It was resumed about 1441 by 
Walter Bower, abbot of the monastery of 
Inchcolm, by whom the five books of Fordun 
were enlarged, and eleven new ones added, 
bringing the history down to 1437. It ex¬ 
ists in numerous MS. copies, and several 
printed editions have been published, the 
best of which is that of W. F. Skene, Edin¬ 
burgh, 1871-72, with translation. 

Fore-and-aft, in ships, a term meaning 
in a line wdth the keel. Fore-and-aft sails 
are those that are set on a stay or gaff and 
boom, such as jibs, stay-sails, &c. 

31 


Forecastle, a short deck in the forepart 
of a ship of war, or forward of the foremast, 
above the upper deck. In merchant ships 
it is the forepart of the vessel, where the 
sailors live. 

Foreclosure, in law, is the right of a 
mortgagee, or of any one having interest 
in a mortgage, in the event of the conditions 
of the mortgage being violated, to compel 
the mortgager to redeem the pledge or for¬ 
feit his right of redemption. 

Foreign Attachment. See Attachment. 

Foreign Bill of Exchange. See Bill. 

Foreign Enlistment. See Enlistment. 

Foreign Ofl5.ce, that department of the 
British government presided over by the 
secretary of state for foreign affairs, and 
having its locale in Downing Street, West¬ 
minster. It was established in 1782, and 
has charge of British interests in foreign 
countries. The secretary for foreign affairs 
negotiates treaties, appoints diplomatic 
officers, &c. 

Foreland, a cape or promontory project¬ 
ing into the sea, as the North and South 
Forelands, two headlands in England on the 
coast of Kent. The former on the n.e. coast, 
2^ miles s.E. of Margate, has a lighthouse 
85 feet high, showing an intermittent light. 
The latter on the s.E. coast, 3 miles n.e. of 
Dover, has two lighthouses with fixed lights, 
372 and 275 feet above high water. 

Foren'sic Medicine, the branch of medical 
education which applies the principles and 
practice of the different branches of medi¬ 
cine to the elucidation of doubtful questions 



Foreshortened (after figure by Raphael). 


in a court of justice; otherwise called medi¬ 
cal jurisprudence. 

Foreshortening, in drawing and painting, 
the art of representing figures in such a 









FOREST- 

manner as to convey to the mind the im¬ 
pression of the entire length of any object 
which is pointing more or less dii’ectly to¬ 
wards the spectator standing in front of the 
picture. The projecting object is shortened 
in proportion to its approach to the perpen¬ 
dicular to the plane of the picture, and in 
consequence appears of a just length. 

Forest, a term properly applied to an ex¬ 
tensive wood, or to a large tract of mingled 
woodland and open and uncultivated land; 
but also given to a large tract of hilly or 
mountain land wholly or chiefly devoted to 
the purposes of the chase. (See Deer-forest.) 
Forests proper are of much importance in the 
general economy of the globe. They greatly 
affect climate; and their beneficial influence 
in a physical, economical, and hygienic aspect 
is now receiving increased attention. For 
immense forests the reader must look to 
the Western continent, where, both in the 
north and south, the vegetation ai)pears to 
possess no limits. In the United States, 
nevertheless, the forests, though yet of 
immense extent, are gradually disappear¬ 
ing. In South America, the whole of the 
valley of the Amazon, which embraces 
one-third of the entire area of that country, 
is one vast forest. To give an account of 
the various descriptions of trees would be 
impossible. 

For the preservation of the forests the 
States of New York, California, Colorado, 
North Dakota, and New Hampshire have 
Forest Commissions, and Ohio has a For¬ 
estry Bureau. The American Forestry 
Association, with delegates from all the 
States, meets annually. State Associations 
are in existence in Colorado, Kentucky, 
Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and 
Texas. To encourage forest-planting on 
the treeless prairies the United States 
government has made tree-planting the 
consideration for the acquisition of public 
lauds. Thus by cultivating ten acres of 
trees thereon for eight years the head of 
a family, or a single person over twenty- 
one, may acquire title to 160 acres of land ; 
provided he be a citizen, or has declared 
his intention to become one. 

Forest-fly, the popular name of a family 
(Hippoboscidae) of two-winged flies, parasitic 
on birds and quadrupeds. 

Forest Marble, in geology, an argillaceous 
laminated shelly limestone, alternating with 
clays and calcareous sandstones, and form¬ 
ing one of the upper portions of the Lower 


- FORGE. 

Oolite: so called from Which wood Forest, in 
Oxfordshire, where the flner bands are 
quarried as marble. 

Forest-oak, the commercial term for the 
timber of trees of the genus Casuarlna. be¬ 
longing to Australia. Called also She-oak, 
Swamp-oak, and Beef-wood. 

For'far, or Angus, a maritime county on 
the east coast of Scotland, bounded N. by 
counties Aberdeen and Kincardine, w. by 
Perth, s. by the Firth of Tay, and E. by the 
German Ocean; area, 568,750 acres. The 
surface is covered in the west and north¬ 
west by aportionof the Grampians known by 
the name of the Braes of Angus, and in the 
south by part of the Sidlaw Hills. Between 
the Grampians and the Sidlaw Hills lies 
part of the valley of Strathmore, and be¬ 
tween the Sidlaw Hills and the Tay is the 
level but rich and highly cultivated tract of 
which the Carse of Gowrie forms a part. 
The chief rivers are the N. Esk and tiie S. 
Esk. All the operations of agriculture are 
carried on in the most approved manner, 
and nearly half the area is under crops. 
Cattle rearing is carried to great perfection, 
the chief breeds being shorthorns and polled 
Angus. The staple manufacture is coarse 
linens, which is more or less carried on in 
all the towns and villages, but has its cen¬ 
tral locality at Dundee. Sandstone flags 
are largely quarried in the Arbroath dis¬ 
trict. The county returns one member to 
parliament. Pop. 277,788.— The county 
town, Forfar, is a royal burgh, 13 miles 
north by east of Dundee. The public 
buildings include, besides churches and 
schools, a town-house, county buildings, 
public hall, &c. The staple manufacture is 
lineii, especially of the coarser varieties, 
there being several large factories in the 
town, in connection with which are several 
bleach-works. Forfar belongs to the Mon¬ 
trose district of burghs, which sends one 
member to parliament. Pop. 12,817. 

For'feiture, a punishment annexed to 
some illegal act or remissness of an owner 
or tenant of property, whereby he loses his 
interest therein, together with his title, the 
same going to the party injured by such act 
or remissness. 

Forge, a workshop or other establishment 
in which iron or other metal is hammered 
and shaped by the aid of heat; also, the 
works where iron is rendered malleable by 
puddling and shingling. For military pur¬ 
poses a travelling forge is used by forces in 
the field. 



FORGERY-FORMOSA. 


Forgery, at common law, the fraudulent 
making or alteration of a writing to the 
prejudice of another man’s rights, or mak¬ 
ing, malo anirno, of any written instrument 
for the purpose of fraud and deceit; the 
word making, in this last definition, being 
considered as including every alteration of 
or addition to a true instrument. The 
])unishment of forgery at common law' is, as 
for a misdemeanour, by fine, imprisonment, 
and such other corporeal punishment as the 
court in its discretion shall award. Most, 
and perhaps all, of the States in the Union 
have passed taws making certain acts to be 
forgery, and the national legislature has 
also enacted several on this subject; but 
the.se statutes do not take away the charac¬ 
ter of the offence as a misdemeanour at com¬ 
mon law, but only provide additional pun¬ 
ishment in cases enumerated in the statutes. 

Forget-me-not, the name of 31yos5tis 
palustris, nat. order Boraginacese, annual 
and perennial herbs. Nearly fifty species 
have been described. Scorpion-grass is 
also a name for it and others of its genus. 
It is a very beautiful plant, and considered 
to be the emblem of friendship wherever 
it is grown. Its flowers are bright blue 
with a yellow eye. Forget-me-nots also 
grow in the United States. The dark-blue 
forget-me-not of the Azores (31. azorica) is 
now cultivated in greenhouses, and is much 
esteemed for the brilliancy of its flowers. 

Forli', a town of North Italy, capital of 
a province of same name, 38 miles south¬ 
east of Bologna. It is handsome and well 
built, has manufactures of silk ribbons, silk 
twist, woollen stuffs, &c., and a considerable 
trade. I''orli has a cathedral and is a bishop’s 
see. Pop. 16,016.—The province of Forli 
is bounded on the east by the Adriatic; area 
716 sq. miles; pop. 1891, 269,375. 

Forlorn Hope, a body of men, usually 
volunteers, selected from different regi¬ 
ments, to lead an assault, enter a breach, 
or perform other service attended wuth un¬ 
common peril. The term is of Dutch origin; 
hope being from Dutch hoop, a company. 

Form, as a metaphysical term, has been 
defined as the essence of the thing from 
which result not only its figure and shape, 
but all its other qualities. Hence it is all 
that makes a thing intelligible to the mind, 
in contradistinction to matter, thus regarded 
as a kind of unknown substance or sub¬ 
stratum. 

Forma Pauperis, In, ‘in the form or cha¬ 
racter of a poor person (pauper).’ By the 
VOL. IV. 33 


laws both of England and Scotland provi- 
sion is made for suits being carried on by 
individuals who are too poor to pay the 
usual fees. A suit conducted under these 
provisions is said to be a suit in forma pau¬ 
peris. In England it is provided that any 
one having a good cause of action, and tak¬ 
ing oath that he is not worth £5 beyond his 
wearing apparel and the subject in dispute, 
is entitled to have writs without paying 
fees, and the judges may assign him counsel 
and attorney, who shall act gratuitously. 
In Scotland similar provision is made for 
the poor, advocates and solicitors being 
annually appointed for the conduct of poors’ 
cases before the supreme and sheriff courts. 

Formation, in geology, any series of 
rocks referred to a common origin or period, 
whether they consist of the same or different 
materials. Geological strata are divided 
into certain groups of one era of deposition, 
sometimes of very dissimilar mineralogical 
character, but inclosing the same fossil 
species; as, the Carboniferous, Oolitic, Cre¬ 
taceous, Silurian, Laurentian, &c., forma¬ 
tions. See Geology. 

Formente'ra, one of the Balearic Islands, 
about 12 miles long and 8 broad, hilly, 
woody, and but little cultivated. 

Formi'ca, the genus to which some of the 
ants belong. 

Formic Acid (CHoO^), an acid obtained 
from ants (L. formica, an ant), when re¬ 
peated quantities of them have been infused 
in boilino’ water. It is contained in human 
sweat and urine, in the common nettle and 
other plants, and may be prepared artificially 
in various ways. It is a colourless volatile 
liquid, with pungent odour, and producing 
intense irritation on the skin. 

Formo'sa, an island in the Chinese Sea, 
separated from the Chinese prov. of Fo- 
kien by a strait about 80 miles wide where 
narrowest. The island is about 250 miles 
in length and 70 in average breadth. It is 
divided by a central range of mountains 
(rising to 12,000 feet) into a western and 
eastern part, the former of which (mostly a 
plain) is occupied by about 500,000 immi¬ 
grant Chinese, and highly cultivated, pro¬ 
ducing in abiandance corn, rice, sugar, pep¬ 
per, camphor, oranges, bananas, &c. The 
eastern part is inhabited mainly b}’^ wild 
tribes of Malayan race, who are gradually 
disappearing before the Chinese. Northern 
Formosa is volcanic, and earthquakes occur. 
Four ports have been open since 1860 to 
European commerce: Tai-wan (the capital), 






FORMOSA 


FORSTER. 


Tam-sui, Ke-lung, and Takow; and the 
trade of the island since then has greatly 
increased. The chief exports are coal, tea, 
cauiphor, sugar, indigo, hemp, timber; the 
imports are cotton and woollen goods and 
opium. 

Formo'sa, an island in the Atlantic, form¬ 
ing one of the Bissagos off the west coast 
of Africa. See Bissaijos. 

For'mula, a fixed form of words or sym¬ 
bols. In theology it is a formal statement 
of doctrines; in mathematics, a general 
theorem, a rule or piinciple expressed in 
algebraic symbols. In chemistry it is a 
mode of expressing the constituents of a 
compound by means of symbols and letters. 
Thus water is represented by HoO, in which 
Hi stands for the two proportions of hy¬ 
drogen and O for the one of oxygen which 
are combined to produce water. 

Forres (for'es), a royal and parliamentary 
burgh of Scotland, county of Elgin, beauti¬ 
fully situated in a finely-wooded country. 
Forres Castle was the residence of the early 
Scottish kings, and Shakspere has made 
this neighbourhood the scene of the chief 
events in Macbeth. Forres is one of the 
Inverness district of parliamentary burghs. 
Pop. 4573. 

Forrest, Edwin, an American actor, born 
in Philadelphia 1806. He showed an early 
talent for the stage, and in 1820 made his 
debut at Philadelphia as the hero in Home’s 
play of Douglas. In 1826 he appeared be¬ 
fore the New York public as Othello with 
signal success. In 1836 he visited England, 
making a third and last visit in 1845. He 
continued to act with great success at New 
York till 1871, when he retired, dying in 
1872. His chief characters were Othello, 
Macbeth, Hamlet, and Richard III. 

Forster, Johann Georg Adam, German 
traveller, son of Johann Reinhold Forster 
(see next art.), was born in 1754. He ac¬ 
companied his father to Russia and England, 
and both accompanied Cook in his voyage 
round the world 1772-75. Subsequently 
he taught natural history at Cassel, held a 
professorial chair at Wilna, became librarian 
to the Elector of Mains, and died at Paris 
in 1794, An excellent account of Cook's 
second voyage round the world was written 
by him in connection with his father. He 
also wrote Essays on Geography, Natural 
History, Views of the Lower Rhine, &c, 
Forster, Johann Reinhold, German 
writer, father of the foregoing, born in 1729. 
He studied theology at Halle, and became 


preacher at Nassenhuben. He chiefly de¬ 
voted himself, however, to his favoui’ite 
studies—mathematics, history, geography, 
&c. After having been engaged on a mis¬ 
sion by the Russian government he in 1766 
migrated to London, where he supported 
himself, and his son Johann Georg partly 
by teaching. He was finally invited to ac¬ 
company Captain Cook in his second voyage 
as naturalist of the expedition. An account 
of the voyage was published in his son’s 
name (London, 1777). In 1780 he was in¬ 
vited to Halle as professor of natural his¬ 
tory, and continued there until his death in 
1798. 

Forster, John, English writer, born at 
Newcastle April 2, 1812. While studying 
for the bar in London he contributed to the 
Examiner and other periodicals. In 1843 
be was called to the bar, but his main in¬ 
terests remained in the field of litei'ature. 
He became editor of the Daily News in 
1846, and shortly afterwards of the Ex¬ 
aminer. In 1848 he published his Life of 
Goldsmith. In 1856 he retired from the 
editorship of the Examiner, having been 
appointed the year previous secretary to the 
Lunacy Commission, of which he became 
in 1861 a commissioner. During this period 
he devoted himself to historical studies, the 
result of which appeared in his Arrest of 
the Five Members, Debates on the Grand 
Remonstrance, and Life of Sir John Eliot. 
He also published biographies of Landor 
and Dickens, but died 1st Feb. 1876, befoi'e 
completing his Life of Swift. 

Forster, The Right Hon. WIlliam Ed¬ 
ward, English statesman, born at Bradpole, 
Dorset, July 11, 1818, the son of an emin¬ 
ent minister of the Society of Friends. He 
entered into the woollen trade at Bradford. 
In 1850 he mamed the eldest daughter of 
Dr. Arnold of Rugby. He was returned 
to parliament for Bradford in 1861; became 
successively under-secretary for the colonies 
(1865), vice-president of the Education Com¬ 
mittee (1868), and a member of cabinet 
(1870). He had charge of the Education 
Bill of 1870 and the Ballot Bill of 1872. 
In 1875, the Liberals having just returned 
to power, Mr. Forster accepted the post of 
chief secretary for Ireland at a time when 
that country was distracted by agrarian and 
political tumults. The suppression of the 
Land League and the arrest of Mr. Parnell 
and the more violent agitators was carried 
out by Mr. Forster, but on the government 
resolving to change its policy and release 

34 



FORTH BRIDGE. 


FORSYTH 


the Parnellites Mr. Forster resigned (1882). 
After this he \va.s often found voting in op¬ 
position to the government, particularly in 
matters of foreign and imperial policy. He 
died April 6, 1886. 

Forsyth (for-sith'), William, English 
lawyer and writer, born 1812. After a bril¬ 
liant career at Trinity College, Cambridge, 
he studied law, was called to the bar in 
1839, and became a queen’s counsel in 1859. 
He represented the borough of Marylebone 
in the House of Commons in 1874-80, Be¬ 
sides legal works he has written Hortensius, 
or the Duty and Office of an Advocate; 
History of Trial by Jury; Napoleon at St. 
Helena and Sir Hudson Lowe; Life of 
Cicero; Novels and Novelists of the 18th 
Century; Hannibal in Italy, a drama, &c,; 
and has contributed to various periodicals. 

Fort, a small fortified place surrounded 
with a ditch, rampart, and parapet, for the 
purpose of defending a pass, river, road, 
harbour, &c. Forts are made of different 
forms and extent according to the exigen¬ 
cies of the case. See Fortification. 

Fort Augustus, a village of Scotland, 
county of Inverness, on the Caledonian 
Canal, about 33 miles s.w. of Inverness. It 
has its name from a fort erected in the 
vicinity in 1734 to overawe the Highlanders, 
who, however, succeeded in captui’ing it in 
1745. It was occupied by a garrison till 
1857, was purchased by Lord Lovat in 1876, 
and now forms the site of a Roman Catholic 
abbey and college. 

Fort de France, or Fort-Royal, a town 
and seaport, French West Indies, island of 
Martini(j[ue, of which it is the capital. It 
has a fine harbour and strong fortifications. 
Pop. 11,424. 

Fort George, a fortress of Scotland, in the 
county of and 10 miles north-east of Inver¬ 
ness, at the extremity of a low point of land 
projecting into the Moray Firth. It was 
built after the rebellion of 1745, and can 
accommodate about 2000 men. 

Forth, a river of Central Scotland, formed 
in Perthshire by the junction of two streams, 
the Duchray and the Dhu, about 1 mile w. 
of Aberfoyle. From Aberfoyle the river 
flows south-east, forming for a considerable 
part of its course the boundary between the 
counties of Stirling and Perth, winding in 
its lower course in a series of curves known 
as the Lmks of Forth, and expanding there¬ 
after into the Firth of Forth, which forms 
the most important harbour of refuge N. of 
the Humber. Its chief ports are Leith, 

35 


Granton, Bo’ness, and Grangemouth. The 
Forth is navigable for the smaller class of 
vessels as far up as Alloa. Its length is 
about 170 miles. It is a good salmon stream. 
There are several islands in the estuary, on 
two of which, the Isle of May and Inch- 
keith, lighthouses are erected. The firth 
is crossed at Queensferry by a bridge. See 
Forth Bridge. 

Forth and Clyde Canal, a canal in Scot¬ 
land constructed in 1768-90, and extend¬ 
ing from the Forth at Grangemouth to the 
Clyde at Bowling, thus giving communica¬ 
tion by water from the east to the west coast. 
It is 35 miles long. The Union Canal, 31 ^ 
miles long, joins it near Falkirk and con¬ 
nects it with Edinburgh. 

Forth Bridge, the great railway viaduct 
which crosses the Firth of Forth at Queens¬ 
ferry, here about 4000 feet wide at low 
water. The small island of Inchgarvie is 
used as the central support of the two chief 
spans, which are 1710 feet wide each. These 
spans are each made up of two cantilevers 
e.xtending towards each other from the oppo¬ 
site sides and connected by a girder, the can¬ 
tilevers being 343 feet deep where they rest 
on the supporting piers and 40 feet at the 
free ends, and projecting 680 feet, while 
the central connecting girder is 350 feet in 
length. There are other two spans of 680 
feet each, fifteen of 168 feet each, and seven 
small arches totalling about 400 feet. In¬ 
cluding piers there is about a mile of main 
spans and over half a mile of viaduct ap¬ 
proach. The clear headway under the cen¬ 
tre of the bridge is 150 feet above high 
water, while the highest part of the bridge 
is 361 feet above high water. Each of the 
main i)iers consists of a group of four cylin¬ 
drical gi’anite and concrete piers 49 feet in 
diameter at the top and from 60 to 70 feet 
at bottom. The deepest pier is about 70 
feet below low water, and the rise of the 
tide is 18 feet at ordinary springs. In the 
piers there are about 120,000 cubic yards 
of masonry, and in the superstructure about 
45,000 tons of steel. All the foundations 
are either on rock or on a boulder-clay 
which for all practical purposes is as hard 
as rock; and the whole structure presents 
a net-work of bracing capable of resisting 
stresses in any direction and of any probable 
severity. The bridge carries two lines of 
rails. It was projected by a company in 
which the North British, Great Northern, 
North Eastern, and Midland Railways are 
interested. The engineers were Sir John 












FORTIFICATION. 


Fowler and Mr. B. Baker, C.E., and the 
contract price was £1,600,000. Operations 
were commenced in January, 1883, and the 
woi'k was completed in the end of 1889. 

Fortification, the science of strengthening 
positions in such a way that they may be 
defended by a body of men much inferior 
in number to those by whom they are at¬ 
tacked; and more particularly, the science 
of strengthening positions so as that they 
may be held against the assault of troops 
supported by artillery. Fortifications are usu¬ 
ally divided into permanent and temporary. 
Permanent fortifications are works required 
to remain effective for any length of time, 
for the purpose of defending important po¬ 


sitions and cities, dockyards, arsenals, &c. 
Temporary fortifications are such as are de¬ 
signed merely to throw temporary obstacles 
in the way of the enemy, as field-works, &c. 
The former are constructed on the principle 
that each part must by its fire support 
and be supported by some other part; that 
the works must protect the defenders from 
the enemy’s fire as well as possible, and that 
the fire of the fortress must completely 
sweep all parts of the ground in front of the 
fortified lines. The more important details 
of a regular fortification may be briefly de¬ 
scribed as under: Around the place to be 
defended is raised a mound or bank of earth 
called a rampart, on the upper surface of 



Section through line of Fortifications. 


which, the terre-pleine [a), the troops and 
cannon are placed. The terre-pleine is pro¬ 
tected from the enemy’s fire by a breast¬ 
work or parapet (ft), about 8 feet high, some¬ 
times pierced at certain intervals with era- 
brasures through which the guns are fired. 
Beyond the rampart is the ditch, usually 
about 12 feet in depth, but varying greatly 
in width. The ditch is sometimes filled 
with water; in other cases it is dry. The 
scarp or escarp (c) is the inner wall of the 
ditch, and it is faced with mason-work or 
hurdles, sods, &c. (the revetement) to retain 
the earth of the rampart in its place. The 
counterscarp {d) is the opposite or outer wall 
of the ditch. F'rom the top of the counter¬ 
scarp outwards is a space about 30 feet 
wide (the covered-way, e) protected by a para¬ 
pet, the long superior outward slope of which 
towards the open ground forms the glacis. 
The use of the covered-way is to allow the 
troops to be drawn up on it unseen by the 
besiegers for the purpose of making a sortie; 
it also enables the defenders to keep up a 
closer fire on the attacking forces. The 
slope of the glacis is so constructed as to 
bring the assailants in the direct line of fire 
from the artillery on the ramparts. In the 
sectional cut A is towards the interior of 
the fort, B towards the open country. At 
certain intervals there are often bastions or 
projecting works at salient angles, com¬ 


manding by their fire the curtain or straight 
portion of the fortified line between them. 
The use of the bastion has given name to 
what is called the bastionary system of 
fortification, which has in modern times 
largely given way to what is known as the 
polygonal or German system, which is con¬ 
sidered to have various advantages in rela¬ 
tion to the powerful artillery of the present 
day. The polygonal system has also been 
called the caponier system, from the use of 
powerful casemated caponiers constructed 
across the ditches and serving instead of 
bastions for their defence. The general 
plan of the works is polygonal, with the 
ramparts placed on the sides of the polygon. 
The connecting line of fortifications sur¬ 
rounding a place is called the fortified 
enceinte, and the works in a regular fortress 
form a very complicated whole, including 
works to which such names as ravelins, 
demi-lunes, &c., are given. The fortified 
enceinte immediately surrounding a place 
is not now considered a sufficient defence, 
on account mainly of the long range of 
modern cannon. Hence it is usual to sur¬ 
round a fortress with a line of detached 
forts at some distance from the enceinte, 
or there may be more than one such line of 
advanced works. Fortifications intended 
to ward off attacks by sea have their sea- 
faces now commonly protected by plates of 

36 










FORT MADISON- 

iron or steel. Scientific fortification may 
be said to commence with the gfreat French 

^ o 

engineer A^auban, who served under Louis 
XIV. He developed the bastioned system, 
which, as improved by Cormontaigne and 
others, is still the prevailing type of French 
fortification. 

Field Fortifications vary much according 
to the time allowed for construction, and 
during which they may prove useful. Among 
works of this nature are the redan, which 
consists of two parapets, with a ditch in 
front, forming an angle facing the enemy; 
the lunette, which is a redan with short 
flanks; the redoubt, a closed work with a 
ditch and parapet all round. As none of 
those works has a flanking fire in itself, 
they have to be disposed so that they flank 
each other within rifle range. To do this 
effectually, and to strengthen the whole 
line, the plan generally adopted is to form 
an intrenched camp by a line of square 
redoubts, flanking each other, and also a 
line of simple redans in front of the inter¬ 
vals of the redoubts. When the time is 
not sufficient to throw up such works, 
simple forms of intrenchment, such as shelter 
trenches, are used to shelter troops or op¬ 
pose the enemy’s advance. A very shallow 
trench, with the earth thrown to the front, 
so as to afford shelter to one man lying in 
it, may be made in somewhat less than half 
an hour; more elaborate forms in about one 
hour. So that by placing a man at every 
4 feet, active troops can make good shel¬ 
ter for themselves in an hour. To impede 
the enemy’s advance an abattis of felled 
trees may be used, also wire entanglements, 
chevaux-de-frise, &c. 

Fort Madison, Lee co., Iowa. It occu¬ 
pies a healthful site, and has a large trade. 
Pop. 1890, 7906. 

Fortress Monroe, Old Point Comfort, 
Va., defending, with Fort Wool, Hampton 
Roads, Norfolk, and the Gosport navy- 
yard. It contains barracks, a school of 
artillery, and arsenal. It is an irregular 
hexagon, surrounded by a tidewater ditch 
eight feet deep, and covers eighty acres. 
It was commenced in 1817. 

Fort Scott, Bourbon co., Kansas. An 
active manufacturing town. Coal is mined 
in the vicinity. Pop. 1890, 11,946. 

Fort Smith, Sebastian co.. Ark., has 
considerable trade in cotton, hides, peltry, 
lumber, &c. Manufactures leather, lumber, 
and agricultural implements. Pop. 11,311. 

Fort Sumter, a fort on the entrance to 
87 


— FORT WAYNE. 

Charleston Harbour, South Carolina, U.S. 
At the opening of the War of Secession it 
was taken by the Confederates from the 
small body of U.S. troops by whom it was 
garrisoned (14 April, 1861). It repulsed 
an attack of nine iron-clads on 7 April, 
1863, and was heavily bombarded in August 
of the same year, but maintained its defence 
till the final evaciaation of Charleston, Feb. 
18,1865. It has been rebuilt on a modified 
plan, 

Fortu'na, th ■ Roman goddess of success, 
corresponding to the Greek Tt^che, She is 
generally delineated with a rudder, emblem 
of her guiding power; or, later, with a band¬ 
age over her eyes and a sceptre in her hand, 
and sitting or standing on a wheel or globe. 

Fortunate Islands, an old name of the 
Canaries. 

Fortuna'tus, the hero of an old popular 
legend. He obtained a wishing-cap and 
inexhaustible purse of gold, which finally 
ruined him and his sons. The first printed 
edition of the story appeared in Germany 
in 1509, but in various forms it has ap¬ 
peared in most of the languages of Europe. 

Fortunatus, a Latin poet, born in North¬ 
ern Italy about 503 A.n.; Bishop of Poitiers 
in 597; died about 600. His works were 
numerous, but he is remembered only by 
his hymns, one of which (Vexilla regis pro- 
deunt) was adopted by the church, and is 
well known in the modern version of J. ]\I. 
Neale (‘ The royal banners forward go,’ &c.). 

Fortune-tellers, persons professing or 
pretending to tell fortunes; punishable in 
Britain as rogues and vagabonds. 

Fortu'ny, Makiano, a Spanish painter, 
bom near Barcelona, 11th June, 1839. He 
studied at Madrid, travelled in Morocco, 
and settled at Rome, where he became the 
centre of a school of artists in revolt against 
over-study of the ‘masters.’ In 1866 he 
went to Paris, where his pictures, mostly 
genre subject.^ from southern and oriental 
life, had a great success. Amongst the best 
known are A Spanish Marriage, A Fantasia 
at Morocco, The Academicians at Arcadia, 
The Seashore at Portici. 

Fort Wayne, a flourishing city of Indiana, 
United States, situated in a beautiful and 
well-cultivated country at the junction of 
the St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s rivers, which 
here unite to form the Maumee. It has 
railroad and machine works, and derives its 
name from a fort erected here in 1794 by 
General Wayne. It is the seat of a Roman 
Catholic episcopal see. Pop. 1890, 35,393. 








FORT WILLIAM 


FOSTER. 


Fort William, a town of Scotland, county 
of Inverness, at the foot of Ben Nevis, near 
the south end of the Caledonian Canal. It 
is named from a fort built here by General 
Monk, and rebuilt by General Mackay. 

Fort Worth, county-seat of Tarrant co., 
Texas, 200 miles N. of Austin. Pop. 23,076. 

Forum, among the Romans, any open 
]dace where the markets and courts of jus¬ 
tice were held. There were a number of 
such places in Rome, by far the most cele¬ 
brated being the great Roman forum {Forum 
Fomdmmi) between Mount Palatine and the 
Capitoline Hill. This place, once adorned 
with the most beautiful statues and build¬ 
ings, had become almost a waste known as 
the Campo Vaccino, or cattle-field, but of 
late years the government have made clear¬ 
ances and excavations and taken charge of 
the valuable relics which are still left.—In 
legal phrase forum signifies the court or 
place where an action is instituted. 

Fos'cai-i, Francesco, Doge of Venice, 
born about 1372, elected in 1423. The 
whole period in which he governed the re¬ 
public was one of war and tumult, cam¬ 
paigns being undertaken against the Turks, 
the Visconte of Milan, and others, in which 
Venice was mostly victorious, extending 
her dominion to the Adda. But in his 
private life the doge w^as less fortunate. 
Three of his sons died in the service of the 
republic, and the fourth, Jacopo, being 
accused of receiving bribes from foreign 
princes, was condemned to tortui'e and 
exiled to Crete, where he died. When 
eighty-five years of age Foscari was deposed 
from the dogesliip at the instigation of a 
rival, Jacopo Loredano, and died a few days 
after, November 1, 1457. On the story of 
Jacopo Foscari is founded Byron’s tragedy 
of The Two Foscari. 

Fos'colo, Ugo, an Italian poet and prose 
writer, born about 1776, and educated at 
the University of Padua. Before the age of 
twenty he produced his tragedy II Tieste 
(Thyestes), which was received with ap¬ 
plause. His next work of importance was a 
romance somewhat in the style of Goethe’s 
Werther, called Ultimo Lettere di Jacopo 
Ortis (Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis). He 
then procured a commission in the army 
(First Italian Legion). After some military 
experiences under Mass^na at Genoa and 
elsewhere, in 1805 he retired and wrote I 
Sepolcri, one of the finest of his poems. He 
was subsequently appointed to a professor¬ 
ship at Pavia, of which Napoleon, displeased 


at his freedom of speech, soon deprived him. 
In 1812 he produced his tragedy of Ajax, and 
soon after that of Ricciarda. On the fall of 
Napoleon, Foscolo, who was obnoxious to 
the Austrians, retired to Switzerland; but 
finally, in 1815, went to London, where he 
met with a most favourable reception, and 
where he died Sept. 10, 1827. Besides the 
works already mentioned, his critical writ¬ 
ings, Essays on Petrarch and Discourses on 
the texts of Dante and of Machiavelli’s II 
Principe, are well known. 

Foss, or Fosse (French fosse, Latin fossa, 
a ditch), in fortification, a trench or ditch, 
often full of water, below the rampart of a 
fortified place, or a post that is to be de¬ 
fended. See Fortification. 

Fossa'no, a town in North Italy, on the 
Stura, 13 miles north-east of Cuneo. It is 
surrounded by old walls and defended by a 
castle. It is a bishop’s see and has a cathe¬ 
dral. Pop. 7959. 

Fosse Way, or Fosse Road, one of the 
great Roman roads from Cornwall by Bath, 
Coventry, and Leicester, to Lincoln. It is 
still traceable nearly all the way. 

Fossil, a term for the petrified forms of 
plants and animals which occur in the strata 
that compose the surface of our globe. Most 
of these fossil species, many of the genera, 
and some of the families, are extinct. When 
these remains are only partially fossilized, 
and occur in superficial or recent deposits, 
the term sub-fossil is employed. See Geo¬ 
logy and Palceontology. 

Fossombro'ne, a town of Central Italy, 
38 miles w.n.w. of Ancona, on the Metauro, 
with a fine cathedral. Pop. 4266. 

Foster, Birket, an English artist, born 
at North Shields in 1812. He learned wood¬ 
engraving under Landells, and in early life 
became a draughtsman. He soon achieved 
a high reputation as book illustrator, and 
illustrated the works of Goldsmith, Scott, 
Longfellow, Beattie, &c. His landscape 
drawings on wood are of great excellence. 
He afterwards devoted himself to water¬ 
colour painting, in which his reproductions 
of rustic life have been very successful. 

Foster, John, English essayist, was born 
in Yorkshire on 17th September, 1770. 
After a short trial of the weaving trade he 
studied for the Baptist ministry, obtained 
a charge at Newcastle - on - Tyne, but his 
preaching being unsuccessful, he took to 
literature, contributing extensively to the 
Eclectic Review. In 1805 he published 
four essays, very celebrated in their time, 

38 





FOUNDLING HOSPITALS. 


FOSTORIA 

which established his fame as an author. 
In 1819 the celebrated Essay on the Evils 
of Popular Ignorance appeared. He died 
on 15th October, 1843. 

Fostoria, 12 in. N. w. of Tiffin, liesin Sene¬ 
ca, Hancock and Wood counties, Ohio. It is 
a considerable railroad and manufacturing 
centre, having five railroads. Natural gas 
is abundant, and is used for manufacturing 
and domestic purposes. Pop. 1890, 7070. 

Fotheringhay, a village of England 27 
miles north-east of Northampton. In its 
castle Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded 
in 1587. 

Foucault (fo-ko), Jean Bernard Leon, 
a French physicist, born 1819, died 1868. 
His name is especially connected with a 
celebrated pendulum experiment employed 
as a method of showing the rotation of the 
earth on its axis, by observing a vibrating 
pendulum. He also rendered services to 
optics, electric lighting, photography, &c. 

Fouche (fo-sha), Joseph, Duke of Otranto, 
a minister of Napoleon I., was born in 1763. 
Hew'as at first educated for the clergy, but 
having adopted the principles of the revolu¬ 
tion he became an advocate and was elected 
a member of the National Convention in 
1792. Here he voted for the death of the 
king, and was implicated, at least nominally, 
in the atrocities of the period. On the fall 
of Kobespierre (1794), Fouche, who had for 
some time tended towards the moderate 
party, managed to make friends with Bar- 
ras, and was rewarded for his betrayal 
by the ambassadorship to Milan. He was 
afterwards appointed ambassador to Hol¬ 
land, but ultimately recalled to Paris and 
made minister of police. Here his peculiar 
talents had full scope; and although he was 
twice dismissed by Napoleon, who did not 
altogether trust him, he always recovered 
his post, was loaded with riches, and made 
Duke of Otranto. Fie was minister of police 
at Napoleon’s final abdication and played 
an important part in the arrangements. He 
remained in office under Louis XVI11. for 
a time, but the dislike of the royalist party 
at length forced him to resign (1815). He 
went as ambassador to Dresden, but after¬ 
wards retired to Prague, and latterly to 
'J’rieste, where he died Dec. 25, 1820. 

Fougasse (fo-gas'), milit. a little mine in 
the form of a well, 8 or 10 feet wide and 10 
or 12 deep, dug under some work, fortifica¬ 
tion, or post, charged with powder, or powder 
and shells, and covered with stones or earth, 
for destroying the works by explosion. 

39 


Fougeres (fo-zhar), atownN. E. France, 
dep. Ille-et-Vilaine, on a height, 28 miles 
N.E. of Rennes. It was once fortified, so as 
to be considered one of the keys of Brittany, 
but is now open, well built, and has manu¬ 
factures of flannels, sailcloth, sacking, &c. 
Pop. 15,578. 

Foula, an island belonging to the Shet¬ 
land group, but lying solitary some 20 miles 
to the west. It rises from the sea in lofty 
cliffs which swarm with sea-fowl. Pop. 267. 

Foulahs. See Fellatahs. 

Foulis (fouTis), Rorert and Andrew, 
two eminent printers of Glasgow, were born 
there — the former in 1707, the latter in 
1712. Both were well educated at Glasgow 
UTniversity. In 1739 Robert commenced 
business as a bookseller, and having ob¬ 
tained the appointment of printer to the 
university began to issue editions of the 
ancient classics, which became famous for 
their accuracy and beauty. After some 
years Andrew entered into partnership with 
his brother, but outside speculations involved 
the firm in embarrassments. Robert died in 
1771; and Andrew, who survived till 1781, 
failed to restore the character of the Foulis 
press. 

Foundation, that part of a building which 
is under ground, or the portion of the ground 
on which walls, piers, &c.,rest. Foundations 
are usually made by providing a hard im¬ 
permeable base for the masonry by methods 
which vary according to the position and 
soil. Where there is rock below nothing 
more is needed than a dressing for the sur¬ 
face. Submerged foundations such as those 
for breakwaters, bridges, &c., form special 
cases for engineering. 

Foundation, a don ation or legacy, in money 
or lands, for the maintenance or support of 
some useful charitable institution, as an hos¬ 
pital, a college, a school, &c. 

Foundation-stone, a stone of a public 
building laid in public with some cereuuuiy. 
It has no necessary connection with the 
foundation of the building. 

Founding. See Casting. 

Foundling Hospitals, institutions for re¬ 
ceiving children abandoned by their parents 
and found by strangers. Among such in¬ 
stitutions are that of Paris, instituted in 
1670, and that of London in 1739. The 
latter was originally a hospital for all ex¬ 
posed children; but the enormous increase 
in abandonments caused the hospital to be 
changed in 1760 to one for poor illegitimate 
children whose mothers are known. The 






FOUNDRY- 

objection that foundling hospitals contribute 
to the corruption of morals is the strongest 
which can be urged against such institutions, 
and is not easily answered. 

Foundry, a place where metal is melted 
and cast into the forms required in construc¬ 
tion or decoration. Iron, brass, bronze, and 
type founding are special forms of the art. 
See Casting. 

Fount, or Font, among printers, &c., a 
quantity of types, in proportions sorted for 
use, that includes ordinary letters, large and 
small capitals, single letters, double letters, 
points, commas, lines, numerals, &c.; as a 
fount of Pica, Bourgeois, &c. A fount of 
100,000 characters, which is a common fount, 
would contain 5000 types of a, 3000 of c, 
11,000 of e, 6000 of i, 3000 of m, and about 
30 or 40 of 03, y, and z. But this is only 
to be understood of the ordinary types; 
capitals having other proportions, which we 
need not here enumerate. 

Fountain, or Artificial Fountain, a 
contrivance by which water is made to 
spout from an artificial channel, and often 
to rise up to a great height in a jet or jets. 
There are various kinds of artificial foun¬ 
tains, but in those of an ornamental char¬ 
acter the water is usually made to rise in a 
jet by the pressure or weight of a head of 
water situated some distance above the ori¬ 
fice of issue, in which case the water will 
rise nearly to the same height as the head. 
In some cities the public fountains form a 
feature on the streets. Rome, in particular, 
is noted for its fountains. At Paris, also, 
the fountains of the Place de la Concorde, 
the Tuileries, and at Versailles, are splendid 
structures. 

Fouque (fo-ka), Friedrich Heinrich 
Karl, Baron de la Motte, a German poet 
and novelist, born in 1777, grandson of the 
Fouque the subject of the next article. He 
served as lieutenant of the Prussian guards 
in the campaign of 1792, thereafter lived in 
rural retirement, but again returned to the 
army, and was present at the mo.st impor¬ 
tant battles in the campaign of 1813. He 
died at Berlin in 1843. As a writer his 
work is marked by fantastic unreality and 
extravagance of conception. Several of his 
tales, Der Zauberring (Magic Ring), Undine, 
and Aslauga’s Ritter (Aslauga’s Knight), 
have been very popular. A translation of 
the latter was made by Carlyle. 

Fouqu6, Heinrich August, Baron de la 
Motte, a distinguished Prussian general in 
the Seven Years’ war, born in 1698, died in 


-FOURIER, 

] 774. He was descended from an old Nor¬ 
man family which had fled on account of 
religious persecutions to the Hague. Fou- 
qu^’s M^moires, containing his correspon¬ 
dence with Frederick the Great, are highly 
interesting. 

Fouquier-Tinville (fo-ki-a-tan-vel), An¬ 
toine Quentin, notorious for his ferocious 
cruelty in the first French revolution, was 
born in 1747. He was an attorney by pro¬ 
fession, and having attracted the attention 
of Robespierre, was appointed public accuser 
before the revolutionary tribunal. His 
thirst for blood seems to have been increased 
by gratification, until it became a real in¬ 
sanity. He proposed the execution of 
Robespierre and all the members of the 
revolutionary tribunal in 1794, but was 
himself arrested, and died under the guillo¬ 
tine, in a cowardly manner, in 1795. 

Fourchambault (fbr-shan-bo), a town of 
France, dep. Nibvre, on the Loire, It has 
extensive iron-smelting furnaces and forges. 
Pop. 5949. 

Fourcroy (for-krwii), Antoine Franqois 
DE, a French chemist, born in 1755. Hav¬ 
ing adopted the profession of medicine he 
applied himself closely to the sciences con¬ 
nected with it, and especially to chemistry. 
In 1784 he was made professor of chemistry 
at the Jardin du Roi; and the next year he 
was chosen a member of the Academy of 
Sciences. At this period he became associ¬ 
ated with Lavoisier, Guyton-Morveau, and 
Berthollet in researches which led to vast 
improvements and discoveries in chemistry. 
When the revolution took place he was 
chosen a deputy from Paris to the national 
convention, but did not take his seat in that 
assembly till after the fall of Robespierre. 
In September, 1794, he became a member 
of the committee of public safety. In De¬ 
cember, 1799, Bonaparte gave him a place 
in the council of state, in the section of the 
interior, in which place he drew up a plan 
for a system of public instruction, which, 
with some alteration, was adopted. He died 
in 1809. His works are numerous. We may 
mention his Systeme des Connaissances 
chimiques and I’hilosophie chimique. 

Fourier (fo-ri-a), FRANgois Marie 
Charles, a French socialist and founder 
of the system named after him, was born in 
1772 at Besan^on. He studied in the col¬ 
lege of his native towm, and subsequently 
at Rouen and Lyons occupied subordinate 
situations in mercantile houses. In the 
last-mentioned town he entered into busi- 

40 




FOURIER-FOWL. 


ness on bis own account, but lost all bis 
money from tbe tumults of war and was 
forced to enlist in tbe revolutionary army. 
Discharged in 1795 on account of ill-bealtb 
be returned to commerce, filling quite sub¬ 
ordinate situations, till be died, Oct. 10, 
1837. He wrote bis books in his leisure 
hours and published them out of bis scanty 
savings. His first book, Th^orie des Quatre 
Mouvementset des Destinees G^nerales, was 
published in 1808; the Traits de I’Associa- 
j tion Domestique Agricole, his most important 
I work, in 1822; but it was not till the last 
years of his life that they attracted any 
notice. In his social system Fourier holds 
that the operations of industry should be car¬ 
ried on by Phalansteries, or associations of 
1800 members combining their labour on a 
district of about a square league in extent, 
under the control of governors elected by 
each community. In the distribution a 
certain minimum is first assigned for the 
subsistence of every member of the society, 
whether capable or not of labour. The re¬ 
mainder of the produce is shared in certain 
proportions to be previously determined 
among the three elements, labour, capital, 
and talent. The capital of the community 
may be owned in unequal shares by different 
members, who would in that case receive, 
as in any other joint-stock concern, propor¬ 
tional dividends. The claim of each person 
on the share of the produce apportioned to 
talent is estimated by the grade which the 
individual occupies in the several groups of 
labourers to which he or she belongs, these 
grades being in every case conferred by the 
voice of his or her companions. The re¬ 
muneration received would not of necessity 
be expended in common. Separate rooms 
or sets of rooms would be set aside for those 
who applied for them, no other system of 
living together being contemplated than such 
as would effect a saving of labour in building 
and the processes of domestic life, and re¬ 
ducing the enormous portion of the produce 
of industry at present carried off by middle¬ 
men and distributing traders to the nar¬ 
rowest possible margin. 

Fourier, Jean Baptiste Joseph, a French 
mathematician, born at Auxerre 1768, was 
educated in the military school there, and 
after holding an appointment for a short 
time in the Polytechnic School followed 
Bonaparte to Egypt. Here he performed 
important political service, and was like¬ 
wise secretary of the Institute of Egypt. 
After his return he was, in 1802, appointed 

41 


prefect of the department of Ishre. On 
Napoleon’s return from Elba Fourier issued 
a royalist proclamation, but was nevertheless 
appointed prefect of the Rhone, though soon 
after deprived of the office. He now estab¬ 
lished his residence in Paris, lived entirely 
devoted to study, and was in 1815 admitted 
a member of the Academy of Sciences, and 
at a later period appointed secretary for 
life. He died in 1830. Amongst his prin¬ 
cipal works are the Th^orie Analytique de 
la Chaleur (1822), and Analyse des Equa¬ 
tions Determinees, published in 1831 after 
his death. 

Fourierism. See Fourier {Fran<^ois). 

Fourth, in music, a distance comprising 
three diatonic intervals, or two tones and a 
half. Three full tones compose a tritone 
or fourth redundant. The diminished fourth 
consists of a whole tone and two semi¬ 
tones. 

Foveaux Strait (fo'vo), the strait between 
the South Island of New Zealand and 
Stewart’s Island. 

Fowey (fo'i), a seaport of England in 
Cornwall, near the mouth of the river 
Fowey, formerly one of the chief seaports 
of England. It carries on an extensive pil¬ 
chard fishery. Pop. 1656. 

Fowl, a word originally synonymous with 
bird, now used in a stricter sense to desig¬ 
nate the birds of the genus Gallus, of which 
the common domestic fowl (cock and hen) 
is a familiar example. The general form 
and characters of the bill, feet, &c., agree 
with those of the pheasants, but the crown 
of the head is generally naked and furnished 
with a fleshy comb, the base of the lower 
mandibles also bearing fleshy lobes or wat¬ 
tles—characters wdiich are most conspicuous 
in the males. The legs of the male are 
furnished wfith spurs which are much used 
in conflict, the cocks being very pugnacious 
and unable to suffer the presence of a rival. 
In the centre of the cock’s tail are two long 
feathers, which fall backwards in a graceful 
arch and add great beauty to the whole as¬ 
pect of the fowl. Except in the pure white 
breeds the plumage of the cock is always 
more splendid than that of the hen. All 
the species are natives of the East Indies 
and the Malayan Archipelago. Some have 
thought that the Bankiva Juwjle Fowl, a 
native of Java,, is the original stock of the 
domesticated poultry. Amongst well-known 
varieties are the Cochin-China Fowl, the 
Game Foiol, the Dorking, the Spanish Fowl, 
and the Bantam. 





FOWLING 


FOX. 


Fowling, the taking of wild birds in num¬ 
bers, either for food or for their feathers. 
It includes a variety of methods, such as 
the catching of small birds by nets; the 
taking of ducks and other water-fowl in 
decoys; the lowering of persons over the 
brink of precipices to seize the birds that 
lodge in their hollows and shelves, &c. 

Fowling-piece, a light kind of gun for 
shooting birds of various kinds. 

Fox, an animal of the genus Vulpes, closely 
allied to the dog, with a straight bushy tail, 
elongated pupils, and erect ears. Foxes are 
natives of almost every quarter of the globe, 
and are everywhere among the most saga¬ 
cious and wily of all beasts of prey, very 
voracious, devouring birds and small quad¬ 
rupeds, and committing ravages not only on 
animals, but on fruits, honey, eggs, &c. The 
common fox of Europe ( Vulpes vulgaris) 
and Asia is well known. Among other 
species there are the Arctic fox ( V. lagdpus), 
celebrated for its glossy white winter fur; 
the black fox ( V. argentatus), similar to the 
common fox, but distinguishable by its rich, 
shining black fur, a native of the northern 
parts of Asia and America; the gray fox 
(Urocyon Virginidnus) has a thick tail con¬ 
taining at its tip a tuft of stiff hairs, common 
through the northern parts of America; the 
red fox of America ( V. fulvus), generally of 
a pale-yellow hue; the crossed fox ( V. perm- 
sylvanicus or decussatus), fur a sort of gray, 
muzzle and lower parts of body black, a 
dark cross on the shoulders; the swift fox 
( V. velox), an inhabitant of the plains which 
lie at the base of the Rocky Mountains. 

Fox, Charles James, an eminent English 
statesman, born January 24,1749, the second 
son of Henry, first Lord Holland. He was 
sent to Eton, whence he removed to Hert¬ 
ford College, Oxford. His father procured 
him a seat for the borough of Midhurst in 
1768, before he was of legal age, and in 
1770 he was ap})ointed one of the lords of 
the admiralty, which situation he resigned 
in 1772, and was a|>j)ointed a commissioner 
of the treasury. After being a supporter 
of the administration for six years, a quarrel 
with Lord North threw Fox into the ranks 
of the Whig opposition, where, along with 
Burke and others, he steadily assailed the 
government, especially on the score of their 
American policy. In 1780 he was elected 
member for Westminster, and on the defeat 
of the administration of Lord North, and 
the accession of that of the Marquis of 
Rockingham, he obtained the office of sec¬ 


retary of state for foreign affairs (1782). 
But the death of the Marquis of Rocking¬ 
ham suddenly divided the party; and when 
the Earl of Shelburne became first lord of 
the treasury Fox retired. Soon after a union 
took place between his friends and those of 
Lord North, known as the coalition ministry, 
which M^as overthrown by Fox’s famous East 
India Bill (1783). At the ensuing election 
nearly seventy of his friends lost their seats; 
but though Pitt had a decided majority. 
Fox still headed a very strong opposition, 



Charles James Fox. 


and for some years political questions were 
contested on both sides of the house with a 
great display of talent. He took an active 
part against Warren Hastings, supported 
the efforts of Wilberforce against the slave- 
trade, and moved the repeal of the Test and 
and Corporation Acts. He welcomed the 
breaking out of the French revolution, and 
his views on this subject led to a memorable 
break between him and his old friend Burke. 
Fox firmly op])osed the principle on which 
the war against Franee was begun,andstrenu- 
ously argued for peace on every occasion; but 
eventually, on beconiing secretary for foreign 
affaiivs in 1806, acquiesced in its propriety. 
His health, which had been impaired by his 
loose manner of living, now began rapidly 
to decline, and he died the same year a few 
months after the death of Pitt, his great 
rival. As a powerful and purely argumen¬ 
tative orator he was of the very first class; 
although as to eloquence and brilliancy he 
perhaps yielded to Pitt, Burke, and Sheridan; 
nor were his voice and manner prepossessing, 






FOX 


FOX-TTUNTING. 


although highly forcible. He was of an 
amiable nature, and a sincere friend to all 
broad and liberal principles of government. 
His History of the Early Part of the Reign 
of James II. was published posthumously. 

Fox, George, the founder of the Society 
of Friends, or Quakers, was born at Di’ayton, 
in Leicestershire, in 1624, his father being 
a weaver. He was educated religiously, 
and at the age of nineteen persuaded him¬ 
self that he had received a divine command 
to forsake everything else and devote him¬ 
self wholly to religion. He accordingly for¬ 
sook his relations, equipped himself in a 
leathern doublet, and wandered from place 
to place, supporting himself as he could. 
Luring this itinerant life he fasted much, 
sometimes sitting the whole day in a retired 
spot reading the Bible. In 1648 he com¬ 
menced to preach publicly at Manchester, 
about which time he also adopted the pecu¬ 
liar language and manners of C^uakerism. 
At Lerby his followers were first denomi¬ 
nated Quakers, in conse(pience of their trem¬ 
bling mode of delivery, and calls on the 
magistracy to tremble before the Lord. In 
1655 he was sent a prisoner to Cromwell, 
who, having ascertained the pacific tendency 
of his doctrines, had him set at liberty. He 
was, however, treated with great severity 
by the country magistracy and the sterner 
Puritans, who disliked the mysticism and 
want of firm doctrines in his preaching. In 
1666 he set about forming the people who 
had followed his doctrines into a formal and 
united society. In 1669 he married the 
widow of Judge Fell, and soon after went 
to America, where he remained two y^ears, 
which he employed in making proselytes. 
On his return he was thrown into Worcester 
jail, but was quickly released, and went to 
Holland. He soon after returned, and was 
cast in a suit for tithes, which he deemed it 
unlawful to pay. In 1684 he again visited 
the Continent. He died in 1691, the Society 
of Friends having by that time acquired 
considerable importance. The writings of 
Fox have been collected into three volumes. 

Fox-bats, or Flying-foxes, a name given 
to the fruit-eating bats of the family Ptero- 
pidae, including some of the largest of the 
bat tribe, one species, the Pteropus edulis 
or kalong, attaining a length of from 4 to 5 
feet from the tip of one wing to the tip of 
the other. They inhabit Australia, Java, 
Sumatra, Borneo, &c., as well as the conti¬ 
nents of Asia and Africa. 

Foxe, John, an English church historian, 
43 


l)orn in 1517. He studied at Oxford, and 
was elected a fellow of Magdalen in 1543, 
from which he was expelled two years later 
on a charge of heresy. In the reign of Ed¬ 
ward VI. he was restored to his fellowship, 
but during Mary’s reign again went abroad, 
to Basel. On the accession of Elizabeth he 
returned to his native country, and was re¬ 
ceived in the most friendly manner by his 
former pupil, the Luke of Norfolk, who 
settled a pension on him. Secretary Cecil 
also obtained for him a prebend in the 
church of Salisbury; and he might have re¬ 
ceived much higher preferment if he would 
have subscribed to the articles enforced by 
the ecclesiastical commissioners. He died 
in 1587. His principal work is the History 
of the Acts and IVIonuments of the Church, 
commonly called Foxe’s Boole of Martyrs, 
first printed in 1563, in one vol. folio. 

Fox'glove, a geuus of plants, Digitalis 
purpurea, nat. order Scroj)hulariace£e. It 
grows on banks, pastui es, &c., iti hilly and 
rocky countries in Europe, Asia, and the 
Canary Islands. Its flowers are campanu- 
late, and somewhat resembling the finger 
of a glove. It is one of the most stately and 
beautiful of the herbaceous j)lants, and one 
that has great reputation as a medicinal 
plant, being employed as a sedative, nar¬ 
cotic, and diuretic in diseases of the heart 
and in dropsy. Its medicinal properties are 
due to the poisonous substance known as 
digitalin. A decoction or infusion of the 
leaves is what is generally used. The flowers 
are usually purple, but sometimes white. 
Several species are grown in gardens, such 
as D. grandifiora and D. lutea, with yellow 
flowers, and D. ferrugimia with brown. 

Foxhound, a hound for chasing foxes, a 
variety of hound in which are combined, in 
the highest degree of excellence, fleetness, 
strength, spirit, fine scent, perseverance, and 
subordination. The foxhound is smaller than 
the staghound, its average height being from 
20 to 22 inches. It is supposed to be a mixed 
breed between the staghound or the blood¬ 
hound and the greyhound. It is commonly 
of a white colour with patches of black and 
tan. 

Fox-hunting, a favourite English sport 
much practised during the autumnal and 
winter months. A pack of foxhounds con¬ 
sists of from 20 to 60 couples of hounds 
according to the frequency of the hunting 
days. These dogs are carefully bred and 
trained (see Foxhound), and are under the 
superintendence of one experienced gentle- 








FOX INDIANS-FOYLE. 


man called the master, who has the general 
control of the whole ‘field.’ Under him are 
the huntsman^ whose duty it is to look after 
the hounds in their kennels and direct them 
in the field. He is directly responsible for 
their condition and training. Next him are 
the whippers-in, whose main duty is that of 
assisting generally the huntsman both in 
the kennels and in the field. A less impor¬ 
tant function of the whipper-in is that of 
urging on lagging hounds. The night be¬ 
fore the hunt, the gamekeeper, calculating 
on the habits of the fox to leave his burrow 
or ‘ earth ’ in search of food at night, stops 
all the ‘earths’ after the foxes have left 
them. The animals are thus forced to seek 
refuge in neighbouring thickets or other 
cover, generally near their ‘earth,’ and this 
fact determines the arrangements of the 
day’s hunting. The huntsmen assemble in 
the neighbourhood of the stopped ‘earth’ 
and draw the neighbouring coverts by throw- 
iruj off the dogs to search for the fox. The 
presence of the fox is generally indicated 
by the whine of some old and experienced 
hound who has first scented him; but he 
may hang or keep within the covert for a 
long time. The person who first sees the 
fox leave the covert, break cover as it is 
called, gives the vieiv-halloo after it has got 
some little distance, upon which the hunts¬ 
man collects his hounds and sets off in chase 
followed by the entire field. The foxhounds 
follow almost entirely by scent, the fox being 
itself perhaps far ahead and out of sight. 
Wherever, therefore, the scent fails the 
hounds are at fault, and there is a check till 
the scent is recovered. When the scent is 
good most of the hounds own it by giving 
tongue, and they are then said to be in full 
cry. The rider who is first in at the death 
lashes the hounds off and secures the head, 
feet or pads, and tail or brush of the fox. 
I'he midland counties of England, Leicester, 
Warwick, Yorkshire, &c., are the most cele¬ 
brated for fox-hunting. 

Fox Indians, a trib^e of N. American In¬ 
dians belonging to the Algonquin family, 
now few .in numbers and scattered over the 
Indian Territory, Iowa, Kansas, and Ne¬ 
braska. 

Fox River, a river of Wisconsin, U.S., 
which enters Green Bay, an arm of Lake 
Michigan, after passing through Lake Win¬ 
nebago. It is connected by canal with the 
river Mississippi, and thus furnishes water 
communication between that river and the 
Atlantic. 


Fox-shark. See Thresher. 

Foxtail-grass, the common name given 
to the grasses of the genus Alopecurus, be¬ 
cause of the close cylindrical panicle in which 
the spikelets of flowers are arranged, hav¬ 
ing somewhat the shape of a fox’s tail. A. 
pratensis is an abundant natural grass in 
meadows and pastures, and is an excellent 
fodder plant. It is the most grateful of all 
grasses to cattle, and possesses all the 
requisites of a good grass. The alpine 
foxtail-grass {A. alplnns) is a rare plant, 
being much prized as a botanical rarity. 

Foy (fwa), Maximilian Sebastian, a 
French general, born in 1775, and educated 
in the military school at La Fere. He served 
with distinction under Dumouriez, Moreau, 
and Massena, in 1803 received the com¬ 
mand of the floating batteries intended for 
the defence of the coasts of the Channel, 
and in 1805 commanded the artillery of the 
second division in the Austrian campaign. 
In 1807 he took part in the preparations 
for the defence of Constantinople against 
the British. From 1808 to 1812 he was 
eneral of division of the army in Portugal, 
n 1812, after the defeat of the French at 
Salamanca, he succeeded Marmont as com¬ 
mander-in-chief, and showed much talent in 
his conduct of the operations on the Douro. 
He was present in all the battles of the 
Pyrenees, until he was dangerously wounded 
at Orthez in 1814. In 1815 he commanded 
a division at Waterloo, where he was wounded 
for the fifteenth time. In 1819 he W'as ap¬ 
pointed division-inspector of infantry, and 
the same year was elected deputy by the 
department of the Aisne. He at once dis¬ 
tinguished himself as one of the leading 
orators of the liberal party and became very 
popular. He died at Paris, Nov. 28, 1825. 

Foyers, F'alls of, two romantic cataracts 
near the mouth of the little river Foyers, 
Inverness-shire, which falls into Loch Ness. 
The upper fall is about 30 feet in height, the 
lower, described by Professor Wilson as the 
‘most magnificent in Great Britain,’ is about 
90 feet. 

Foyle, a river of Ireland, which flows north¬ 
east through Tyrone, Donegal, and London¬ 
derry till it falls into Lough Foyle 4 miles 
below the city of Londonderry. It is navi¬ 
gable up to Londonderry for vessels of 800 
tons. 

Foyle, Lough, the estuary of the river 
Foyle, on the north coast of Ireland, between 
the counties of Derry and Donegal. It is 
16 miles long from north-east to south-west, 

44 






FRA DIAVOLO. 


FRA 


1 mile wide at its entrance, and 9 miles broad 
in the interior. A great part is dry at low- 
water. 

Fra, an Italian prefix, derived from the 
word frate, brother, and used before the 
names of monks; for instance. Fra Giovanni, 
brother John. 

Fra Bartolomeo. See Baccio della Porta. 

Fraction, in arithmetic and algebra, a 
combination of numbers rejjresenting one or 
more parts of a unit or integer: thus, four- 
fifths (|-) is a fraction formed by dividing a 
unit into five equal parts, and taking one 
part four times. Fi’actions are divided into 
vulfiar and decimal. Vulgar fractions are 
expressed by two numbers, one above an¬ 
other, with a line between them. The lower, 
the denominator, indicates into how many 
equal parts the unit is divided; and the 
number above the line, called the numerator, 
indicates how many of such parts are taken. 
A proper fraction is one whose numerator 
is less than its denominator. An improper 
fraction is one whose numerator is not less 
than its denominator, as f, 4. A simple 
fraction expresses one or more of the equal 
parts into which the unit is divided, without 
reference to any other fraction. A com- 
jiound fraction expresses one or more of the 
equal parts into M'hich another fraction or 
a mixed number is divided. Compound 
fractions have the word of interposed be¬ 
tween the simple fractions of which they 
are composed: thus, ^ o/ ^ o/ If is a com¬ 
pound fraction. A complex fraction is that 
which has a fraction either in its numerator 
or denominator, or in each of them; thus, 
54 8 5 .^ 

and ^ are complex fractions. In 

decimal fractions the denominator is 10, or 
some number produced by the continued 
multiplication of 10 as a factor, such as 100, 
1000, &c.; hence, there is no necessity for 
writing the denominator, and the fraction 
is usually expressed by putting a point (•) 
before the numerator, as '5 = ^^; *25 = xV^; 
•05 =y|^^. The expression 542‘461 would 
thus be equivalent to 542 y%VtT’ calcu¬ 

lations are much simplified in decimal frac¬ 
tions; yet, simple as the system is, it was 
discovered first in the 15th century by the 
German mathematician Regiomontanus. 

Fracture, in mineralogy, is the manner 
in which a mineral breaks, and by which its 
texture is displayed; thus, an even fracture 
shows a level face or plane of some extent; 
nneven, when the surface is rough and 
broken; conchoidal, when one side is convex 

45 


and the other concave, as in a molluscous 
shell; when the separated edges have 

the appearance of torn filaments; hackly, 
when there are many fine sharp points or 
inequalities. 

Fracture, in surgery, is the breaking of a 
bone. It is simple when the bone only is 
divided; compound when there is also a 
wound of the soft parts leading down to the 
fracture. A fracture is termed transverse, 
longitudinal, or oblie^ue according to its direc¬ 
tion in regard to the axis of the bone. It is 
called complicated if accompanied with dis¬ 
location, severe contusions, wounded blood¬ 
vessels, or any disease which prevents the 
union of the bones and causes them to be 
very easily broken. A comminuted fracture 
is one in which the bone is broken into 
several small pieces at the point of rupture. 
An incomplete fracture is one in which only 
a portion of the fibres is broken. A stellate 
fracture is a series of fractures radiating from 
a centre. When a fracture takes place there 
is a pouring out of fluid—lymph—and cells 
from the blood contained in the vessels of the 
lining membrane of the bone as well as from 
the vessels of the soft parts which have also 
suffered injury. This material surrounds 
the broken ends of the bone, becomes firm 
and consolidated, and in about three weeks 
is hard enough to keep the broken ends in 
position. A formation of bone then takes 
place round the seat of fracture. This is 
called ‘ provisional callus, ’ because, when 
the process of repair is completed and true 
bone has formed to unite the break, it is re¬ 
absorbed and gradually disappears. Mean¬ 
while a process of repair goes on between 
the broken ends, uniting them by the for¬ 
mation of true bone or ‘definitive callus.’ 
The more quickly and accurately after the 
break the broken ends are brought together, 
the more rapid will be the reunion. The 
treatment of a simple fractured bone is to 
bring the portions into their natural position 
and to keep them permanently thus, by 
splints of some kind, pasteboard splints, for 
instance, dipped in warm water, with wooden 
ones exterior to them; or a mass of plaster 
of Paris may be used for the same purpose. 

Fra Diav'olo, a celebrated Neapolitan 
brigand, whose real name was Michele 
Pezza. He was born in Calabria in 1760. 
He quitted the trade of stocking-weaving 
for the army, and served for a time in the 
Papal legion. He afterwards became a 
monk, but was expelled on account of mis¬ 
conduct. He then joined a troop of bri- 









FRAISE 


FRANCE. 


gands, of which he became in a short time 
the leader. The government set a price 
upon his head; but later, having need of 
Fra Diavolo’s services against the French, 
they pardoned him and gave him a colonel’s 
commission. At the head of his band he 
harassed the French, took refuge in Calabria 
after the conquest of Naples by Bonaparte, 
and incited the people against the French. 
He fell at last into their hands in 1806, and 
was executed as a robber and incendiary. 
The Fra Diavolo of Auber’s opera has little 
or nothing in common with the real Fra 
Diavolo. 

Fraise, in fortification, a defence consist¬ 
ing of pointed stakes driven into the ram¬ 
parts in a horizontal or inclined position. 

Framingham, Middlesex co.. Mass., 23 
miles w. of Boston. It has manufactories 
of carriages, straw goods, shoes, woollens, 
etc. A State Normal School is located 
here. Pop. 1890, 9239. 

Franc, a modern I^'rench silver coin, but 
the name was given to two ancient coins 
in France, one of gold and the other of 
silver. The value of the gold franc was 
about $2.50. The silver franc was in value 
a third of the gold one. The name was 
given from the dev ice ^ Francorum Rex, 
king of the French, on the coin when first 
struck by King John in 1360. The modern 
Fi’ench franc is a silver coin and money of 
account which since 1795 has formed the 
unit of the French monetary system, and 
has also been adopted as the unit of cur¬ 
rency by Switzerland and Belgium. It is 
of the value of a little over 19 cents, and 
is divided into 100 centimes. 

Francavilla, several places in Southern 
Italy. The most important is in the prov¬ 
ince of Lecce, 14 miles w.s.w. of Brindisi. 
Pop. 16,997. 

France (anciently Gallia), a maritime 
country in the west of Europe, forming one 
of its most extensive, most populous, and 
most influential states. It is situated be¬ 
tween lat. 42° 20' and 51° 5' N.; and Ion. 4° 
50' w. and 7° 40' e., and is bounded N. by 
the Straits of Dover and the English Chan¬ 
nel; w. by the yitlantic (Bay of Biscay); 
S. by Spain and the iMediterranean Sea; E. 
and N.E. by Italy, Switzerland, Germany, 
and Belgium. Its greatest length from 
north to south is 600 miles, and its greatest 
breadth 547 miles. The coast-line on the 
whole is considerably diversified by bays, 
estuaries, and indentations of various kinds, 
and presents numerous good hai’bours and 


roadsteads. It is studded by a number of 
islands, especially in the north-west and 
west, the largest being Oldron, Be, and 
Belle Isle. 'Phe total area (including Cor¬ 
sica) is 204,092 sq. miles. The capital is 
Paris; the other large towns in order of 
population are Lyons, Marseilles, Bordeaux, 
Lille, Toulouse, Nantes, St. £tienne, Havre. 

Mountains .—The interioris traversed from 
south-west to north-east by successive chains 
of mountains, commencing with the Pyre¬ 
nees and including the Cevennes, the Cote 
d’Or, the Vosges, and others, forming the 
water-shed, on one side of which the rivers 
flow west and north into the Atlantic and 
the English Channel, on the other side east 
and south into the Mediterranean. At its 
north-eastern extremity this system is met 
by the Alps and the Jura. A considerable 
portion of the Western Alps belongs to South¬ 
eastern France. Mt. Blanc itself (15,781 
feet) is mostly within the French boundary¬ 
line. Some lofty Pyrenean peaks are also 
within French territory, the highest being 
Vignemale (10,792 feet). Near the centre 
of France, and separate from the great 
watershed of the country, are several groups 
of volcanic mountains known by the general 
name of the mountains of Auvergne, the 
chief peaks of which are the Plomb du Cantal 
(5983 feet), the Puy de Sancy (6100 feet), 
and the Puy de Dome. 

Rivers .—The spurs thrown off by the 
great watershed divide Fiance into seven 
principal river basins, six of which are on the 
north-western slope and one on the south¬ 
eastern. These are:—1. The basin of the 
Garonne and its affluents (the Ariege, Tarn, 
Lot, and Dordogne on the right, and the 
Gers on the left); with the two secondary 
basins of the Charente on the north, and the 
Adour on the south. 2. The basin of the 
Loire and its tributaries (Nihvre and Maine 
on the right, the Allier, Loiret, Cher, Indre, 
Vienne, and Shvre Nantaise on the left). 
3. The basin of the Seine and its tributaries 
(the Aude, Marne, and Oise on the right, the 
Yonne and Eure on the left. To the north 
is the scondary basin of the Somme. 4. 
The basin of the Meuse with its affluent the 
Sambre. 5.- The basin of the Escaut or 
Scheldt with its affluent the Scarpe. Only 
the southern po-rtion of these two basins is 
included within the political boundaries of 
France. 6. The basin w hich pours a num¬ 
ber of tributaries, the principal of which is 
the Moselle, into the Rhine. Only a com¬ 
paratively small portion of this basin also 

46 



FRANCE. 


is included within the political boundaries 
of France. 7. The basin of the Rhone, 
occupying the whole of the territory which 
lies to the south-east of the great water¬ 
shed, the tributaries being the Ain, the 
Saone, Ardfeche, and Gard on the right, and 
the Isere, Drome, and Durance on the left. 
The secondary basins are those of the Var 
and the Aude. The four great rivers of 
France are the Loire, Seine, Rhone, and 
Garonne. France has in all more than 200 
navigable streams, with a total navigation of 
about 6000 miles. I^akes are few, and in¬ 
dividually very limited in extent. 

Geology .—Among geological formations 
granite holds a chief place as forming the 
nucleus of the mountains generally, and 
being the prevailing rock in the Alps, the 
Pyrenees, the Cevennes, and in the north¬ 
west peninsular portion of the country 
(Brittany). The other crj'stalline rocks, 
consisting chiefly of trachytes and basalts, 
have received a magnificent development in 
Auvergne, where whole mountains are com¬ 
posed of them, and where the effects of 
remote volcanic agency are still visible in 
extinct craters and lava streams. In the 
Jura limestone occurs in such enormous 
masses as to have given its name to a pecu¬ 
liar formation (the Jurassic). The granite 
is overlaid by gneiss, micaceous and argil- 
lace(ms slates, succeeded, particularly in the 
Pyrenees, by mountain limestone. The 
secondary formation, commencing with this 
limestone, is largely developed in many 
parts, and furnishes a considerable number 
of coal and mineral fields. The tertiary 
formation covers a vast extent of surface, 
particularly in the south-west and around 
Paris. 

Climate .—Lying almost wholly within 
the more moderate portion of the temperate 
zone, betw’een the isothermal lines of 50° 
and 60°, France has a climate not inferior 
to that of any country in Europe. In 
the south, and particularly the south-east, 
which is the warmest, the olive is success¬ 
fully cultivated. Further north to a limit 
determined by a line drawn diagonally in an 
E.N.E. direction from the department of 
Gironde to that of the Vosges, the cultiva¬ 
tion of maize or Indian corn extends. More 
northward still, a line drawn from the 
mouth of the Loire to Mezibres in the 
Ardennes department marks the extreme 
limit of the profitable culture of the vine. 
Beyond this line is the fourth and coldest 
region. All th«se regions, notwithstanding 


their diversities of temperature, are gener¬ 
ally healthy, and have an atmosphere re¬ 
markable for salubrity, serenity, and bright¬ 
ness. 

Agriculture, Ac .—About nine-tenths of 
the soil of France is productive, and about 
one-half of the whole is under the plough. 
The cereals forming the great bulk of the 
cultivated crops are wheat, oats, rye, and 
barley. The crops next in importance to 
these are meslin or mixed corn, potatoes, 
hemp, rape, maize, buckwheat, flax, and beet. 
Beet is cultivated extensively in some de¬ 
partments, especially in that of Nord, for 
the manufacture of sugar. The cultivation 
of tobacco is monopolized by the govern¬ 
ment, and is confined to certain departments. 
In France the grass is on a much more 
limited scale than the arable husbandry, and 
the breeding of cattle is indifferently prac¬ 
tised. The rearing of sheep is more suc¬ 
cessful, much of the wool being scarcely 
inferior to merino wool. Excellent horses 
are bred in the north, and as there is an 
extensive demand for horses for the army, 
considerable pains are taken in the govern¬ 
ment studs to improve the breeds. Asses 
and mules, generally of a superior descrip¬ 
tion, are much employed. The cultivation 
of the vine is one of the most important 
branches of French agriculture, the total 
quantity of land in vineyards being nearly 
a twenty-fifth of the whole surface. In 
everything relating to this branch of culture 
the French are unsurpassed, the various 
first-class wines which they produce under 
the names of Champagne, Burgundy, Bor¬ 
deaux, &c., being universally known. It 
is estimated that in good years France 
produces about one-half of the whole wine 
production of the world. Since about 1870 
the vineyards have suffered greatly from the 
devastations of the Phylloxera. Among 
the most important fruit-trees cultivated in 
France are the apple, from the fruit of which 
much cider is made, especially in Normandy; 
the chestnut, which in some of the central 
districts of France is a staple of food among 
the poorer classes; the mulberry tree, culti¬ 
vated in the south-east both for its fruit and 
its leaves, the latter furnishing the food of 
the silk-worms so largely reared here; the 
olive also in the south-east; the pear, plum, 
peach, orange, citron, fig, &c. The forests 
occupy about one-seventh of the whole ter¬ 
ritory. 

Minerals .— Coal-fields are numerous, but 
only two are really of importajice—that of 









Jb'KANCE. 


ValencienneB in the north-east, forming the 
■western extremity of the great Belgian coal¬ 
field, and that of St. fitienne in the south¬ 
east, to which the manufactures of that town, 
Lyons, and the surrounding districts, are 
indebted for much of their prosperity. The 
annual output falls so far short of the annual 
consumption that a large import takes place 
from England and Belgium, particularly the 
latter, and wood continues to be the common 
fuel throughout France, at least for domestic 
purposes. The coal-fields contain seams of 
iron, which are extensively worked, and 
furnish ore to a great number of blast-fur¬ 
naces ; but of the total amount of ore 
smelted in the country a considerable pro¬ 
portion is imported. Other metals, such as 
lead, zinc, manganese, copper, &c., are ob¬ 
tained to some extent. Common salt is ob¬ 
tained from mines of rock-salt, from salt- 
springs, and in still greater quantity from 
lagoons and salt-marshes on the coast. 

Manufactures .—The most important of 
the textile manufactiu’es is that of silk 
goods, having its chief seat at Lyons and 
the surrounding districts. It employs about 
two millions of persons, and furnishes about 
27 per cent in value of the whole of the manu¬ 
factured products of France. The value of 
the silk manufactured goods exported to the 
United Kingdom in 1890 was £7,147,067. 
After silk goods, though at a considerable 
distance, follow cotton stuffs and woollens, 
made largely at Rheims, Amiens, and Beau¬ 
vais; carpets at Abbeville; tapestry at Paris 
and Beauvais; linens, including fine muslin, 
gauze, and lace at St. Quentin, &c.; cutlery, 
porcelain, stoneware, and common pottery, 
beet-root sugar, leather, paper, hats, hosiery, 
steel, iron, brass, and zinc ware, plate and 
fiint glass, &c., besides many ornamental 
and artistic articles; jewelry, clocks, sur¬ 
gical instruments, types, engravings, &c., 
which have their common seat in the capi¬ 
tal. The fisheries of France are important. 
Amongst the principal is that of sardines 
on the coast of the Bay of Biscay; that of 
herring, mackerel, turbot, salmon, &c., in the 
English Channel and the North Sea; that 
of tunnies and anchovies on the coasts of the 
Mediterranean. Oyster-breeding is largely 
engaged in, the most extensive oyster-beds 
being those of the basin of Arcachon in the 
department of the Gironde. Cod-fishing is 
carried on actively near the Newfoundland 
banks by French fishermen, and also near 
Iceland. 

Coiiime?re .—The principal towns from 


which the internal commerce emanates are 
Paris, Lyons, Rouen, Lille, St. Etienne, 
Toulouse, Nimes, Nancy, Perpignan, &c. 
In 1890 the imports for home use amounted 
to 4,437,000,000 francs, the exports of native 
products and manufactures to 3,753,000,- 
000 francs. In 1891 the figures were much 
the same. The foreign commerce is chiefly 
with Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, 
and Italy. Britain is far ahead of the 
others, its imports from France being 
£44,828,148; exports to France, £24,710,- 
803 ; the former are chiefly silks, wool¬ 
lens, butter, eggs, wine and brandy, and 
sugar ; the latter chiefly wool and woollens, 
cottons and cotton yarn, coal, machinery, 
and metals. The shipping of France is 
much below what might be expected from 
the development of its foreign commerce, 
considerably more than one-half of which 
is carried by foreign vessels. In 1891 the 
merchant navy of France included 14,001 
sailing vessels of 2 tons and upwards, with 
total tonnage of 444,092, and 1110 steamers 
of 499,921 tons. The chief seaports are 
Marseilles, Havre, Bordeaux, Rouen, Nantes 
(including St. Nazaire), Dunkirk, Calais, 
Boulogne, Dieppe. 

Canals, Railways, dc. —The canals are 
numerous. The Canal du Midi, or, as it is 
sometimes called, the Canal of Languedoc, 
stai'ting from a point in the Garonne a little 
below Toulouse, is continued in an E.s.E. 
direction into the lagoon of Thau, and 
thereby gives a continuous navigable com¬ 
munication between the Atlantic and the 
Mediterranean, in the line of the important 
towns of Bordeaux, Agen, Toulouse, Car¬ 
cassonne, and Narbomie. In like manner 
three separate canals cut across the basin of 
the Rhone; the Canal du Centre, or of 
Charollais, connecting the Saone and the 
Loire; the Rhone and Rhine Canal, so 
called from uniting these two rivers, partly 
by the intervention of the Doubs; and the 
Canal of Bourgogne, connecting the Saone 
Yonne, and Seine. In all France possesses 
about 3000 miles of canals in addition to 
about 5000 miles of navigable rivers, giving 
a total equal to about 1 mile of internal 
navigation for every 25 square miles of sur¬ 
face. The railways in France partly be¬ 
long to the state, and partly have been 
granted to private companies for a limited 
period, at the end of which they become state 
property. In 1891 there were of railways in 
operation, 33,547 kilometres. The length 
of telegraph lines is 96,632 kilometres. 

48 


FRANCE. 


Administration of Justice. — In accor¬ 
dance with the general arrangement which 
divides the whole country into departments, 
each department into arrondissements, each 
arrondissement into cantons, and each can¬ 
ton into communes, there is a series of 
courts, commencing with the justice of peace 
{juge de paix) of each commune, who judges 
in petty causes, but whose more appropriate 
function is understood to be to act as a 
kind of umpire between parties at variance, 
and induce them to settle their differences 
without proceeding to formal litigation. 
Failing such arrangement the complainant 
brings his action before the court of first 
resort [tribunal de premiere instance), there 
being one such in every arrondissement, 
besides a tribunal de commerce to w'hich 
mercantile and commercial causes are ap¬ 
propriated. From these courts an appeal 
lies to the courts of appeal [cours d'appel) 
of which there are twenty-seven, each hav¬ 
ing jurisdiction over several departments. 
I’lie most important cotnmercial and manu¬ 
facturing towns have also commercial courts 
(tribunaux de commerce), the members of 
which are elected by the chief business men 
of the respective places. Above all these 
courts, and properly the only supreme court 
of the state, is the cour de cassation, which 
has the power of reviewing and annulling 
the decrees of inferior courts. It sits in 
the capital. 

Education and Religion .—In France the 
superintendence of education in all its 
branches is expressly committed to a high 
functionary, who takes the name of minister 
of public instruction and fine arts and is as¬ 
sisted by an educational council. The high¬ 
est educational institutions are either special 
institutions, such as the Museum of Natural 
History, the College de France, the Poly¬ 
technic school; or are a sort of university 
colleges known as ‘faculties’ [Facultes de 
V^tett), each of wdiich is specially devoted 
to literature, law, medicine, theology, &c. 
Several of these are usually grouped to¬ 
gether to form one academic, there being 
fifteen academies in all. At these establish¬ 
ments the education given is of the highest 
description, and need not be particularized. 
Secondary instruction, either classical or 
commercial and industrial, is given by the 
state in the lyceums, by the communes in 
the communal colleges, or in certain other 
seminaries. There are about 90 lyceums, 
generally situated in the capitals of the de¬ 
partments, and over 250 colleges. Primary 
VOL. IV. 49 


instruction is given in the communal schools, 
being compulsory and free. Religion, in like 
manner, is taken under the cognizance of the 
state, and falls within the province of the 
minister of justice and religion. The state 
declares that the Roman Catholic is the re¬ 
ligion of the majority, but does not establish 
it; on the contrary, it places all forms of 
religion which have more than 100,000 ad¬ 
herents, and are not obviously subversive of 
social order, on an equal footing, and pro¬ 
fesses to deal impartially with all by paying 
salaries to their ministers. In the Roman 
Catholic Church are 17 archbishops and 67 
bishops. (See also Gallican Church.) The 
Protestants are less than 2 per cent of the 
whole population. 

Army and Navy .—By law military ser¬ 
vice is declared to be obligatory upon every 
Frenchman who is not pronounced unfit for 
military service. They have to serve first 
in the regular army [armee active) for three 
years, then in the reserve of the regular army 
for six years, next in the territorial army for 
six years, and finally in the reserve of the 
territorial army for ten years. This gives 
France on a peace footing an army of more 
than half a million, which on a war footing 
may be brought up to two and a half mil¬ 
lions or even more. The French navy is 
manned partly by conscription and partly 
by voluntary enrolment. In 1891 the effec¬ 
tive war navy of France included .32 heavy 
fighting vessels ; there were likewise build¬ 
ing 11 others; 11 more were for coast ser¬ 
vice, besides other iron-dads still on the 
stocks. 

Finance .—France has now a larger re¬ 
venue, expenditure, and public debt than 
any other country in the world. The esti¬ 
mated gross revenue for 1892 was francs, 
3,780,077,692, the expenditure being esti¬ 
mated at somewhat less. The consolidated 
debt amounts to about $4,2.50,000,000, while 
the total national debt is at least about 
$6,446,000,000. The chief items of revenue 
are excise and customs, registration, stamps, 
posts and telegraphs, and other state mono¬ 
polies, land tax, licenses, &c. 

Constitution .—France has been a republic 
since the overthrow of the second empire by 
a Paris mob on the 4th of September, 1870. 
The details of the constitution were fixed 
by a law passed by a national assembly 
which met in 1871 (some revision having 
been made since). This law places the legis¬ 
lative authority in the hands of an assem¬ 
bly composed of two chambers, the chamber 






FRANCE. 


of deputies and the senate. The chamber 
of deputies is elected by universal suffrage, 
each department forming one electoral dis¬ 
trict and a member being appointed for 
every 70,000 inhabitants. The total num¬ 
ber is 584, 6 being for Algeria and 10 for 
the colonies. The deputies are elected for 
four years. The senate consists of 800 
members, of w'hom 7 5 were originally elected 
for life; but in 1884 it was enacted that 
vacancies among the life senatorships should 
be filled up as they arose by the election of 
ordinary nine-year senators. Both senators 
and deputies are paid. The head of the 
government is a president, elected for seven 
years by a majority of votes of the members 
of the two chambers sitting as one. The 
president is assisted by a body of ministers 
appointed by him. He has the appoint¬ 
ment to all civil and military posts. 

Wei()hts, Measures;, and Money. — The 
unit of the French monetary system is the 
franc (of the value of about which is 

divided decimally. (See Decimal System.) 
The system of weights and measures is also 
decimal, the units with their English equi¬ 
valents being as follows : — the mfetre = 
39'37 inches or 3'28 feet; the kilometre, or 
1000 metres = 1093'6 yards or *621 of a 
mile; the are, the square of 10 mHres=: 
1076’441 square feet; the hectare, or 100 
ares = 2'47 acres; the square kilometre = 
'386 of a square mile; the stfere or cubic 
mfetre=:35‘317 cubic feet; the litre = 1'76 
pints; the hectolitre or hundred litres = 
22 0097 gallons; the gramme = 15’4323 
grains; the kilogramme or 1000 grammes 
= 2’205 lbs. 

Political Divisions and Extent of Empire. 
—Before the revolution of 1789 France was 
divided into general governments or pro¬ 
vinces, the number of which varied at dif¬ 
ferent epochs. Under Francis I., by whom 
they were instituted, there were nine, 
namely, Normandie, Guyenne, Languedoc, 
Provence, Dauphirn^, Bourgogne, Cham- 
pagne-et-Brie, Picardie, He de France. 
Under Henry III. there were twelve, formed 
by the addition of Bretagne, Orleanais, and 
Lyonnais. Under Louis XIV. the number 
was fixed at thirty-two, to which a thirty- 
third was added by the acquisition of Cor¬ 
sica under Louis XV. At the revolution 
the whole of France, including Corsica, 
was parcelled out into departments, and 
each department subdivided successively 
into arrondissements, cantons, and com¬ 
munes. This division, carried out in 1790, 


has since maintained its ground. The num¬ 
ber of departments was originally eighty- 
three, but it has been at different times 
increased and decreased. There are now 
eighty-seven departments, the last formed 
being Haut-Ilhin (Belfort). The average 
area of each is about 2300 sq. miles (more 
than one-third that of Wales). The most 
recently acquired territoiies were Nice and 
Savoie. By the Franco-German war of 
1870-71 nearly all Alsace and part of Lor¬ 
raine was lost. In addition to the territory it 
occupies in Europe, France possesses (either 
absolutely orasprotected territories) Algeria, 
Tunis, Senegambia, and other territories in 
W. Africa, a large area of the Congo region. 
Reunion, and other East African islands; 
Cochin-China, Tonquin, Anam, and smaller 
possessions in Asia; French Guiana in S. 
America, with the islands of Guadeloupe, 
Martinique, &c.; New Caledonia, Tahiti, 
&c., in the Pacific. The total French do¬ 
minions are thus as follows :— 

Area in Sq. Miles. Population. 

France,. 204,092 .... 38,218,903 

Asiatic Possessions,. 202,881 _ 18,572,200 

African do. _ 941,222 11,088,000 

American do. _ 48,059 391,208 

Oceanic do. _ 9,112_ 85,608 

1,405,366 68,350,879 

History .—France or Gaul, at the earliest 
period of which anything is known with re¬ 
gard to it, was inhabited by a number of 
independent tribes, who appear to have been 
mainly Celtic in race. In the latter half of 
the 2d century B.c. the Romans conquered 
a portion of the south-east, and under Julius 
Csesar the conquest of all Gaul was completed 
between 58 and 51 B.c. (See Gaul.) Sub¬ 
sequently the country became completely 
Romanized in language, civilization, and 
religion, and many flourishing towns sprang 
up. In the decline of the Roman empire 
German tribes began to make settlements 
in Gaul, and it was from a body of these 
known as Frayiks, that the name France 
arose. Towards the end of the fifth century 
Clovis, chief of the Salian Franks, made 
himself master not only of almost all France 
(or Gaul), but also of a considerable terri¬ 
tory east of the Rhine. The dynasty which 
he founded was called the Merovingian 
from his grandfather IVferovaeus. Clovis 
died in 511, leaving his kingdom to be 
divided amongst his four sons as subsequent 
rulers often did. The Frankish dominionB 
were thus differently divided at different 

50 












FRANCE. 


times; but two divisions, a western and an 
eastern, or Neustria and Austrasia, became 
the most important. A large part of the 
history of the Franks under the Merovingian 
kings is the history of the contests between 
these two states. Latterly Pippin or Pepin 
d’Heristal, mayor of the palace of the Aus- 
trasian king, conquered Neustria and made 
his sway supreme throughout the kingdom 
of the Franks. This date may be regarded 
as that of the real termination of the Mero¬ 
vingian line, for although kings belonging to 
this family continued to be crowned till 752, 
they were mere puppets, ‘ rois faineants ’ as 
they are generally called: the real power 
was in the hands of the mayors of the palace. 
Pepin died in 714. He was succeeded, after 
a brief period of anarchy, by his son Charles 
Martel, or Charles the Hammer—a title he 
earned by the courage and strength he dis¬ 
played in battle. During his tenure of power 
all Europe was threatened by the Saracens, 
who, after occupying Spain, had penetrated 
into France, and were met by Charles Martel 
on a plain between Toiu's and Poitiers, and 
totally defeated (732). Charles Martel died 
in 741, leaving Austrasia and the countries 
beyond the Rhine to his son Carloman, and 
Neustria and Burgundy to his son Pepin 
the Short. On his brother’s death P^pin 
seized his heritage, and in 752, thinking it 
time to have dime with the system of rois 
faineants, had himself crowned King of 
the Franks. In 768 he died, and was suc¬ 
ceeded by his sons Charles, afterwards 
known as Charlemagne (Charles the Great), 
and Carloman. The latter dying in 771, 
Charlemagne then became sole ruler, and 
conquered and organized an empire w’hich 
extended from the Atlantic on the west to 
the Elbe, the Saale, ami the Bohemian 
mountains on the east, and embraced also 
three-fourths of Italy, and Spain as far as 
the Ebro. By Pope Leo HI. on Christmas- 
day in the year 800 he was crowmed in the 
name of the Roman people as Emperor of 
the West. There was as yet, strictly speak¬ 
ing, no kingdom of France, and Charle¬ 
magne was a German, and his empire a 
German one. 

To Charlemagne succeeded in 814 his 
youngest son Louis the Pious. At the death 
of the latter the empire, after many dis¬ 
putes, was eventually divided by the Treaty 
of Verdun in 843 amongst his sons, the 
portion nearly corresponding t(> modern 
France falling to Charles the Bald. From 
this time the separate history of France 

61 


properly begins, the history of the French 
language being also traced to the same 
period, while the eastern portion of the old 
Frankish territory remained German. After 
Charles the Bald, the first of the Caro- 
lingian kings, had been succeeded in 877 
by Louis II., and Louis II. by Louis III. 
(879-882) and Carloman (879-884), Charles 
the Fat, king of the eastern Frankish terri¬ 
tory, became ruler of the western also till 
887, when he w'as deposed. After a brief 
usurpation by Eudes, Count of Paris, Charles 
HI., the brother of Louis HI., was recog¬ 
nized as king. But his kingship was little 
more than nominal, France being divided 
into a number of great fiefs, the possessors 
of which though acknowledging the feudal 
supremacy of Charles were practically inde¬ 
pendent. In these circumstances Charles, 
unable to offer any adequate resistance to 
the Norman pirates who were devastating 
the coast and making incursions into French 
territory, surrendered to them, in 912, the 
province which took from them the name 
of Normandy, d’owards the end of his I'eign 
Hugh of Paris, as he is generally called, duke 
of France, was really the most powerful 
person in the kingdom, and throughout the 
reigns of Imuis IV., Lothaire and Louis V., 
he and his son Hugh Capet held the real 
power. On the death of Louis V. without 
children in 987 Hugh Capet mounted the 
throne himself, and thus became the foun¬ 
der of the Capetian dynasty. The great 
fiefs of Paris and Orleans were thus added 
to the crown, and Paris became the centre 
of the new monarchy. 

The first task of the Capetian line was 
to reconquer the royal prerogatives from the 
great vassals, but for two centuries without 
much success. Hugh Capet died in 996, 
and his first three successors, Robert (died 
1031), Henry 1. (died 1060), and Philip I. 
(died 1106), effected nothing whatever to¬ 
wards the establishment of the royal author¬ 
ity. Louis VI. was more successful, being 
greatly helped by the fact that the nobility 
had been much weakened by the Crusades. 
The growth of the towns also, which ulti¬ 
mately became the allies of the kings, was 
a powerful check on the nobles. 

Louis VI. died in 1137, and was suc¬ 
ceeded by his son Louis VII., who reigned 
till 1180. During his reign the stability of 
the French throne was endangered by the 
influence acquired in France by Henry H. 
of England, who possessed, either by in¬ 
heritance or by his marriage with Eleanor 












FRANCE. 


^ Aquitaine, the whole of the west of France 
except Brittany. Louis was succeeded by 
his son Philip Augustus (Philip II.), who 
did much to strengthen the throne, depriv¬ 
ing John, king of England, of Normandy, 
Maine, and Anjou. His son Louis VIII., 
who succeeded in 122.3, carried on the work 
by the conquest of Poitou, and a religious 
war being proclaimed against the counts of 
Toulouse, who protected the Albigenses, 
that house was extinguished, and their do¬ 
mains passed to the royal family. Louis 
VIII. died in 1226, and under the wise rule 
of Louis IX. (St. Louis) the influence of the 
crown went on increasing, as it did also 
under Philip (III.) the Bold (died 1285), 
Philip (IV.) the Fair (died 1314), Louis X. 
(died 1316), John I. (died 1316, after a reign 
of five days), Philip V. (died 1322), and 
Charles IV. (died 1328), by the acquisition 
of fresh domains and other means until the 
outbreak of the wars with England. 

The first branch of the Caj)etian line of 
kings became extinct on the death of Charles 
IV., the last of the sons of Philip the Fair, 
the Salic law excluding the female succes¬ 
sion. The crown thus fell to Philip of Valois, 
a coiisin, who became king as Philip VI. His 
claim was disputed by Edward III. of Eng¬ 
land, and the dispiate led to a series of wars 
which were not terminated for more than 
120 years. During this period France was 
reduced to a state of great misery. While 
Edward, victorious over Philip VI., and 
after his death over John (II.) the Good, 
who was taken prisoner at Poitiers in 1356, 
compelled the surrender to England of some 
of the finest provinces of France by the 
Treaty of Brdtigny in 1360, the country 
was plundered by banditti, and the Jac¬ 
querie, a mass of furious peasants (about 
1358), satiated their spirit of vengeance in 
the blood of the nobility. Charles (V.) the 
Wise, who succeeded John the Good in 
1364, and his constable, Du Guesclin, were 
able to restore order only for a short time, 
although during this reign the English were 
driven out of most of their possessions in 
France. Then came the long and unhappy 
reign of the imbecile Charles VI. (1380- 
1422), during which Henry V. of England, 
reviving the claim of Edward III. to the 
French crown, invaded France, won the 
field of Agincourt, and obtained a treaty 
(Treaty of Troyes), acknowledged the right 
of succession to the French crqwn in him¬ 
self and his descendants. Charles VI. died 
in 1422, a few weeks after Henry V., whose 


son, Henry VI., a minor, was acknowledged 
as king by the greater part of France. But 
between 1429 and 1431 the peasant girl 
Joan op Arc animated the French in the 
cause of the dauphin, who was crowned as 
Charles VII. at Rheims in 1429, and in 
1451 the English had lost all their posses¬ 
sions in France, except Calais. The shrewd¬ 
ness and perfidy of Louis XI. (1461-83) com¬ 
pleted the subjugation of the great barons, 
and laid the foundation of absolute monarchy. 
Maine, Anjou, and Provence were left to 
him by the will of the last count, and a 
large part of the possessions of the Duke of 
Burgundy, including Picardy, Artois, the 
duchy of Burgundy proper, and Franche 
Comt^, all came into his hands not long after 
the death of Charles the Bold, in 1477. His 
son and successor, Charles VIII. (1483-98), 
united also Brittany to the crown by his 
marriage with Anne, the heiress of the fief, 
and effected a conquest of Naples, which 
lasted but a short time. 

Charles was the last king of the direct 
line of Valois, which was succeeded by the 
collateral branch of Valois-Orleans (1498), 
in the person of Louis XIL, who w'as de¬ 
scended from Louis of Valois, duke of Or¬ 
leans, brother of Charles VI. In order to 
keep Brittany attached to the crown he 
married the widow of his predecessor. On 
his death the crown reverted to another 
branch of the house of Valois, that of An- 
gouleme, Francis I. (1515-47) being the 
grandson of John, count of Angouleme, 
uncle of Louis XII. Francis I. still con¬ 
tinuing the attempts at conquest in Italy, 
was brought into conflict with Charles V. of 
Germany, who also claimed Milan as an 
imperial fief. The result was five wars be¬ 
tween France and Germany, in the first of 
which Francis had to retreat across the Alps; 
in the second he was taken prisoner at 
Pavia; in the third he seized Savoy and 
Piedmont, which the Peace of Crespy (1544), 
made at the conclusion of the fourth war, 
allowed him to keep. 

Francis I. died in 1547, and his son, 
Henry II. (1547-59), pursuing the same 
policy, renewed the war for the fifth time 
with the house of Hapsburg. In the Peace 
of Cateau-Cambr^sis (1559), with which it 
ended, Henry had to surrender Savoy and 
Piedmont, but remained in possession of the 
German bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Ver¬ 
dun. The year before, Calais, the last Eng¬ 
lish possession in France, had been cap¬ 
tured by Francis, duke of Guise. Francis 

52 



PRANCE. 


II., the husband of Mary Queen of Scots, 
succeeded his father Henry, but reigned 
little more than a year (1559-60). The 
foundation of the national debt, the weight 
of which broke down the throne 250 years 
later, was laid in this period. Intrigue and 
corruption gave to women a dangerous in¬ 
fluence at court and in public affairs. Under 
the administration of Charles IX. (con¬ 
ducted during his minority by the queen- 
mother, Catharine de’ Medici) France was 
inundated with the blood of Frenchmen, 
, shed in the religious wars from 1562. (See 
Bartholonieio's Dai^.) These continued 
throughout the reign of Charles IX. and 
his successor, Henry III. (1574-89), and 
were only terminated when Henry IV. ori¬ 
ginally king of Navarre, and since the death 
of Henry III. king of France, went over to 
the Catholic Church (1593), having hitherto 
been the leader of the Huguenots. 

Henry IV. was the first French sovereign 
of the house of Bourbon, which inherited its 
right to the throne from a son of Louis IX. 
He united to the crown of France the Kingf- 
dom of Navarre, which he had inherited from 
his mother, Jeanne d’Albret. In his govern¬ 
ment of France Henry showed all the 
qualities of a great prince and a great 
statesman, establishing religious toleration 
(Edict of Nantes, 1598), and labouring dili¬ 
gently for the welfare of the state. He was 
cut off prematurely by the dagger of the 
fanatic Ravaillac (1610). During the minor¬ 
ity of Henry’s son Louis XIII. the French 
policy was at first wavering, until the prime- 
minister, Cardinal Richelieu, gave it a steady 
direction. He restored the French influence 
in Italy and the Netherlands, humbled Aus¬ 
tria and Spain, and created that domestic 
government which rendered the government 
completely absolute. 

Louis XIII. died in 1643, the year after 
bis great minister, and was succeeded by 
Louis XIV., ‘le (Irand Monarque.’ The 
policy of Richelieu was carried on by Ma- 
zarin during the regency of Anne of Austria, 
while Louis was still a minor, and also for 
some years after I.ouis was declared of age. 
During his ministry France obtained by the 
Peace of Westphalia (1648) the German pro¬ 
vince of Alsace, and by the Peace of the 
Pyrenees (1659) parts of Flanders, Hainault, 
Luxembourg, &c. After the death of Ma- 
zarin, in 1661, Louis XIV. took the govern¬ 
ment into his own hands, and ruled with an 
absolute sway. The period which imme¬ 
diately followed was the most brilliant in 

53 


French history. His ministers, especially 
Colbert, and his generals, Turenne, Conde, 
Luxembourg, and the military engineer Vau- 
ban, were alike the greatest of their time; the 
writers of the period were also among the 
greatest in French literature. An unsuccess¬ 
ful attempt was made on the Spanish Nether¬ 
lands ; a war was undertaken against Holland, 
Spain, and Germany, which ended in France 
receiving Franche Comte and other places 
from Spain, and Freiburg from Germany. 
In 1681 Strasbourg was seized from the 
empire in a time of peace. The last war of 
Louis was the war of the Spanish Succession 
(1701-14), which resulted unfortunately for 
France. During this reign great injury was 
done to French industry by the revocation 
of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Louis XIV. 
died in 1715, leaving the finances in disorder, 
and a national debt amounting to no less 
than 4,500,000,000 livres. Louis XV., the 
grandson of Louis XIV., succeeded at the 
age of five years. During his minority the 
regent, the Duke of Orleans, squandered the 
revenues in the most reckless manner, and 
matters went from bad to worse. In 1723 
Louis was declared of age, but he sank under 
the pernicious influences of mistresses like 
Pompadour and Du Barry into extravagance 
and license, entering into useless and costly 
wars (war of Austrian Succession, 1740-48; 
Seven Years’ War, 1756-63), and contract¬ 
ing enormous debts. During this reign two 
important acquisitions were made by France, 
nameljq Lorraine and Corsica. 

With the reign of Louis XVI. began the 
period of expiation for the misdeeds of the 
French monarchy and aristocracy, which 
had culminated in the preceding reign. 4’he 
king himself was amiable, but the whole 
administration was rotten, and the court, 
the nobility, and the clergy formed only one 
privileged class united to oppress the people. 
The good intentions of Louis were neutraL 
ized by a total lack of energy and firmness. 
Tlie first difficulty of his government, and 
the I’ock on which it split, was the hopeless 
condition of the public finances, with which 
Turgot, Necker, Calonne, Brienne, and again. 
Necker tried in vain successively to grapple. 
Finding all ordinary measures unavailing, 
Necker demanded the convocation of the 
States General, which had not met since 
1614. They met on 5th May, 1789, but as 
the nobles and clergy refused to conduct 
business so as to give the Third Estate its 
due weight, the deputies of this body as¬ 
sumed the title of the National Constituent 






FRANCE. 


Assembly, and resolved not to separate till 
they had given a constitution to France. 
The clergy and nobles then yielded, and the 
fusion of the three orders was eflfected on 
27th June. Foreign troops, however, were 
brought to Paris to overawe the assembly. 
The people now den)anded arms, which the 
municipality of Paris supplied; and on 14th 
July the Bastille was captured and destroyed. 
Lafayette was made commander of the 
newly-established national guard. On the 
4th August a decisive step was taken by 
I the abolition of all feudal rights and privi- 
' leges. On 5th October Versailles was at- 
; tacked by the mob, and the royal family, 
j virtually prisoners, were taken to Paris by 
I Lafayette. The king tried to obtain the aid 
‘ of some of the foreign powers against his 
subjects, and made his escape from Paris 
(20th June, 1791); but he was recognized, 
arrested at Varennes, and brought back to 
Paris. On 30th September, 1791, the as¬ 
sembly brought its work to a finish by pro¬ 
ducing a new constitution, which was sworn 
to by the king on 14th September, and he 
was then reinstated in his functions. This 
constitution deprived the king of arbitrary 
powers, provided liberty of worship and 
freedom of the press, of commerce, of in¬ 
dustry; abolished the laws of primogeniture 
and entail as well as titles; all France was 
redivided into eighty-three departments, 
nearly equal in extent. 

The Constituent Assembly was, according 
to the constitution, immediately followed by 
the Legislative Assembly, which met Oct. 1, 
1791, and in which there were two parties 
of political importance, the Girondists, mo¬ 
derate republicans, so named because their 
leaders came from the department of the 
Gironde, who led it, and the Montagnards, 
extreme radicals, known collectively as the 
Mountain, because their seats were the 
highest on the left side of the hall, who sub- 
setiuently became all-powerful in the conven¬ 
tion. The constitutionalists and monarch¬ 
ists were already powerless. The declaration 
of Pilnitz by the Emperor of Germany and 
the King of Prussia, threatening an armed 
intervention on behalf of the king, compelled 
the assembly to take a decisive course, and 
on 20th April, 1792, war was declared 
against Austria and Prussia. Reverses to 
the French troops caused a popular rising, 
and the Tuileries, after a sanguinary com¬ 
bat, were taken and sacked. The king 
took refuge witli his family in the Assembly, 
which was invaded and compelled to submit 


to the dictation of the victors by assenting 
to the suspension of the king and the con¬ 
vocation of a National Convention in place 
of the Assembly. The first act of the Con¬ 
vention was to proclaim a republic. On 
3d December the king was cited to appear 
before it. On 20th January, 1793, he was 
sentenced to death within twenty-four hours, 
and on the 21st the sentence was executed. 
This violent inauguration of the republic 
shocked public opinion throughout Europe, 
and armed the neutral states against France. 
England, Holland, and Spain joined the coali¬ 
tion. The extremists in France only grew 
more violent, a committee of public safety, 
with sovereign authority, was appointed 6th 
April, and the Reign of Terror begun. The 
struggle between the Girondists and the 
Montagnards or Jacobins terminated in fa- 
vour of the latter. A new constitution 
was adopted by the Convention on 23d June, 
called the Constitution of the Year 1, the 
Republican Calendar being adopted on 5th 
October, 1793, the year 1 beginning on Sept. 
22, 1792. Christianity was formally abol¬ 
ished. Risings against the government were 
put down with frightful bloodshed. Both in 
Paris and the provinces executions and mas¬ 
sacres of persons alleged to be disaffected to 
the party in power followed each other daily. 
The queen was executed on 16th October, 
1793, the Girondists on 31st October, and 
others followed, Robespierre being foremost 
in the bloody work. At length the reign of 
terror came to an end by the execution of 
Robespierre and his associates on 27th and 
28th July, 1794. Dan ton and Hebert, his 
old allies, he had already brought to the 
scaffold. Marat, another man of blood,dlad 
perished by assassination. The campaigns 
’of 1793 and 1794 resulted favourably to the 
French arms, which were cari’ied beyond the 
French frontier, Belgium and Holland being 
occupied, Spain being invaded, and tlie allies 
being driven across the Rhine. These suc¬ 
cesses induced Prussia and Spain to sign 
the treaties of Basel (1795), recognizing the 
French republic. In 1795 the Convention 
gave the republic a new constitution, a 
chamber of Five Hundred to propose the 
laws, a chamber of Ancients to approve them, 
an executive of five members, one elected 
annually, called the Directory. The Con¬ 
vention was dissolved on 26th October. 

Napoleon Bonaparte now began to be the 
most prominent figure in French affairs ; and 
after his brilliant successes against the Aus¬ 
trians both north and south of the Alps, 

54 








FRANCE. 


and his empty conquest of Es^ypt, it was 
not difficult for him to overthrow the gov¬ 
ernment of the Directory. This was ac¬ 
complished in the revolution of ISthand 19th 
Brumaire (9th 10th Nov. 1799), the Direc¬ 
tory being succeeded by the Consulate, Bona¬ 
parte himself being appointed First Consul 
for ten years. The other two consuls, Camba- 
ceres and I.,ebrun, were to have consultative 
voices only. The new constitution (consti¬ 
tution of the year originally devised 

by Sieyks) was proclaimed on 15th Decem¬ 
ber. Under the appearance of a republic 
it really established a military monarchy, 
'i'he history of France for the next sixteen 
years is virtually the history of Napoleon. 
(See Napoleon L) In 1802 the constitu¬ 
tion was amended, Napoleon being made con¬ 
sul for life, with the right of appointing his 
successor. In 1804 he was proclaimed em¬ 
peror, this being confirmed by a popular vote 
of 3,572,329 against 2569. The emperor was 
consecrated at Pai’is by Pius VIL, and in 1805 
he was also crowned King of Italy. For 
years the continental powers, whether singly 
or in coalitions, were unable to stand against 
him, though at sea France was powerless 
after the great victory by Nelson over the 
French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar (1805). 
The Austrians and Russians were decisively 
defeated at the great battle of Austerlitz 
(1805); the King of Naples was dethroned 
and Napoleon’s brother Joseph put in his 
place; another brother, Louis, was made 
king of Holland; while for a third, Jerome, 
the Kingdom of Westphalia was erected 
(1807). Prussia was conquered and com¬ 
pelled to accede to humiliating terms. Na¬ 
poleon was at the height of his power in 
1810 and 1811, his empire then extending 
from Denmark to Naples, with capitals at 
I’aris, Rome, and Amsterdam, By this time, 
however, the Peninsular War (see that art.) 
had broken out, which was one immediate 
cause of his downfall, the disastrous Rus¬ 
sian campaign of 1812 being another. The 
latter cost the French the loss of at least 
300,000 men. A new coalition was now 
formed against Napoleon, and in 1813 he 
was disastrously defeated by the allies at 
the great battle of Leipzig. By this time 
the Peninsular War was drawing to a close 
and Southern France was actually invaded 
by "W'dlington. 'J'he allies entered Paris on 
31st March, 1814. Napoleon abdicated and 
received the island of Elba as a sovereign 
principality. Louis XVIII. was proclaimed 
king of France, and concluded the Peace of 

55 


Paris (May 30, 1814). A congress of the 
great powers had assembled at Vienna to 
adjust European affairs, when it was an¬ 
nounced that Napoleon had leftMlllba, re¬ 
turned to Paris 20th March, 1815, and been 
reinstated without resistance in his former 
authority. The allied sovereigns proclaimed 
him an outlaw and renewed their alliance 
against him. Napoleon, anticipating the 
attack, crossed the Sambre with 130,000 
men, defeated Bliicher in the battle of 
Ligny, and marched against the British, 
who had taken position at Waterloo. Here 
on the 18th was fought the decisive battle 
which resulted in his final overthrow. On 
the 7th July the allies entered Paris for the 
second time. Napoleon surrendered to the 
British and was sent to St. Helena as a 
prisoner. 

Louis XVIII. at first governed with the 
support of a moderate Liberal party, but 
the reactionary spirit of the aristocrats and 
returned ^migr^s soon got the upper hand; 
the country, however,was prosperous. Louis 
having died 16th Sept., 1824, his brother, 
Charles X., succeeded. On 26th July, 1830, 
the Polignac ministry, strongly reactionary 
in its tendencies, published ordinances sup¬ 
pressing the liberty of the press and creating 
a new system of elections. The result was 
an insurrection during the three days 27th- 
29th July by which Chari < s X. was over¬ 
thrown and Louis Philippe of Orleans pro¬ 
claimed king 9th August, 1830. During 
the last days of Charles X.’s reign a French 
expedition had captured the city of Algiers 
and laid the foundation of the French colony 
there. During the eighteen years of Louis 
Philippe’s reign the chief events were the 
taking of the Citadel of Antwerp, the tem¬ 
porary occupation of Ancona, both in 1832, 
and in 1835 the completion of the conquest 
of Algeria. But latterly, under the ministry 
of Guizot, a policy of resistance to all con¬ 
stitutional changes was adopted, and a 
strong opposition having been formed, on 
24th February, 1848, another revolution 
drove Loxiis Philippe into exile. A republic 
was proclaimed, and on the 10th December, 
1848, T>ouis Napoleon, nephew of the great 
Napoleon, was elected president for four 
years, fl’he president, having gained the 
favour of the army, dissolved the legislative 
assembly on 2d December, 1851, put down 
all resistance in blood, and by this coup 
d’etat established himself as president for 
the further term of ten years. A plebiscite 
of 7,839,216 votes confirmed the appoint- 







FRANCE. 


ment. On 2d December tbe president 
was declared emperor under the title of 
Napoleon III. (a son of the great Napoleon 
being counted as Napoleon II.); and a ple¬ 
biscite of 7,824,129 votes was again got to 
confirm the appointment. The Crimean 
war (1854-55) and the war against Austria 
on behalf of Italy (1859) distinguished the 
early part of his reign. The latter greatly 
aided in the foundation of a United Italy, 
and gave France the territories of Savoie 
,and Nice (1860). In 1870 the uneasiness of 
Napoleon and the French at the steady 
agi^randizement of Prussia broke out into 
flame at the offer of the Spanish crown to 
a prince of the house of HohenzoUern. 
France, not satisfied with the renunciation of 
the German prince, demanded a guarantee 
from the King of Prussia that the candidature 
should never be resumed. This being re¬ 
fused France declared war. (See Franco- 
German War.) One French army was driven 
back by the Germans and cooped up in 
Metz, another was pushed northwards to 
Sedan, and so hemmed in that it had to 
surrender with the empei’or at its head. 
On the news of this disaster reaching Paris 
the republic was proclaimed. After an al¬ 
most uninterrupted series of victories the 
Germans became masters of the French capi¬ 
tal (28th January, 1871), and the war ended 
in France giving up to Germany Alsace and 
a part of Lorraine, and paying a war indem¬ 
nity of five milliards of francs (£200,000,000). 
Meanwhile civil war had broken out in 
Paris, which was suppressed with great dif¬ 
ficulty. (See Commune of Paris.) The 
assembly elected in 1871 for the ratification 
of peace with Germany found it expedient 
to continue their functions, Thiers being the 
head of the administration. In 1873 the 
Thiers administration was overthrown and 
replaced by one under Marshal MacMahon. 
In 1875 a republican constitution was drawn 
up. In 1879 MacMahon resigned his pre¬ 
sidentship, being succeeded by Jules Grevy, 
who in turn was followed by Sadi-Caruot 
in 1867. Carnot was assassinated in 1894, 
and was succeeded by Casimir-Perier as 
president, who resigned Jan. 15,1895. Two 
days later Felix Faure succeeded him. Du¬ 
ring his term of office France was violently 
agitated by the Dreyfus case; and also on 
the verge of war with England in reference 
to the occupation of Fashoda in the Sou¬ 
dan. Faure died suddenly, Feb. 15, 1899, 
being succeeded by Emile Loubet. 

French Language .—At the time of the 


conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, the prin¬ 
cipal dialects spoken by the inhabitants 
were Celtic. After the conquest of Gaul 
by the Romans all these dialects were 
gradually supplanted by Latin except in 
Brittany, where a Celtic dialect still holds 
its ground. The popular Latin of Gaul of 
course exhibited considerable differences 
from the written and classic Latin, and by 
the 7th or 8th century the literary and the 
popular languages had come to be quite 
clearly distinguished as the Latina and the 
Romana respectively. Besides the Celtic 
words, not very numerous, which were im¬ 
ported into the new speech, it was consider¬ 
ably modified by Celtic habits of speech, 
new sounds being introduced. It was still 
further modified by the influences intro¬ 
duced with the Teutonic invasions. The 
half-barbarous conquerors, incapable of mas¬ 
tering the intricacy of I>atin inflections, 
mostly neglected them, using only the sim¬ 
pler forms. They enlarged the vocabulary 
also by a number of words, mostly terms of 
war, hunting, &c. After the Franks in 
Gaul had abandoned their native language 
and adopted this new Romanic or Romance 
tongue it became known as the Francisca, 
later Franceis, from which the modern term 
French is derived. The oldest known monu¬ 
ment of the new dialect is the oath of Louis 
the German, taken at Strasburg in 842. 
In the 9th and 10th centuries two main 
branches or groups of dialects came to be 
recognized, the Lamjue d’Oc, spoken in the 
districts south of the Ijoire, and the Langue 
d'Oil, spoken in a variety of dialects in the 
provinces of the north and the east. The 
former may be said to have reached its 
height in the Provencal poetry and dialect^ 
known especially in connection with the 
Troubadours. In the 13 th century the poli¬ 
tical superiority of the north threw the 
Langue d’Oc into the shade and a dialect 
of the Langue d’Oil spoken in the central 
province of He de France, where the capital, 
Paris, was, came to be regarded as the clas¬ 
sical language of the country, all other dia¬ 
lects sinking into the condition of patois. 
At the beginning of the 16th century Francis 
I. prohibited the use of Latin at court and 
in the public tribunals and formally recog¬ 
nized the French as the national language. 
As one of the Romance languages it is a 
sister tongue of Italiaji, Spanish, and Por¬ 
tuguese. 

Literature .—French literatm-e proper be¬ 
gins in the 11th century with the epic or 

50 


FRANCE. 


narrative poems known as chansons de geste, 
and produced by the class of poets known 
as Trouvcres. These poems belong to 
northern France and are very numerous. 
They are usually divided into three heads: 
poems relating to French history, in par¬ 
ticular to the deeds of Charlemagne, his 
descendants and vassals; poems relating to 
Alexander the Great and to ancient history; 
and poems of the Arthurian cycle, or relat¬ 
ing to King Arthur. They are generally 
written in verses of ten or twelve syllables, 
and are of a length varying from 1000 to 
20,000 lines. One of the oldest and best 
examples of the first class is the Chanson 
de Roland, or Song of Roland. Of the 
Arthurian cycle, the Roman de Rou and 
Roman de Brut; and of the Alexandrine 
cycle, the Alexandre by Lambert li Cors, 
and La Guerre de Troie (War of Troy) by 
Benoit de St. More, are examples. Out of 
t\xQchansons de geste grewthe romans d'aven- 
tures, fictitious poems which are not con¬ 
nected with any of the well-defined topics 
of the chansons de geste. Distinct from 
these are the fabliaux, metrical tales of a 
witty sarcastic kind, belonging mostly to 
the 12th or 13th centuries. Allied to these 
is the Roman de Renard, or History of 
Reynard the Fox, a poem, or rather series 
of poems, written between the end of the 
12th and the middle of the 14th century, 
and forming a satirical picture of all the 
classes and institutions of the time. 

Side by side with these epics, romances, 
and tales, an abundant lyric poetry flourished 
from the 11th century. This song literature 
is mainly of a sentimental character, and is 
usually divided into two classes, romances 
and pastourelles. It is in general remark¬ 
able for its lyric grace and skilful melody. 
Amongst the principal of the early lyrists 
are Thibaut de Champagne (1201-53), 
Charles of Orleans (1391-1465). The latter, 
a graceful writer of ballades and rondels, 
was amongst the last of the real Trouvferes. 
Rutebeuf (born 1230), also a writer of fab¬ 
liaux, is the first of a series of poets cul¬ 
minating in Frangois Villon who passed their 
life in a Bohemian alternation of gaiety and 
misery, celebrating each phase with equal 
vigour in verse. The Roman de la Rose, 
the work, in its earlier part, of Guillaume 
de Loris, who lived in the first half of the 
13th century, in the later, of Jean de Meung 
(died 1320), is one of the most notable pro¬ 
ductions of the time. It consists of more 
than 22,000 verses, and is a curious combin¬ 

67 


ation of a love poem and a satire. Olivier 
Basselin (who died about 1418) wrote songs 
celebrating the praises of wine. Franyois 
Villon (1431-1500), the greatest of French 
poets before the Renaissance, wrote two com¬ 
positions known as the Great and the Little 
Testament, interspersed with lyrical composi¬ 
tions of great poetic merit. 

In prose literature the first important work 
is the Histoire de la Conquete de Constanti¬ 
nople by Villehardouin (1167-1213). The 
Memoires of the Sieur de Joinville (1223- 
1317) delineates the life of St. Louis and 
the exploits of the last Crusade. Froissart 
(1337-1410), the ‘Herodotus of his age,’ 
gives a vivid picture of the chivalry of tlie 
14th century. With Philippe de Cominines 
(1445-1509) we are introduced to Louis XI. 
and his contemporaries in a style of history 
which, if less naive and charming, shows a 
deeper and more philosophical sense of things. 
In lighter prose the Cent Non velles Nou velles 
already shows the power of the French lan¬ 
guage for the short witty tale. 

The revival of classical learning and the 
reformation of religion exercised a powerful 
influence on the French literature of the 16th 
century. Rabelais (1483-1553), a profound 
but often gross humorist, and Montaigne 
(1533-92), an interesting and instructive, 
though somewhat sceptical essayist, hold the 
first rank. Calvin (1509-64) did much by 
his great theological work. Institution de la 
religion Chretienne, to mould French prose 
in the direction of strength and gravity. 
Amongst the other works which indicate the 
rapid development of French prose in this 
century are Brantdme's Memoires, the Hep- 
tameronof QueenMargaretof Navarre(l 492- 
1549), the translations by Amyot (1513-93) 
of Plutarch and other classic writers, and the 
celebrated political pamphlet. Satire Menip- 
pde. In poetry Clement Marot (1497-1544) 
gave a new elegance to the language in his 
epistles and epigrams. Pierre de Ronsard 
(1524-85) and the other members of the 
celebrated Pleiade, lodelle, Belleau, Du- 
bellay and others, sought to enrich their 
native tongue by the introduction of classic 
words, constructions, and forms of verse. 
Du Bartas (1544-90) and D’Aubigne (1550- 
1630) carried on the work of Ronsard. Ma- 
thurin R^nier (1573-1613) may be said to 
close this school of poetry. He unites in 
himself the lighter qualities (J the style of 
Villon and Marot, with the erudition and 
command of language characteristic of the 
Ronsardists. Malherbe ( 1556 - 1628 ), the 





FRANCE. 


creator of a new taste in literature, opposed 
with success the tendency of the llonsard 
school, and falling into the opposite excess 
sacrificed everything to correctness. It was 
his school that set the example of the smooth 
but monotonous Alexandrine. With the 
Renaissance translations of the classic dramas 
appeared, and a member of the Pleiade, 
Jodelle (1532-1573), wTote the first regular 
tragedy (Cleopatre) and comedy (Eugbne), 

The 17th century opened with Alexandre 
Hardy (1560-1631),Rotrou (1609-50), Tris¬ 
tan (1601-55), Mairet (1604-88), Du Ryer 
(1605-48), and a host of other dramatists, 
for nearly a hundred can be enumerated in 
the first quarter of the century. At length 
Pierre Corneille (1606-84), with his Cid, 
Cinna, Horace, and Polyeucte, brought 
French tragedy to a degree of grandeur 
which it has not surpassed. Of seventeenth 
century prose writers Pascal (1628-62) is 
vigorous and satirical in his Lettres provinci- 
ales; profound, if sometimes mystical, in his 
Pensees. The letters of Balzac (1584-1684) 
and V^oiture (1598-1648), though rhetorical, 
were valuable as models for elegant prose. 
Descartes (1596-1650) showed in his Dis¬ 
cours sur la M^thode that the language was 
now equal to the highest philosophical sub¬ 
jects, and the great work of his disciple, 
IVlalebranche, Recherche de la Verite, is 
equally admirable for its elegance of style 
and its subtlety of thought. 

The age of Louis XIV. is known as the 
golden age of French literature. Besides 
Corneille, Racine (1639-99) represented the 
tragic drama, and Moliere (1639-93) brought 
his great masterpieces of comedy on the 
stacre. The ‘ inimitable ’ La Fontaine 

o 

(1621-95) wrought his Contes and the 
most charming collection of fables. For his 
critical influence, if not for his poetry, 
Boileau (1636-1711) holds a prominent 
place. In eloquence the sermons and funeral 
orations of Bossuet, Bourdaloue, and Mas¬ 
sillon take the first rank. Bossuet is also 
celebrated as a controversialist and theolo¬ 
gical historian. Very important, too, are 
the memoir and maxim writers of this time. 
Amongst the former are the Cardinal de 
Retz, Madame de Motteville, Madame de 
Sevignd (1627-96), and others; amongst the 
latter are La Rochefoucauld (1613-80), St. 
Evremond (1613-1703), La Bruyhre (1639- 
99). In fiction Le Sage, who also wrote 
comedies, produced his immortal Gil Bias 
and the Diable Boiteux; and the versatile 
Fontenelle wrote his Dialogues des Morts. 


Amongst the waiters of the 18th century 
Voltaire holds the first place. He claims 
notice as an epic, lyrical, and comic poet, as 
a tragic and comic dramatist, as a historian, 
novelist, and philosopher, and he remained 
at the head of the republic of letters for more 
than half a century. Next to him in immedi¬ 
ate influence on the age stands Jean Jacques 
Rousseau (1712-78), a writer of an eloquent 
sentimental vein, well represented by his 
Nouvelle Heloise and his famous Confes¬ 
sions. His new theories of politics and 
education are embodied in his Contrat 
Social and Simile. Buffon (1707-88) de¬ 
voted himself to the production of his im¬ 
mense natural history. Montesquieu (1689- 
1755), commencing with the Lettres Per- 
sanes, a satire on French manners and gov¬ 
ernment, followed wdth a historical master¬ 
piece, Considerations sur la Grandeur et la 
Decadence des Remains, and finally with 
his great work, the Espidt des Lois. Diderot 
(1713-83), a pow'erful and suggestive writer 
in many departments, and D’Alembert 
(1717-83), a great geometrician, founded 
the Encyclopedie, a vast review’ of human 
knowledge, often hostile to social order and 
always to religion. Amongst the jfinloso- 
phers Helvetius, D’Holbach, and La Mettrie 
represent the extreme materialistic and 
anti-Christian school. Condillac and Con- 
dorcet kept most on the side of moderation. 
Among the writers of fiction Bernardin de 
St. Pierre (1737-1814), author of Paul et 
Virginie, and Prevost (1697-1763), author 
of Manon Lescaut, are particularly worthy 
of mention; while dramatic literature was 
enriched by the Barbier de Seville and the 
Mariage de Figaro of Beaumarchais (1732- 
99). The age was not poetical; poetry had 
degenerated into imitations of foreign de¬ 
scriptive poets, such as Thomson. The 
most successful writer of this stamp was 
Delille (1738-1813). Andre Chenier (1762- 
94), the most promising of all, fell beneath 
the guillotine just after completing his Jeuno 
Captive. 

Neither the revolution nor the first em¬ 
pire w’as favourable to literature. Chateau¬ 
briand (1768-1848) and Madame de Stael 
(1766-1817) gave a new turn to the taste 
and sentiment of the time, the former in 
his Genie du Christianisme and his Mar- 
tyres, clothing the history of Christianity in 
the romantic hues of his imagination, the 
latter in her Corinne and De rAllemaf^ne 

O 

introducing the idealistic spirit and thought 
of the Germans to her countrymen. A 

58 


FRANCE. 


piiTely reactionary school of thought was 
headed by Joseph de Maistre (1754-1821), 
the advocate of theocracy, with a vigorous 
de.spotism for its system of government. 

Later on in the present century the in¬ 
fluence of Goethe, Schiller, Shakspere, Scott, 
and Byron began to be felt, and a new 
school, called the romantic, as opposed to 
the old or classic, sprung up, headed by 
Victor Hugo (1802-85), who promulgated 
the new theories in the preface to his drama 
of Cromwell, and carried them into practice 
in numerous poems. The most notable of 
his associates were Alfred de Vigny (1779- 
1863), author of a volume of Poemes, and 
of a novel. Cinq Mars; Sainte-Beuve (1804- 
69), who published se\ eral volumes of poetry 
in those early days, but became famous 
later on as a critic, perhaps the best France 
has ever possessed; Alfred de Musset (1810- 
57), who produced some of the finest lyrics 
in the language. Charles Nodier, Gerard 
de Nerval, the two Deschamps, and, later, 
Theophile Gautier, with others, also be¬ 
longed to the band of romanticists. On 
the stage the dramas of Alexandre Du¬ 
mas, the elder (1803-74), though melo¬ 
dramatic and of inferior literary value, served 
as rallying points for the new school. To 
English readers, however, he is best known 
by his novels. A reactionary movement was 
attempted, led by Ponsard (1814-67) and 
Emile Augier (1820—). Casimir Delavigne 
(1793-1843) attempted to combine the 
classic and romantic schools; and Lamartine 
(1790-1869) is more than half a romanticist 
by sentiment and style. Beranger (1780- 
1857), the greatest of French song-writers, 
may be considered as belonging to neither 
of the two schools, nor can the sparkling 
comedies and vaudevilles of Eughne Scribe 
be claimed by any of the rival parties. 

Amojig novelists, Balzac (1799-1850), by 
his astonishing series of works, intended to 
cover the whole ground of human life, has 
established his claim to the first place. The 
novels of George Sand (Madame Dudevant, 
1804-76), perhaps equally famous, have 
gained her the reputation of possessing the 
finest style of any contemporary writer. Low 
life in Paris was vividly depicted by Eugene 
Sue (1804-57) in the Mysthres de Paris, Ac. 
Of a healthy tone are the novels of Frederic 
Soulie, fimile Souvestre, and Edmond About 
(1828-85), and the stories of the two nove¬ 
lists, conjoined in work as in name, Erck- 
mann-Chatrian. The younger Dumas, Vic- 
torien Sardou, Octave Feuillet, Ernest Fey¬ 

59 


deau, Henri Murger, Gustave Flaubert, 
have developed a realistic style of novel in 
which social problems are treated with more 
candour than delicacy. Of late years a 
school of writers has arisen who strive to 
outdo the most realistic of their predeces¬ 
sors. The chiefs of this school are ^]milo 
Zola, £mile Gaboriau, Victor Cherbuliez, 
Alphonse Daudet, &c. 

In works of history the century has been 
very prolific, the leading historians being 
Michaud (1767-18391, Sismondi (1773- 
1842), Guizot (1787-1874), Amedee Thierry 
(1787-1873), Augustin Thierry (1795-1856), 
Mignet (1796-1884), Thiers (1797-1877), 
Michelet (1798-1874), Henri Martin (1810- 
83), Victor Duruy (1811—), Louis Blanc 
(1813-82). Literary historians are: Ville- 
main (1790-1870), Vinet (1797-1847), J. J. 
Amphre (1800-64), Littre (1801-81), St. 
Marc-Girardin (1801-73), Sainte-Beuve 
(1804-69), Taine (1828—), Demogeot. Phi¬ 
losophy is represented by Lamennais (1782- 
1854), Victor Cousin (1792-1867), Joufifroy 
(1796-1842), Remusat (1797-1875),Auguste 
Comte (1798-1857), Quinet (1803-75),Mont- 
alembert (1810-70), Renan (1823-1892). 
Among the writers on political economy 
and sociology are Bastiat (1801-50), Toc- 
queville (1805-59), Chevalier (1806-79), 
Proudhon (1809-65), Jules Simon (1814—), 
Prevost Paradol (1829-70). Among scien¬ 
tific writers are: Etienne Geoffroy St. 
Hilaire and his son Isidore, Cuvier, Jussieu, 
Dumeril, in natural science; Gay-Lussac, 
Bichat, Corvisart, Magendie, in chemistry 
and medicine; and Lagrange, Laplace, and 
Arago in mathematics. Amongst Oriental¬ 
ists of note are Champollion, Burnouf, Sil- 
vestre de Sacy, and Stanislas Julien. The 
essayists and literary and art critics are 
legion. We can only mention by name 
Theophile Gautier, Jides Janin, Philarete 
Chasles, Leon Gozlan, Paul de St. Victor, 
Gustave Planche, and St. Rene Taillan- 
dier. Amongst poets who belong to a date 
posterior to the Romantic movement, or 
show different tendencies, may be men¬ 
tioned Gautier in his later poetry, Eaude. 
laire (1821-67), Leconte de liisle, Francois 
Coppee, Sully Prudhomme, Catulle IMendes, 
and the modern Provengal poets, Frederic 
Mistral and Thdodor^Aubanel. 

France, Isle of {Tle-de-France), an an¬ 
cient province of France, so called because 
it was originally bounded by the Seine, 
Marne, Ourcq, Aisne, and Oise, and formed 
almost an island. 






FRANCE-FRANCIS I. 


France, Isle of. See Mauritius. 

Francesca da Rimini (fran-ches'ka da 
re'mi-ne), an Italian lady, daughter of Guido 
da Polenta, lord of Ravenna, lived in the 
latter part of the 13th century. She was 
married to Lanciotto, the deformed son of 
the lord of Rimini, who, discovering an in¬ 
timacy between her and his brother Paolo, 
put them both to death. The story forms 
an episode in Dante’s Inferno, and is alluded 
to by Petrarch; it is the subject of a poem 
by Leigh Hunt and a tragedy by Silvio 
Pellico. 

Franche-Comte (fransh-kon-til), an an¬ 
cient province of France, forming at present 
the departments of Doubs, Haute-Saone, and 
Jura. It formed part of the Kingdom of 
Burgundy. 

Franchise (fran'chiz), in a general and 
legal sense, a particular privilege or right 
granted by a prince, sovereign, or govern¬ 
ment to an individual, or to a number of 
persons. In politics, in regard to which the 
term is most commonly used, it is the right 
of voting upon proposed legislative mea¬ 
sures, where such measures are accepted or 
rejected by the people generally; or for re¬ 
presentatives to a legislative assembly (the 
parliamentary franchise) or to a municipal 
body. 

Francia, Francesco. See RaiboUni. 

Francia, Dr. Jose Gaspar Rodriguez, 
Dictator of Paraguay, born about 1758, died 
1840. He was for some time a theological 
professor, and afterwards gained distinction 
as an advocate at Asuncion. In 1811, when 
Paraguay threw off the Spanish yoke, he 
became secretary of the junta appointed by 
congress. In 1814 he was appointed dicta¬ 
tor for three years, and in 1817 he was con¬ 
tinued in authority for life. He did much 
to consolidate the new republic; but his 
rule was arbitrary in the extreme. In spite 
of his cruelty and rigour he was generally 
beloved by his subjects. 

Francis I., King of France, was born 
1494; died 1547. His father was Charles 
of Orleans, count of Angouleme, and his 
mother Louise of Savoy, grand-daughter 
of Valentine, duke of Milan. He ascended 
the throne in 1515, having succeeded his 
uncle, Louis XII. In prosecution of his 
claim to Milan he defeated the Swiss in the 
plains of Marignano and forced the reigning 
duke Maximilian Sforza to relinquish the 
sovereignty. On the death of Maximilian 
(1519) Francis was one of the competitors 
for the empire; but the choice fell on Charles 


of Austria, the grandson of Maximilian, 
henceforth known as the Emperor Charles 
V. From this period Francis and Charles 
were rivals, and were almost continually at 
war with one another. Both attempted to 
gain the alliance of England. With this 
view Francis invited Henry VIII. of Eng¬ 
land to an interview, which took place near 
Calais, between Gulnes and Ardres, in June, 
1520. 4 he magnificence of the two mon- 

archs and their suites on this occasion has 



Francis I. 


given to the meeting the name of the Field 
of the Cloth of Gold. In 1521 war broke 
out between the rivals, which ended in 
Francis being defeated and taken prisoner. 
He could recover his liberty only by re¬ 
nouncing his claims to Naples, Milan, Genoa, 
and Asti, the suzerainty of Flanders and 
Artois, and promising to cede the Duchy 
of Burgundy and some other French fiefs. 
War was soon after renewed, an alliance, 
called the Hol}'^ League, having been formed 
between the Pope Clement VII., the King 
of France, the King of England, the Re° 
public of Venice, the Duke of Milan, and 
other Italian powers, with the object of 
checking the advances of the emperor. In 
this war Rome was taken and sacked by 
the Constable of Bourbon (1527), and Italy 
vvas devastated, but Francis gained little 
either of fame or material advantage. Peace 
was concluded in 1529, but hostilities again 
broke out in 1535, when Francis possessed 
himself of Savoy. A hastily-made-up peace 







FRANCIS 11. 


FRANCIS. 


was soon broken, and Francis again found 
himself at war with the Emperor and the 
King of England. Fortunately for France 
the union of the Protestant princes of Ger¬ 
many against the emperor prevented him 
from following up his success, and inclined 
him to a peace, which was concluded at 
Crespy in 1544. Charles resigned all his 
claims on Burgundy, and allowed Francis 
to retain Savoy. Two years after peace 
was made with England. Francis I. pos¬ 
sessed a chivalric and enterprising spirit, 
and w'as a patron of learning. 

Francis II., King of FraH.ce, son of Henry 
II. and Catharine of Medici, born at Fon¬ 
tainebleau in 1544, ascended the throne on 
the death of his father, 1559. The year 
previous he had married Mary Stuart, only 
child of James V., king of Scotland. The 
uncles of his wdfe, Francis, duke of Guise, 
and the Cardinal of Lorraine, held the reins 
of government. Francis, who was of a feeble 
constitution, died in December, 1560. 

Francis I., Emperor of Germany, eldest 
son of Leopold, duke of Lorraine, was born 
in 1708. In 1736 he married Maria The¬ 
resa, daughter of the Emperor Charles VI. 
After the death of Charles VI. (1740) he 
w^as declared by his wife co-regent of all the 
hereditary states of Austria, but without 
being permitted to take any part in the ad¬ 
ministration. After the death of Charles 
VII. he was elected emperor in 1745. He 
died in 1765. See Maria Theresa. 

Francis I., Emperor of Austria (pre¬ 
viously Francis II., emperor of Germany), 
was born 1768, died 1885. He was the son of 
the Emperor Leopold II. and Maria Louisa, 
daughter of Charles III., king of Spain. 
He succeeded his father in 1792. France 
declared war against him in 1792, and hos¬ 
tilities continued till the Peace of Campo- 
Formio 1797. In 1799 he entered into a new 
coalition with England and Russia against 
the French republic; but in 1801 Russia 
and Austria were compelled to conclude the 
Peace of Luntiville. France having been 
declared an empire in 1804, he assumed the 
title of hereditary Eviperor of A ustria; and 
on the establishment of the confederacy of 
the Rhine in 1806, he renounced the title of 
Emperor of Germany. In 1805 war again 
broke out between Austria and France. 
But after the battle of Austerlitz (1805) the 
Peace of Presburg was signed. In 1809 he 
again took up arms against France, and in 
the l*eace of Vienna was compelled to sur¬ 
render 42,000 square miles of territory. The 

61 


marriage of his daughter, Maria Louisa, 
with Napoleon promised to form a strong 
tie between the imperial houses, but in 1813 
he entered into an alliance with Russia and 
Prussia against France, and was present to 
the close of the contest. 

Francis of Assisi, St., founder of the 
Franciscans, was born at Assisi, in Umbria, 
in 1182, where he died in 1226. In youth 
Francis did not refrain from the pleasures 
of the world; but after a serious illness he 
became enthusiastically devout, left the pa¬ 
ternal roof, and in 1208 gave himself to a 
life of the most rigorous poverty. His fol¬ 
lowers were at first few, but when they 
reached the number of eleven he formed 
them into a new order, made a rule for them, 
and got it sanctioned, though at first only 
verbally, in 1210, by Pope Innocent III. In 
1212 he received from the Benedictines a 
church in the vicinity of Assisi, which now 
became the home of the order of the Fran- 
cisans or Minorites. Francis afterwards ob¬ 
tained a bull in confirmation of his order, 
from Pope Honorius III. After an unsuc¬ 
cessful attempt to convert the Sultan Me- 
ledin he returned to Assisi, when the order 
of St. Clara was founded under his direction, 
and a third order, called the Tertiaries, de¬ 
signed for penitents of both sexes. He was 
canonized by Pope Gregory IX. in 1228. 
His festival is on the 4th of October. See 
Franciscans. 

Francis of Paula, St., was born in 1416 
in the city of Paula, in Calabria; died in 
France 1507. He was brought up in a 
Franciscan convent, and in 1436 founded a 
new order, which, when the statutes were 
confirmed by Alexander VI., received the 
name of the Minims (Latin, minimi, the 
least). To the three usual vows Francis 
added a fourth, that of keeping the Lenten 
fast during the whole year. The fame of 
his miraculous cures reached Louis XI. of 
France, who invited him to France, in the 
hope that Francis would be able to prolong 
his life. After the death of Louis, Chailes 
VIII. built him a monastery in the park of 
Plessis-les-Tours and also at Amboise, and 
loaded him with honour and tokens of venera¬ 
tion. Twelve years after his death he was 
canonized by Leo X., and the Catholic 
Church celebrates his festival April 2. See 
Minims. 

Francis, Philip, poet and dramatist, was 
born in Dublin 1700, died 1773. Educated 
at Dublin, he took orders, and kept an aca¬ 
demy at Esher, Surrey, where Gibbon was 






FRANCIS 


FRANCIS JOSEPH I. 


one of his pupils. He was latterly chaplain 
to Chelsea Hospital. He is best known from 
his translations of Horace and other classic 
authors. 

Francis, Sir Philip, one of the many 
pditical writers to whom the authorship of 
Junius’s Letters has been ascribed, was the 
son of the preceding, born in Ireland in 
1740, died 1818. In 1773 he went to the 
East Indies, where he became a member 
of the council of Bengal, and the constant 
opponent of Warren Hastings. In 1781 
Francis returned to England, and shortly 
after was chosen member of parliament for 
the borough of Yarmouth in the Isle of 
Wight. He took a prominent part in the 
impeachment of Hastings. He published 
several political pamphlets. See Junius. 

Francis'cans are the members of the re¬ 
ligious order established by St. Francis of 



Franciscan or Gray Friar (Conventual). 


Assisi about 1210. They are also called Mi¬ 
norites, or Fratres Minores (‘lesser friars’), 
which was the name given them by their 
founder in token of humility, and sometimes 
Gray Friars, from the colour of their gar¬ 
ment, The order was distinguished by vows 
of absolute poverty and a renunciation of the 
pleasures of the world, and was intended to 
serve the church by its care of the religious 
state of the people. The rule of the order 
destined them to beg and to preach. The 
popes granted them extensive privileges, and 
they had an evil repute as spies, frequent¬ 


ing the courts of princes and the houses of 
noblemen, gentry, &c. Early in the 15th 
century they split up into two branches, the 
Conventuals and the Observants or Sabo- 
tiers. The former went barefooted, wore a 
long gray cassock and cloak and hood of 
large dimensions, covering the breast and 
back, and a knotted girdle. The Obser¬ 
vants wore wooden sandals, a cassock, a 
narrow hood, a short cloak with a wooden 
clasp, and a brown robe. Li France the 
members of the order not belonging to any 
particular sect are called Cordeliers, from 
the cord which they tie about them. The 
Capuchins, so called from the peculiar kind 
of hood* or cowl {capuce) which they wear, 
originated in a reform introduced among 
the Observantists by Matthew of Baschi in 
the early part of the 16th century, and al¬ 
though it received the approbation of dif¬ 
ferent popes within a short time after its 
foundation, it did not receive the right of 
electing a particular general and become an 
independent order till 1619. 

St. Francis himself collected nuns in 
1209. St. Clara was their prioress; hence 
they were called the nuns of St. Clara. 
The nuns were also divided into branches, 
according to the severity of their rules. 
The Urbanists were a branch founded by 
Pope Urban IV.; they revered St. Isabelle, 
daughter of Louis VIII. of France, as their 
mother. St. Francis also founded in 1221 
a third order, of both sexes, for persons who 
did not wish to take the monastic vows, and 
yet desired to adopt a few of the easier ob¬ 
servances. They are called Tertiarians or 
Tertiaries, and were very numerous in the 
13th century. 

Francis, Joseph, inventor, was born in 
Boston, Mass., in 1801. At the age of 
eighteen received a ]>rize for a fast row¬ 
boat. His greatest acliievements were in 
the construction of lil'e-saving appliances. 
He made the first use of iron floating ves¬ 
sels. He has received numerous patents, 
medals and decorations; and the thanks of 
Congress for services to his country. 

Francis Joseph I., Emperor of Austria 
and King of Hungary and Bohemia, born 
1830; succeeded his uncle, Ferdinand, who 
abdicated in 1849. The chief events of his 
reign have been the cession of Lombardy to 
Italy, as a result of the Austro-French war 
(1859); and the loss of Venetia, as also 
Austria’s important influence in Germany, 
the result of the war with I’rus.sia (1866). 
See the article Austria. 

62 

















FRANCIS-JOSEPH LAND 


FRANCO-GERMAN WAR. 


Francis-Joseph Land. See Franz-Joseph 
Land. 

Francis of Sales, St. See Sales. 

Francis Xavier, St. See Xavier. 

Francke (friin'ke), August Hermann, 
German theologian and philanthropist, born 
at Liibeck 1663, died at Halle 1727. He 
was professor of Oi'iental literature and then 
of theology at Halle, but is chiefly known 
for his successful labours on behalf of poor 
orphans. In 1695 he founded the famous 
orphanage at Halle, still known by his 
name, which now includes, besides the 
orphan asylum, a great variety of schools, 
a printing and publishing establishment, 
chemical laboratory, &c. 

Franco-German War of 1870-71. The 
immediate occasion of this war was an offer 
made in June, 1870, by General Prim, then 
at the head of affaii’s in Spain, of the crown 
of that country to Leopold of Hohenzollern, 
a prince belonging to the reigning house of 
Prussia. The government of Napoleon III. 
demanded of the King of Prussia that he 
should forbid the candidature of the prince, 
and when the prince voluntai'ily retired 
from his candidature, still insisted that this 
renunciation should be formally made by 
the king, and a guarantee given that the 
candidature would not be revived. This 
demand was refused, and a formal declara¬ 
tion of war by France against Prussia was 
received by Count Bismarck, the Chancellor 
of the North German Confederation, on 
the 19th of July. The FTench were the 
first in getting their troops to the frontier; 
but it soon became manifest that instead of 
being in a complete state of readiness for 
war, as the minister of war had declared, the 
French army w'as defective in almost every¬ 
thing essential to the equipment of an army. 

In Germany everything formed a com¬ 
plete contrast to this state of matters. Each 
section of the army was completely organized 
in the head-quarters of the district which it 
occupied in time of peace, and was only 
sent to the frontiers after being furnished 
with everything it recjuired. In addition 
to this Prussia, against which country alone 
the war had been declared, was not only 
joined, according to treaty, by all the states 
of the North German Confederation, but 
also by those of the South, upon whose 
neutrality, perhaps even upon whose alliance, 
Napoleon and the French had counted. 

The German forces were divided about 
the end of July into three armies, one of 
which, known as the First Army, had its 

63 


head-quarters at Treves under General 
Steinmetz; another of which, known as the 
Second Army, occupied the Bavarian Pala¬ 
tinate under Prince Frederick Charles; 
while the Third Army, under the Crown- 
prince of Prussia, was stationed in Northern 
Baden. The commander-in-chief of the 
whole forces was King William of Prussia, 
who was supported by a staff of general 
officers, with Von Moltke at their head. 
The French army, under Napoleon him¬ 
self, had its head-quarters at Metz, and two 
advanced divisions were stationed on the 
borders of France and Germany, the one in 
the north on the Saar, under General Fros- 
sard, the other further south at Weissen- 
burg, under General Douay. The victories 
of the Third Army, under the crown-prince, 
at Weissenburg (Aug. 4) and at Worth 
(Aug. 6), and of the first and second armies 
at Forbach (Aug. 6), put the French army 
in retreat along its whole line, the southern 
half in the direction of Nancy, and the 
northern of Metz. The northern army 
under Bazaine was overtaken by those of 
Steinmetz and Frederick Charles on the 
14th of Allgust, when an engagement at 
Courcelles took place, in which the Germans 
were again victorious. This was followed 
by the battles of Vionville, or Mars-la-Tour, 
and Gravelotte, the result being that Bazaine 
withdrew his army under the protection of 
the fortifications of Metz, which was now 
surrounded by an army under the command 
of Prince Frederick Charles. 

Meantime the Crown-prince of Prussia 
had advanced as far as Nancy, and was 
there awaiting the result of the battles 
around Metz. He had still the ai'my of 
MacMahon to deal with, which had now 
reached Chalons, where it had been reor¬ 
ganized and strengthened to such a degree 
that the army of the crown-prince was no 
longer able to cope with it unaided. Ac¬ 
cordingly, out of three corps d’arm6e be¬ 
longing to the second army, a new army 
was formed, which was afterwards called 
the army of the Meuse, and was placed 
under the Crown-prince of Saxony. About 
the 20th of August these two armies set 
out on parallel routes in the direction of 
ChMons in order to engage the army of 
MacMahon, which it was expected would 
now retreat on Paris. Instead of this, how¬ 
ever, Count Palikao, minister of war at 
Paris, issued an order to Marshal Mac¬ 
Mahon to strike northwards to the Belgian 
frontier that he might thence make a de- 





FRANCO-GERMAN WAR-FRANCONIA. 


scent upon Metz and relieve Bazaine. On 
the 27th of August, at Buzancy, an advanced 
detachment of cavalry belonging to the 
army of the Meuse dispersed a body of 
French chasseurs, and on the days immedi¬ 
ately succeeding a number of engagements 
and strategic movements ensued, the result 
of which was that on the 1st of September 
the army of MacMahon was surrounded 
at Sedan by a force of overwhelmingly 
greater numbers, and on the following day 
both army and fortress surrendered by 
capitulation. On this occasion 50 generals, 
5000 other officers, and 84,000 private sol¬ 
diers became prisoners of war. Among 
these was Napoleon III., who was unex¬ 
pectedly found to have been present with 
the army of MacMahon. He had a per¬ 
sonal interview on the day after the battle 
with King William of Prussia, who assigned 
to him Wilhelmshohe, near Cassel, as his 
place of residence during his captivity. 

One of the first consequences of this de¬ 
feat was an outburst of rage on the part of 
the Parisians against the Napoleon dynasty, 
which on the 4th of September was declared 
by Gambetta and some members of the 
corps legislatif belonging to the Left to be 
dethroned. The same members then pro¬ 
claimed a republic. A government of na¬ 
tional defence was formed, at the head of 
which was placed General Trochu. Mean¬ 
time France had no available army which 
was strong enough to stand its ground for 
an instant before the German armies that 
. were now enabled to continue their march 
upon Paris. The investment of the city 
was completed on the 19th of September. 
It was not till about the beginning of 
October that the I’rench were able to or¬ 
ganize a new army after the loss of that of 
MacMahon, and by the beginning of No¬ 
vember the war in the open field had been 
resumed in different centres: but the capitu¬ 
lation of Metz with the army of Bazaine 
(28th Oct.), and that of Strasburg (27th 
Sept.), had set free for further operations 
large numbers of German troops, and the 
utmost efforts of the French could not 
relieve Paris. 

The city had held out for a much longer 
period than'even the most sanguine on the 
side of the French had at first expected 
that it would be able to do. Sallies were 
made at intervals by the garrison (Oct. 12, 
Oct. 21, &c.; Jan. 13, 14, 15, and 19), but 
not sufficiently often or in sufficient strength 
to have any decisive effect. On the failure 


of the last sally, which took place on the 
west side from Mont Valdrien on the 19th 
of Jan., it was seen that a capitulation was 
inevitable. On 21st F’eb. M. Thiers, head 
of the executive, arrived at Versailles along 
with a diplomatic commission, and prelimin¬ 
aries of peace were signed at Versailles on 
the 26th of Feb., and accepted by the 
assembly at Bordeaux on the 1st of March. 
The principal terms were the following:— 
1. That France should cede to Germany 
one-fifth part of Lorraine, including Metz, 
together with the whole of Alsace except 
Belfort and the surrounding district. 2. 
That France should pay to Germany a 
war indemnity of five milliards of francs 
(£200,000,000). 3. That certain departments 
of France should remain in the occupation 
of the Germans, and should not be fully 
evacuated until after the payment of the 
whole indemnity. The definitive treaty of 
peace, which was signed at Frankfort on 
the 10th of May, and ratified on the 21st, 
confirmed in all essential particulars the 
preliminaries of Versailles. The last instal¬ 
ment of the war indemnity was paid on the 
5th of Sept. 1873, and France completely 
evacuated by the Germans on the 13th of 
the same month. 

Francois (fran-swa), St., a town in the 
French West Indies, in the island of Gua¬ 
deloupe. Pop. about 6000. 

Fran'colin, a genus of birds belonging to 
the same family with the partridge, which 
they resemble in many respects, though they 
usually have one or more strong and sharp 
horny spurs on the tarsi. The only European 
member of the genus is the Francolinus 
Tulgdris, which is characterized by a red 
band round the neck, and red feet. It is 
found in the south of France, Sicily, Cyprus, 
and the southern part of Europe generally. 
The other species belong to Africa, Asia, and 
Oceania. 

Franco'nia (in German, FranJcen, so 
called because early in the 6th century it 
was colonized by Franks), a district of Ger¬ 
many lying to the east of the Rhine, and 
traversed by the Main. After the dis¬ 
memberment of the Carlovingian Empire 
this district became attached to the German 
division, and ultimately formed one of the 
grand-duchies of Germany. In 1806 it was 
partitioned among Wiirtemberg, Baden, 
Hesse-Cassel, the Saxon duchies, and Ba¬ 
varia. The last received the largest share, 
now forming the three divisions of Upper, 
Middle, and Lower Franconia. 

64 



FRANCONIAN WINES-FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN. 


Franconian Wines, German wines pro¬ 
duced chiefly in the Bavarian district of 
Lower Franconia. The chief sorts are 
known as Leistenwein and Steimvein. 

Franc-tireur (fran-te-rewr), lit. a free 
shooter: an irregular sharp-shooter, one of 
a body of soldiers organized in France in 
the war of 1870, and employed in guerrilla 
warfare for harassing the enemy, cutting off 
detachments, &c. 

Fran'eker, a town in Holland, in the pro¬ 
vince of Friesland, on a canal communicat¬ 
ing with the sea at Harlingen. It was long 
celebrated as a school of theology. Pop. 
7222. 

Frangipani (fran-ji-pa'ne), a perfume in¬ 
vented by the Marquis Frangipani, Mar^- 
chal des Armies of Louis XIII. of France. 
It was a powder composed of every spice 
then known, with the addition of ground 
orris-root and musk. It is now a perfume 
prepared from, or imitating the odour of, 
the flower of a West Indian tree, Plumiera 
rubra, or red jasmine. 

Fran'gulin (CeHeOa'), a yellow crystalli- 
zable colouring matter contained in the 
bark of the berry-bearing alder (Rhamnus 
Frangfda). It is a bright-yellow, silky, 
crystalline mass, without taste or smell, 
which fuses on heating, and can be sublimed 
in golden needles. It dyes silk, wool, and 
cotton. 

Frank, the signature of a person possess¬ 
ing the privilege of sending letters free of 
postage. By act of Congress, taking effect 
July 1, 1873, the privilege was entirely 
abolished. Euveloj)es with a notice of the 
penalty incurred by using them except for 
official purposes are now exclusively used. 

Frank'almoigne (-moin), literally ‘free 
alms,’ an English mode of tenure according 
to which a religious corporation held lands 
without being required to perform any but 
religious services, such as praying for the 
souls of the donors. This is the tenure by 
which almost all the ancient monasteries 
and religious houses held their lands, and 
by which the parochial clergy and very many 
ecclesiastical and eleemosynai’y foundations 
hold them to this day, the nature of the ser¬ 
vice being, upon the Reformation, altered 
and made conformable to the reformed 
church. 

Frank'enberg, a German town. Kingdom 
of Saxony, 40 miles s.e. of Leipzig. It is 
regularly built, and has extensive manufac¬ 
tures of woollens, cottons, and silks, &c. 
Pop. 10,898. 

VOL. IV, 


Frankfort, Clinton co., Ind., an enter¬ 
prising, thrifty town. Pop. 1890, 5918. 

Frankfort, Franklin co., Ky., capital of 
the State, on both banks of Kentucky 
river. The scenery surrounding is remark¬ 
able for picturesque beauty. The public 
buildings are handsome and imposing. It 
has a large lumbering trade. Pop. 7892. 

Frankfort-on-the-Main (German, Frank¬ 
furt am Main), a town of Prussia, in the 
province of Hessen-Nassau, 20 miles n.e. of 
Mayence (Mainz). It was formerly a free 
town of the empire, and down to 1866 one 
of the flee towns of the German Confedera¬ 
tion and the seat of the diet. It is mainly 
situated on the right bank of the Main, but 
has the suburb of Sachsenhausen on the left 
bank, the river being crossed by seven 
bridges. The north or right bank of the 
river is lined by a spacious quay. The older 
part of the town contains a number of an¬ 
cient houses, and largely consists of narrow 
and unattractive streets, but the principal 
street, the Zeil, and those of the newer 
parts of the town, are spacious and have 
many handsome modern buildings. The 
older portion is surrounded by the Anlagen 
or promenade with gardens, on the site of 
the old fortifications. Fronting this prome¬ 
nade and in the districts outside of it are 
many very handsome, and some palatial, 
private residences with gardens. The Ro- 
merberg and the Ross-markt (horse-market) 
are the chief squares in the town. The 
Romer or town-house was erected about 
1405, but not completed in its present form 
till 1740. In one of its halls, the Wahlzim- 
mer, the electors of the empire met and made 
their arrangements for the election of the 
emperor, and the Senate of Frankfort held 
its sittings. In another, the Kaisersaal, the 
emperor was banqueted after his election, 
and waited on at table by kings and princes. 
The most remarkable of the churches is the 
Dom or Cathedral of St. Bartholomew (R. 
Catholic), in which the German emperors 
after 1711 were crowned. It is a Gothic 
edifice, begun in 1238. The choir was built 
in 1315-18. The building was seriously in¬ 
jured by fire in 1867, but has been com¬ 
pletely restored, the tower left incomplete 
since 1514 being finished in accordance with 
the original plans. Other buildings are the 
new opera-house, one of the finest buildings 
of the kind; the courts of justice, of modern 
construction; the new exchange, a spacious 
and handsome edifice; the large palace of 
the Prince of Thurn and Taxis; the new 


65 






FRANKFORT-ON-THE-ODER-FRANKINCENSE. 


railway - station, a very elegant edifice, 
which will favourably compare with any 
similar structure; the archive-building, post- 
office, the house in which Luther dwelt, 
and that in which Goethe was born. There 
are monuments to Gutenberg, Goethe, 
Schiller, and others. Franldort is rich in 
collections connected with literature and 
art, and in establishments intended to pro¬ 
mote them. The chief of these are the His¬ 
torical Museum (in the archive-building), 
the Stiidel Art Institute (in Sachsenhausen), 


containing a fine gallery of pictures and other 
collections; the Senckenberg Museum of Na¬ 
tural History; the town library, possessing 
over 150,000 printed volumes. There is also 
a zoological garden and the Palm Garden, 
both favourite places of resort. The manu¬ 
factures comprise chemicals, ornamental ar¬ 
ticles of metal, sewing-machines, straw hats, 
soap, perfumery, beer, &c. A great business 
is done in money and banking. The town is 
provided with tramways, is a great railway 
centre, and is now reached by the largest 



The new Opera-house, Frankfort. 


vessels navigating the Rhine. Frankfort 
dates from the time of Charlemagne. It 
was made an imperial free city by a decree 
of the Emperor Louis V. in 1329. Frederick 
Barbarossa had been elected emperor here 
in 1152, and in 1356 the right of being the 
place of election for all future emperors was 
granted to it by the Golden Bull. Frank¬ 
fort suffered severely in the Schmalkald war 
(1552), the Thirty Years’ war (1635), the 
Seven Yeai’s war (1762), and during the 
French wars (1792, 1796, 1799, 1800,1806). 
Linder Napoleon it became the capital, first 
of a principality, and then, in 1806, of a 
grand-duchy. From 1814 to 1866 it was 
one of the four free cities of the German 
Confederation, and in 1866 it was taken by 
the Prussians. Pop. by the census of 1890, 
179,850. 

Frankfort-on-the-Oder (Frankfurt an 
der Oder), a town of Prussia, province of 
Prandepbvirgj on the Oder, 52 mile-s g,s.Fj 


Berlin. It is built with considerable regu¬ 
larity, and is an important military centre. 
Many retired officers and government offi¬ 
cials take up their residence here. The manu¬ 
factures consist of machinery and metal 
goods,chemicals, leather,earthenware, spirits, 
&e.; and the trade is extensive both by land 
and water. Frankfort was annexed to Bran¬ 
denburg in 1250, and notwithstanding its 
repeated captures during the Hussite, the 
Thirty Years’, and the Seven Years’ war, 
was always an important commercial place. 
Pop. 1890, 55,738. 

Frank'incense, a name given to the oleo- 
resinous exudations from different species of 
conifers. American frankincense is got as 
a soft, yellow, resinous solid, with a charac¬ 
teristic turpentine odour, from Pinus Taeda. 
Another kind is exuded by the spruce fir, 
and forms a soft solid, the colour of which 
varies from white to violet red. From this 
Burgundy pitch is prepared by melting in 

fifi 














































FRANKLIN. 


FRANKLIN, PA. 


water and straining through a cloth. The 
frankincense employed in religious ceremo¬ 
nies (called also incense and olibanum) is a 
gum-resin obtained from BosweUia tliuri- 
j^ra (or serrdta), a tree somewhat resem¬ 
bling the sumach, belonging to the Amyri- 
daceie, and inhabiting the mountains of 
India. It comes to us in semi-transparent 
yellowish tears, or sometimes in masses, of 
specific gravity 1*22, it possesses a bitter 
and nauseous taste, and is capable of being 
pulverized. When burned it exhales a strong 
aromatic odour. 

Franklin, Venango co., Pa., 123 miles n. 
of Pittsburgh. It owes its prosperity to 
the trade in petroleum, there beinjj many 
wells in the vicinity. Pop. 1890, 6220. 

Franklin, Benjamin, American writer and 
statesman, born at Boston Jan. 17,1706, died 
at Philadelphia April 17, 1790. He was 
placed with his brother, a printer, to serve an 
apprenticeship to that trade, and his brother 
having started the New England Courant, 
Franklin secretly wrote some pieces for it, 
and had the satisfaction to find them well 
received. But, on this coming to the know¬ 
ledge of his brother, he was severely lectured 
for his presumption, and treated with great 
harshness. Soon after he quitted his bro¬ 
ther’s employment, and at the age of seven¬ 
teen started for Philadelphia, where he ob¬ 
tained employment as a compositor. Here 
he attracted the notice of Sir William Keith, 
the governor of Pennsylvania, who induced 
him to go to England for the purpose of 
purchasing types to establish himself in 
business. He got work in a printing-office, 
and after a residence of eighteen months 
in London returned to Philadelphia. Here 
he returned to his trade, and in a short 
time formed an establishment in connection 
with a person who supplied the necessary 
capital. They printed a newspaper, which 
was managed with much ability, ahd ac¬ 
quired Franklin much reputation. By his 
exertions a public library, improved systems 
of education, a scheme of insurance, &c., 
were established in Philadelphia. In 1732 
he published his Poor Richard’s Almanack, 
which continued to be issued till 1757. 
Being in Boston in 1746 he saw, for the 
first time, some experiments in electricity, 
which led him to begin those investiga¬ 
tions which resulted in the identification of 
lightning and electricity, and the invention 
of the lightning-conductor. As member of 
the provincial assembly of Pennsylvania he 
Sfhowed himself very active, and he was 

67 


sent out (in 1757) to the mother country aa 
the agent of the province. His reputation 
was now such, both at home and abroad, 
that he was appointed agent of the provinces 
of Massachusetts, Maryland, and Georgia. 
Oxford and Edinburgh conferred on him 



their highest academical degrees, and the 
Royal Society elected him a fellow. In 
1762 he returned to America; but was 
again appointed agent in 1764, and brought 
to England a remonstrance against the pro¬ 
ject of taxing the colonies. He opposed the 
stamp-act, and in 1774 presented to the king 
the petition of the first American Congress. 
On his return he was elected member of 
the Congress, and exerted all his influence 
in favour of the Declaration of Indepen¬ 
dence. In 1776 he was sent to France 
as commissioner plenipotentiary, to ob¬ 
tain supplies from that court. After the 
surrender of Burgoyne he concluded with 
France the first treaty of the new states 
with a foreign power (1778), and was sub¬ 
sequently named one of the commissioners 
for negotiating the peace with the mother 
country. On his return to his native coun¬ 
try he filled the office of president of Penn¬ 
sylvania, and served as a delegate in the 
federal convention in 1787, and approved 
the constitution then formed. His works 
include his unfinished Autobiography, and 
a great number of political, anti-slavery, 
financial, economic, and scientific papers. 
Except Washington, the United States yet 
ranks among her dead nowhere so great a 
man. 

Franklin, Sir John, an English Arctic 
voyager, born in Lincolnshire in 1786, died 
near Lancaster Sound 1847. He entered 
the navy as a midshipman at the age of 
fourteen, and was present a^t the battle of 
















FRANKLINITE — 

Copenhagen in 1801. He afterwards ac¬ 
companied Captain Flinders on his voyage 
to the coast of Australia (1801-03). Shortly 
after his return he was appointed to the 
Bellerophon, and had charge of her signals 
during the battle of Trafalgar. Two years 
later he joined the Bedford, which was em¬ 
ployed successively in the blockade of Flush¬ 
ing, on the coast of Portugal, and on the 
coast of America. On the last station she 
took part in the attack on New Orleans in 
1814, when Franklin was slightly wounded. 
His arctic work began in 1819, when he 
conducted an overland expedition for the 
exploration of the N. coast of America 
from Hudson’s Bay to the mouth of the 
Coppermine River. On his return to Eng¬ 
land he published a narrative of the expedi¬ 
tion, was promoted to the rank of captain, 
and elected a F.R.S. In a second expedi¬ 
tion he surveyed the coast from the mouth 
of the Coppermine west to Point Beechy, 
thus traversing in his two expeditions about 
a third of the distance between the Atlantic 
and the Pacific. On his return in 1827 he 
received the honour of knighthood. After 
serving for son)e years in the Mediterranean 
he held the post of governor of Tasmania 
from 1836 to 1843. In 1845 he took com¬ 
mand of the Erebus and Terror in what 
proved his last Polar Expedition. The prob¬ 
lem was an arctic water-way between the 
Atlantic and the Pacific. The expedition 
was seen in Melville Bay two months later, 
but from that time no direct tidings w’ere 
received from it. Many expeditions were 
sent in search of him both from Britain and 
America, but with little success. At last 
an expedition, sent out under M‘Lintock in 
1857, discovered in 1859, at Point Victory, 
in King William’s Land, a document which 
had been deposited in a cairn thirteen years 
before, and gave the latest details of the ill- 
fated expedition. This paper stated that 
Sir John died 11th June, 1847; that the 
ships were abandoned in April 1848; and 
that the crews, 105 in number, had started 
for the Great Fish River. None survived, 
but many relics of the party have been re¬ 
covered.— Eleanok Pordon (1795-1825), 
first wife of Sir John Franklin, published 
several volumes of verse.—His second wife, 
Jane Griffin (1802-75), was notable for her 
philanthropy and her persevering efforts to 
clear up the fate of her husband. 

Franklinite, a mineral composed of oxide 
of ii-on 64’5 to 66, oxide of zinc 21*8, and 
oxide of wang^nose 12*23 to 13*5, aud is 


-FRASERBURGH. 

therefore considered as belonging to the 
group of minerals called spinels. It is 
found in New Jersey and named after Dr. 
Franklin. 

Frank-pledge, literally pledge or surety 
for a freeman. Frank-pledge was a law 
prevailing in England before th« Norman 
Conquest, by which the members of each 
decennary or tithing, composed of ten house¬ 
holds, were made responsible for each other, 
so that if one of them committed an offence 
the others were bound to make repara¬ 
tion. 

Franks, a Germanic tribe or aggregate 
of tribes which overthrew the Roman do¬ 
minion in Gaul, and gave origin to the 
name France. See France. 

Franzensbad (frants'ens-bat), a watering- 
place in Bohemia, about 3 miles north 
of Eger. The mineral springs are alkaline, 
saline, and chalybeate, and are very effi¬ 
cacious, particularly in scrofulous and cu¬ 
taneous affections. Pop. 2000. 

Franz-Joseph Land, an island group in 
the Arctic Ocean, lying north of Nova Zem- 
bla, and consisting of two chief islands, 
much broken up by fiords, and a number of 
smaller ones. 

Frasca'ti, a town, Italy, about 10 miles 
S.E. of Rome, situated on the slopes of the 
Alban hills, near the site of the ancient 
Tusculum. It is much resorted to by the 
Romans in the summer season. Charles 
Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, is 
buried in the Cathedral of S. Pietro. Pop. 
about 9000. 

Fraser, Alexander Campbell, Scottish 
philosophical and miscellaneous writer, born 
1819. He succeeded Sir William Hamilton 
in the professorship of logic and metaphysics 
in the University of Edinburgh, 1856. 
From 1850 to 1857 he edited the North 
British Review, and has published Essays 
in Philosophy, 1856; Rational Philosophy, 
1858; and a collected edition of the works 
of Bishop Berkeley. 

Fraser, Simon. See Lovat. 

Fra'sera, a genus of plants, nat. order 
Gentianacese, containing seven species of 
erect perennial herbs, natives of North 
America. F. carolinensis is indigenous in 
the swamps of the Carolinas. The root 
yields a powerful bitter, wholly destitute of 
aroma. In its medicinal effects it is equal 
to gentian, and when fresh is said to be 
emetic and cathartic. 

Fraserburgh, a seaport of Scotland, in 
Aberdeenshire, 22 miles east of Banff. It 



f 


FRASER RIVER-FRAUD. 


is substantially built, and has a town-hall, 
a market-cross, building-yards, and two 
harbours. Fraserburgh is the chief seat of 
the Scotch herring-fishery. Pop. 6583. 

Fraser River, the principal river in Bri¬ 
tish Columbia, rising in the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains, It first flows north-west for about 
270 miles, then turns south, and after a 
total course of about 500 miles falls into 
the Gulf of Georgia. Gold is found both on 
the Fraser and its affluents, and the salmon 
fisheries are important. Its principal afflu¬ 
ents are the Thomson, Quesnelle, and Stuart 
rivers. New Westminster, Hope, Yale, and 
Lytton are on its banks. 

Frater'cula, a genus of web-footed birds, 
containing the puffins (which see). 

Frater'nities, a voluntary association of 
men for promoting their common interest, 
business or pleasure. In this wide sense it 
includes all secret and benevolent societies, 
the monastic and sacerdotal congregations, 
the orders of knighthood, and also guilds, 
trades-unions, and the like. In a limited 
sense it is applied to religious societies for 
pious practices and benevolent objects. They 
were often formed during the middle ages, 
from a desire of imitating the holy orders. 
Many of these societies, which did not obtain 
or did not seek the acknowledgment of the 
church, had the appearance of separatists, 
which subjected them to the charge of 
heresy. The pious fraternities which were 
formed under the direction of the church, 
or were acknowledged by it, were either 
required by their rules to afford assistance 
to travellers, to the unfortunate, the dis¬ 
tressed, the sick, and the deserted, on ac¬ 
count of the inefficiency of the police, and 
the want of institutions for the poor, or to 
perform certain acts of penitence and devo¬ 
tion. Of this description were the Fratres 
Pontiflces, a brotherhood that originated in 
Tuscany in the 12th century, where they 
maintained establishments on the banks of 
the Arno, to enable travellers to cross tlie 
river, and to succour them in case of dis¬ 
tress. A similar society was afterwards 
formed in France, where they built bridges 
and hospitals, maintained ferries, kept the 
roads in repair, and provided for the security 
of the highways. Similar to these were the 
Knights and Companions of the Santa Her- 
mandad (or Holy Brotherhood) in Spain; 
the Familiars and Cross-bearers in the 
service of the Spanish Inquisition; the 
Calendar Brothers in Germany; the Alex- 
ians in Germany, Poland, and the Nether¬ 

69 


lands, &c. The professed object of the 
Ale.xians, so called from Alexius, their 
patron saint, was to visit the sick and im¬ 
prisoned; to collect alms for distribution; 
to console criminals, and accompany them 
to the place of execution; to bury the dead, 
and to cause masses to be said for those 
who had been executed, or for persons found 
dead. There were also Gray Penitents (an 
old fraternity of an order existing as early 
as 1264 in Rome, and introduced into France 
under Henry III.), the black fraternities of 
Mercy and of Death; the Red, the Blue, 
the Green, and the V^iolet Penitents, so 
called from the colour of their cowl; the 
divisions of each were known by the colours 
of the girdle or mantle. The fraternity of 
the Holy Trinity was founded at Rome in 
1548 by Philip de’ Neri for the relief of 
pilgrims and the cured dismissed from the 
hospitals. The Brothers and Sisters of 
Charity are another fraternity whose hos¬ 
pitals are found in all the principal cities 
of Catholic Christendom. 

Fraticelli (fra-ti-chel'le; the diminutive 
plural of Italian, frate, brother or monk), 
the name given about the end of the 13th 
and during the 14th century, and even later, 
to wandering mendicants of different kinds, 
but especially to certain Franciscans, who 
pretended to practise the rules of their order 
in their full rigour. They claimed to be 
the only true church, and denounced the 
pope, whose authority they threw off, as an 
apostate. They made all perfection consist 
in poverty, forbade oaths, and discounten¬ 
anced marriage, and were accused by their 
opponents of very lewd practices. The sect 
is said to have continued till the Reforma¬ 
tion, which they embraced. 

Frattamaggiore(frat-ta-ma-jo'ra),atown, 
Italy, 6 miles n.e. of Naples. Manufactures 
ropes and silk. Pop. 10,951. 

Fraud, an act or course of deception de¬ 
liberately practised with the view of gaining 
an unlawful or unfair advantage, such as 
the obtaining of goods under false pretences, 
and the like. All frauds or attempts to de¬ 
fraud, which cannot be guarded against by 
common prudence, are indictable at common 
law, and punishable arbitrarily according 
to the heinousness of the offence. Every 
species of fraud which the law takes cog¬ 
nizance of renders voidable every transac¬ 
tion into which it enters as a constituent 
material element. Fraud may be by false 
representation, concealment of material cir¬ 
cumstances that ought to be revealed, un- 










PRAUNHOFER- 

Jerliand dealing, and by taking advantage 
ef imbecility or intoxication. A construc¬ 
tive fraud in law is such fraud as is involved 
in an act or contract which, though not 
originating in any actual evil or fraudulent 
design, yet has a tendency to deceive or 
mislead other persons, or to violate public 
or private confidence, or to impair or injure 
the public interests. Gross criminal frauds 
are punishable by way of indictment or 
information; such as playing with false 
dice, causing an illiterate person to execute 
a deed to his prejudice, &c. Frauds are 
not indictable at common law unless they 
be such as affect the public, as using false 
weights and measures. 

Fraunhofer (froun'ho-fer), Joseph von, 
German optician, born 1787, died 1826. He 
ultimately became a partner in a manu¬ 
factory of optical instruments at Munich. 
His many improvements in glass-making, 
in optical instruments, and iri the polishing 
of lenses, have been eclipsed by his investi¬ 
gation of the innumerable dark fixed lines 
in the solar spectrum, known as Fraun¬ 
hofer's Lines. The importance of this dis¬ 
covery can scarcely,be overestimated. It 
led to the invention and use of the spectro¬ 
scope, to the science of spectroscopy, and to 
all our present knowledge of solar and 
stellar chemistry. See Spectrum, Spectro¬ 
scope, &c. 

Fraustadt (frou'stat), a town of Prussia, 
in the government of Posen, 15 miles north¬ 
east of Glogau. Pop. 7378. 

Fraxinella, a species of dittany, the Die 
tamnus Fraxinella, an ornamental herba¬ 
ceous annual plant, cultivated for its fra¬ 
grant leaves and handsome rose-coloured 
flowers.— Dictamnus albus, or common dit¬ 
tany, is also called fraxinella; its flowers 
are white. 

Frax'inus, a genus of deciduous trees of 
the order Oleaceae, containing the ash. 

Fray Bentos (frl), a small town of Uru¬ 
guay, on the river Uruguay, about 170 miles 
noi’th-west of Monte Video. It owes its 
existence to immense slaughter-houses and 
other establishments connected with tlie ex- 
• tract-of-meat trade. Pop. about 2500. 

Frechette (fre-shet'), Louis Honor]e, a 
French Canadian author, born at Levis, 
Quebec, 1839. Pie was educated at Nicolet 
College and Laval University, studied law 
and was called to the bar of Lower Canada, 
represented his native county in the Do¬ 
minion parliament (1874-79), contributed 
to various newspapers, and became editor of 


-FREDERICK I. 

La Patrie in Montreal in 1884. He has 
published collections of poems entitled Mea 
Loisirs, Les F'leurs Boreales and Les Oiseaux 
de Neige (the two last crowned by the 
French Academy); the dramas of EVlix 
Poutr6 (1862), Papineau (1880), The Thun¬ 
derbolt (1882), &c. In prose he has written 
Petite Histoire des Kois de France, Lettres 
a Basile, &c. 

Freckles are small yellow or greenish- 
yellow spots of a circular form, situated in 
the middle layer of the skin and underneath 
the cuticle. They only appear to any ap¬ 
preciable extent on those surfaces exposed 
to the action of the sun, as the neck, face, 
hands, and arms. This affection is most 
common in persons of fair complexion and 
hair; in some cases it is permanent, but in 
most it disappears with the warm season. 

Fredegonde, the wife of Chilperic, a 
Frankish king of Neustria, born 543, died 
597. While in the service of the first and 
second wives of Chilperic her beauty capti¬ 
vated the king. In order to arrive at the 
throne J’redegonde got Andowena, the first 
wife of the king, removed by artifice, and 
the second (Galswintha) by assassination 
(568). This led to a war between Chilperic 
and his brother Sigebert, king of Austrasia, 
Brunehilde, wife of Sigebert and sister of 
the murdered queen, urging her husband 
to vengeance. Fredegonde found means to 
have Sigebert assassinated, took Brunehilde 
and her daughters, and after a series of 
crimes, ending with the assassination of her 
husband, she seized the reins of government 
on behalf of her son Clothaire, and retained 
possession of them until her death. 

Fredericia, a seaport and fortress of 
Denmark, in Jutland, at the north entrance 
of the Little Belt. In 1849 thq army of 
Schleswig-Holstein was defeated here by 
the Danes, and in 1864 the Danes were 
compelled to evacuate it before the superior 
Austro-Prussian forces. Pop. 8275. 

Frederick, a town in the United States, 
in Maryland, 44 miles n.w. of Baltimore. 
It has an extensive trade, chiefly in live 
stock, grain, flour, tobacco, wool, &c. Dur¬ 
ing the civil war it was occupied on differ¬ 
ent occasions by the opposing armies. Pop. 
1890, 8193. 

Frederick I., Barbarossa (or, as the Ger¬ 
mans call him, Bothbart, both surnames 
meaning ‘Red-beard’), German emperor, 
son of Frederick, duke of Suabia, was born 
1121, and received the imperial crown in 
1152 on the death of his uncle the Emperor 




I'REDERICK II.- 

Conrad III. His principal efforts were di¬ 
rected to the extension and confirmation of 
Lis power in Italy. In his first expedition 
to Italy in 1154 he subdued the towns of 
Northern Italy, and then got himself crowned 
at Pavia with the iron crown of Lombardy 
(April 1155), and afterwards at Rome by 
Pope Adrian IV. with the imperial crown 
(June 1155). Soon after his return to Ger¬ 
many the Lombard cities revolted, and Fre¬ 
derick led a second expedition into Italy 
(1158), took Brescia and Milan, and at the 
diet of Roncaglia, at which all the cities and 
imperial vassals of Italy were represented, 
he assumed the sovereignty of the towns 
and received the homage of the lords. The 
rights assigned to the empire were so great 
that many of the cities refused to acknow¬ 
ledge them, and IMilan especially prepared 
for resistance. Meantime Pope Adrian IV. 
died (1159), and in electing a successor the 
cardinals were divided, one section choosing 
Victor IV. and another Alexander III. 
Frederick supported Victor, and Alexander 
was compelled to flee from Italy and take 
refuge in France. Other expeditions into 
Italy were made in 1161 and 1166, in the 
latter of which Frederick at first carried 
everything before him, and was even able to 
set up in Rome the Anti-pope Paschalis III., 
whom he supported after the death of Victor 
IV. His successes were put an end to, how¬ 
ever, by a terrible pestilence, which carried 
off a large part of his army, and compelled 
him hastily to return to Germany. Scarcely 
had he settled the most pressing difficulties 
here when he undertook, in 1174, a fifth 
expedition into Italy; but he was totally 
defeated in the battle of Legnano on the 
29th of May, 1176, in consequence of which 
nearly all that he had won in Italy was 
again lost, and he was compelled to acknow¬ 
ledge Alexander III. as the true pope. In 
1188 he assumed the cross, and with an 
army of 150,000 men and several thousand 
volunteers set out for Palestine. After 
leading his army with success into Syria he 
was drowned in crossing the river Kaly- 
kadnus (new Selef), 1190. 

Frederick II., Hohenstaufen, grandson 
of the preceding, born 1194, was son of the 
Emperor Henry VI. and of the Norman 
Princess Constance, heiress of the Two 
Sicilies. He remained under the guardian¬ 
ship of Innocent HI. till 1209, when he 
took upon himself the government of Lower 
Italy and Sicily. The imperial crown of 
Germany was now worn by a rival, Otho 

71 


-FREDERICK II. 

IV., whose defeat at the battle of Bouvines 
opened the way to Frederick, who in 1215, 
after pledging himself to undertake a cru¬ 
sade, was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. He 
caused his eldest son Henry to be chosen 
king of Rome in 1220, and the same year 
received the imperial crown from the pope. 
His ambition aimed at the subjugation of 
Lombardy, the mastership of all Italy, and 
the reduction of the popes to their old 
spiritual office as the leading bishops in 
Christendom. This led him into constant 
struggles in Germany and Italy, In 1227 he 
undertook a crusade; but when he did reach 
the Holy Land he was able to effect nothing 
permanent, although he had crowned him¬ 
self at Jerusalem as king of Judea. On his 
return he had to suppress a revolt of his son 
Henry, whom he imprisoned for life. In 123 7 
he broke the power of the Lombard League 
by a victory at Corte Nuova in Lombardy, 
and marched on Rome, but did not attack 
it. The remainder of his life was occupied 
with his troubles in Italy, and he died in 
the midst of his wars in 1250. He was one 
of the ablest and most accomplished of the 
long line of German emperors, and art, lit¬ 
erature, commerce, and agriculture received 
every encouragement at his hands. He him¬ 
self was a good linguist, was acquainted with 
natural history, was a minnesinger, and a 
writer on philosophy. 

Frederick I., King of Prussia, son of the 
great elector, born 1657, died 1713. He 
succeeded his father as Elector of Branden¬ 
burg in 1688; became King of Prussia in 
1700; and was all his reign bitterly opposed 
to France. 

Frederick II., King of Prussia, known aa 
Frederick the Great, born 1712, died 1786. 
He was the son of Frederick William L, 
and the Princess Sophia Dorothea of Ha¬ 
nover, sister of George II. of England. 
Although he was instructed only in the de¬ 
tails of military exercises and service, his 
taste for poetry and music was early de¬ 
veloped. He was brutally treated by his 
father, and in 1733 he was obliged to marry 
the Princess Elizabeth Christina, daughter 
of Ferdinand Albert, duke of Brunswick- 
Bevern. Frederick William gave the castle 
of Schonhausen to her, and to the prince 
the county of Ruppin, and in 1734 the town 
of Rheinsberg, where he lived, devoting 
himself chiefly to literary pursuits, composing 
several works, and corresponding with foreign 
scholars, particularly with Voltaire, whom 
he greatly admired. The death of his father 







FREDERICK 11.— 

raised him to the throne in 1740, and it was 
not long before he asserted the claims of the 
house of Brandenburg to a part of Silesia 
then held by Maria Theresa. But his pro¬ 
posals being rejected, he occupied Lower 
Silesia in December 1740, defeated the Aus¬ 
trians near Mollwitz, and at Czaslau (Cho- 
tusitz), and the first Silesian war was termi¬ 
nated by the peace signed at Berlin July 28, 
1742, leaving Frederick in possession of 
Silesia. Soon the second Silesian war broke 



out, the result of which was equally favour¬ 
able for Frederick. By the Peace of Dresden 
(December 15,1745) he retained Silesia and 
acknowledged the husband of Maria Theresa, 
Francis I., as emperor. During the eleven 
following years of peace Frederick devoted 
himself to the domestic administration, to 
the improvement of the army, and at the 
same time to the muses. He encouraged 
agriculture, the arts, manufactures, and 
commerce, reformed the laws, increased the 
revenues of the state, and perfected the 
organization of his army, which w^as in¬ 
creased to 160,000 men. Secret information 
of an alliance between Austria, Russia, and 
Saxony gave him reason to fear an attack 
and the loss of Silesia. He hastened to 
anticipate his enemies by the invasion of 
Saxony (1756), with which the Seven Years’ 
war, or third Silesian war, commenced. This 
was a far more severe struggle than either 
of the former. In it Frederick had against 
him Austria, Russia, France, Sweden, and 
greater part of Germany, though Britain 
and some of the German states were on his 
side. He gained victories at Prague, Ross- 
bach, Leuthen, Zorndorf, Torgau, Freiberg, 


-FREDERICK III. 

but suffered severe defeats' in the battles of 
Kollin, Hochkirch and Kunersdorf. (See 
Seven Years' War.) The Peace of Huberts- 
burg (1763) terminated this war, Frederick 
keeping Silesia and ceding nothing. Fred¬ 
erick came out of the Seven Years’ war 
with a reputation which promised him, in 
the future, a decisive influence in the affairs 
of Germany and Europe. His next care 
was the relief of his kingdom, drained and 
exhausted by the contest. This he prose¬ 
cuted with great diligence and liberality. 
On the partition of Poland in 1772 Frederick 
received a large accession to his dominions. 
In 1778-79 he frustrated the designs of the 
Emperor Joseph II. on Bavaria, and the 
war of the Bavarian Succession was termi¬ 
nated without a battle by the Peace of 
Teschen (May 13, 1779). Austria con¬ 
sented to the union of the principalities of 
Franconia with Prussia, and renounced the 
feudal claims of Bohemia to those countries. 
In the evening of his active life Frederick 
concluded, in connection with Saxony and 
Hanover, the confederation of the German 
princes, July 23, 1785. An incurable 
dropsy hastened the death of Frederick, 
who left to his nephew, Frederick William 
II., a kingdom increased by 29,000 square 
miles, a well-filled treasury, an army of 
200,000 men, great credit with all the Euro¬ 
pean powers, and a state distinguished for 
population, industry, wealth, and science. 
Frederick’s works, relating chiefly to history, 
politics, military science, philosophy, and the 
belles-lettres, were all written in French, the 
language which he regularly used, as he 
despised German. He was a man of the 
highest abilities, but in some respects narrow 
and repellant. Among his closest friends 
was the Scottish exile Marshal Keith. Car¬ 
lyle’s History of Frederick is well known. 

Frederick III., Emperor of Germany, 
born 1831; succeeded William I. March 9, 
1888; died June 15, 1888. In 1858 he 
married the Princess-Royal of Britain, eld¬ 
est daughter of Queen Victoria. He com¬ 
manded the army of the Oder in the war 
with Austria (1866), and in the Franco- 
German war he led the army which ulti¬ 
mately forced Napoleon III. and his army 
to surrender at Sedan. He also took a pro¬ 
minent part in the siege of Paris. In 1887 
he was attacked by a serious throat affec¬ 
tion, which turned out to be of a cancerous 
character, and which after a series of re¬ 
lapses proved fatal. His renown as a mili¬ 
tary commander, his liberal views, his pa- 




FREDERICK AUGUSTUS II. AND III. 


FREDERICK WILLIAM IV. 


tience and fortitude under trouble, and his 
many lovable qualities made him extremely 
popular. 

Frederick Augustus II. and HI., elec¬ 
tors of Saxony and kings of Poland. See 
A nr/ustus. 

Frederick Charles, Prince, known as 
the ‘Red Prince,’ born 1828, died 1885. 
He was nephew to the Emperor William I., 
and gained fame for his military exploits 
during the wars of 1866 and 1870. Sadowa, 
Thionville, Gravelotte, and St. Privat are 
among his chief achievements. 

Fredericksburg, a town. United States, 
Virginia, on the Rappahannock, 60 miles 
north by east of Richmond. Here the 
Federal forces under Burnside were defeated 
by the Confederates under Lee on the 13th 
Dec. 1862. Pop. 1890, 4528. 

Frederickstad, a town of Norway, at the 
mouth of the Glommen, 48 miles s.e. of 
Christiania. Formerly strongly fortihed; 
it has an arsenal; manufactures hardware, 
pottery, &c., and has some shipping and 
general trade. Pop. 11,259. 

Frederick William, of Prussia, generally 
called the Great Elector, was born in 1620, 
died 1688. At the age of twenty he suc¬ 
ceeded his father as elector of Brandenburg. 
He must be considered as the founder of the 
Prussian greatness, and as the creator of a 
military spirit among his subjects. His reign 
began when the unhappy Thirty Years’ war 
was still raging in Germany, and his con¬ 
duct towards both parties was prudent. He 
succeeded in freeing Prussia from feudal 
subjection to Poland; and obtained posses¬ 
sion of Pomerania in 1648. In 1672 he con¬ 
cluded a treaty with the Dutch Republic, 
when this state was threatened by Louis 
XIV. In 1673 he concluded a treaty by 
which France promised to evacuate West¬ 
phalia, and to pay 800,000 livres to the 
elector, who, in return, broke off his treaty 
with Holland, and promised not to render 
any aid to the enemies of France. In 1674 
the German Empire declared war against 
France. The elector marched 16,000 men 
into Alsace, but a Swedish army having 
been induced to invade Prussia, Frederick 
turned back and totally defeated them at 
Fehrbellin (1675). Some years after the 
Swedes again invaded his territories, but 
were driven back. France, however, de¬ 
manded the restoration of all the conquered 
territories to Sweden. The elector, having 
refused compliance, formed an alliance with 
Denmark, and waged a new war against 

73 


Sweden, but was at last obliged to submit. 
He paid great attention to the promotion of 
agriculture and horticulture, and, by afford¬ 
ing protection to the French refugees, gained 
20,000 industrious manufacturers, who were 
of the greatest advantage to the north of 
Germany. Berlin was much improved dur¬ 
ing his reign. He left to his son a country 
much enlarged and improved, an army of 
28,000 men, and a well-supplied treasury. 

Frederick William I., King of Prussia, 
son of Fredei’ick I. and father of Frederick 
the Great (II.), was born in 1688, died 1740. 
While crown-prince (1706) he married So¬ 
phia Dorothea, daughter of the Elector of 
Hanover, afterwards George I. of England. 
On his accession to the throne, in 1713, he 
endeavoured to increase the army and re¬ 
form the finances, and became the founder 
of the exact discipline and regularity which 
have since characterized the Prussian sol¬ 
diers. He was very miserly, eccentric, and 
arbitrary. He opposed Charles XII., and 
was the protector of the neighbouring Pro¬ 
testant states. His ridiculous fondness for 
tall men is well known. He left behind 
him an abundant treasury, and an army of 
about 70,000 men. His affairs were in the 
greatest order and regularity, and to his 
energy Prussia was much indebted for that 
prosperity and success which distinguished 
her till she was humbled by the power of 
Napoleon. 

Frederick William II., King of Prussia, 
born 1744, died 1797. He succeeded his 
uncle Frederick the Great in 1786, and 
shared in the second partition of Poland. 

Frederick William III., son of Frederick 
William II., born 1770, died 1840. During 
his reign Prussia suffered much at the hands 
of Napoleon, including defeats at Jena, Ey- 
lau, Friedland, &c., and lost a large por¬ 
tion of territory, which, however, was re¬ 
covered after the fall of Napoleon. 

Frederick William IV., King of Prus¬ 
sia, son of Frederick William III., was 
born 1795, died 1861. He was carefully 
trained by the best masters in all the lead¬ 
ing branches of knowledge and art, civil and 
military. He took part, though without any 
active command, in the campaigns of 181 >- 
14. When he succeeded to the throne by 
the death of his father in 1840 his first 
proceedings were both of a popular and 
praiseworthy character. He soon, however, 
began to pursue a retrograde and absolutist 
policy. The popular movement which fol¬ 
lowed the French revolution of 1848 was at 







FREDERICTON 


FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 


first met by the king with firmness, but on 
the demand of the people that the troops 
should be withdrawn from the capital, 
backed by an attack on the arsenal, the 
king offered concessions, which, however, 
he retracted on his power becoming more 
secure. Latterly his mind gave way, and 
he sank into a state of hopeless imbecility, 
which rendered it necessary to appoint liis 
brother William regent of the kingdom. 
He died without issue, and was succeeded 
by his brother, who ten years later became 
emperor of united Germany. 

Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick, 
Dominion of Canada, on the river St. John, 
about 84 miles from its mouth, and 54 miles 
N.N.w. of the town of St. John. It is well 
laid out, and has handsome public buildings, 
including the government house, the pro¬ 
vincial buildings, court-house, town-hall, 
cathedral, university, &c. The trade is ex¬ 
tensive and increasing, the river being navi¬ 
gable for large steamers. Pop. 1891, 6502. 

Fred'erikshald, or F'rederiksh all, a sea¬ 
port, Norway, at the mouth of the Tistedal 
in the Idde-fiord, about 60 miles S.S.E. of 
Christiania. Immediately to the south 
stands the fortress of Frederiksteen, at the 
siege of which Charles XII. of Sweden was 
killed, 30th November, 1718. An obelisk 
’marks the spot. Pop. 1891, 12,451. 

Free-bench, in law, the right which a 
widow has, in some parts of England, in her 
husband’s copyhold lands, corresponding to 
dower in the case of freeholds. 

Free Church of England, an Episcopal 
body separate from the Established Church 
of England, founded in 1844 as a counter¬ 
acting movement to the tractarian move¬ 
ment. The churches belonging to it, though 
not numerous, are widely spread. The ser¬ 
vice is practically identical with that of the 
Evangelical party of the national church. 
The church is governed by convocation and 
three bishops. 

Free Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian 
church organized as a separate body from 
the Established Church in May, 1843. The 
Queen Anne Act of 1712, which restored pa¬ 
tronage in Scotland, was for long the chronic 
cause of schism and discontent in the Scottish 
church, unwelcome clergymen being often 
under it appointed to church livings. In 1834 
the General Assembly passed a veto ac^, which 
declared that no minister should be intruded 
into a parish church against the will of the 
people, and that a majority of male heads of 
families, full members of the church, should 


be able to bar an obnoxious presentee. This 
act before long created litigation, and the 
ecclesiastical and civil powers came into 
conflict. The struggle was brought to an 
issue by the judgment of the House of Lords 
in 1842, affirming a decree of the Court of 
Session, which required the presbytery of 
Auchterarder to induct the presentee to 
Auchterarder parish without regard to the 
dissent of the parishioners. In May, 1843, the 
members of the General Assembly had been 
elected and were convened at Edinburgh, 
when the Rev. Dr. David Welsh, who had 
been moderator of the last Assembly, instead 
of constituting the meeting in the ordinary 
manner, rose and read a protest, pointing 
out that the civil courts had undue powers 
of interference with the Established Church, 
and concluding by asserting the right of the 
protesters, in the circumstances, to withdraw 
to a separate place of meeting for the pur¬ 
pose of taking steps on behalf of themselves 
and their adherents for separating in an or¬ 
derly way from the Establishment, but still 
maintaining the Confession of Faith and 
Standards of the Church of Scotland as here¬ 
tofore understood. After reading this docu¬ 
ment the moderator and other members of 
Assembly, together with those adhering to 
them, withdrew to another place of meeting 
(the Tanfield Hall, Canonniills), and consti¬ 
tuted themselves the Free Church of Scot¬ 
land. They elected Dr. Chalmers as their 
moderator, and proceeded with the business 
before them. Although thus denuded of the 
temporal benefits of an establishment, they 
declared themselves to be the true national 
church of the Reformation, and did not 
object to the endowment and establishment 
of religion by the state. In late years, how¬ 
ever, the majority of the Free Church clergy 
have given up the doctrine of the lawful¬ 
ness of the establishment of the church by 
the state, and become converts to the ‘ vol¬ 
untary principle.’ The deed of demission, 
or resignation of livings, was signed by 
474 ministers and professors. A sustenta- 
tion fund was instituted for the mainten¬ 
ance of the ministers, to be supplied by the 
voluntary offerings of the people. In the 
first year after the disruption the sum of 
£366,719 was contributed for the erection 
of churches, between 700 and 800 of which 
had to be provided for congregations which 
left the Establishment with th^eir ministers. 
Colleges for the theological training of the 
ministry were subsequently erected in Edin¬ 
burgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Schools 

74 








FREE CITIES-FREEMASONRY. 


Were added to the churches in town and 
counti’y, and noi'mal schools for the training 
of teachers were instituted in Edinburgh 
and Glasgow. A proposal for union with 
the United Presbyterian Church failed in 
1873; but a similar proposal with regard to 
the Reformed Presbyterian Church was suc¬ 
cessful in 1876. 

Free Cities, cities having an independent 
government of their own, and virtually form¬ 
ing states by themselves; a name given to 
certain cities of Germany which were mem¬ 
bers of the German Confederation, and exer¬ 
cised sovereign jurisdiction within their own 
boundaries. At the time of the French Re¬ 
volution the free or ‘ imperial ’ cities num¬ 
bered no fewer than fifty-one; but with the 
exception of Hamburg, Liibeck, and Bremen, 
they have all been deprived of their privi¬ 
leges as the result of various political changes. 

Free Companies, Free Lances, names 
given to the troops of private adventurers, 
who, in the middle ages, organized them¬ 
selves into bands of mercenary soldiers, and 
let out their services to the highest biddei'. 
They played their most conspicuous part in 
Italy, where they were called Condottieri. 

Free Congregations (Ger. Freie Gemein- 
den), sometimes called ‘Protestant Friends,’ 
a sect of German Rationalists, who at first 
professed to be Christians, but now reject 
the doctrines of miraculous revelation and 
a personal deity. There are upwards of 120 
congregations of them in Germany, and a 
few in the United States. 

Freedmen {liberti, libertini) was the name 
applied by the Romans to those persons who 
had been released from a state of servitude. 
The freedman wore a cap or hat as a sign 
of freedom (hence the origin of the cap of 
liberty), assumed the name of his master, 
and received from him a white garment and 
a ring. With his freedom he obtained the 
rights and privileges of a Roman citizen of 
the plebeian rank, but could not be raised 
to any office of honour. 

Freedmen’s Bureau, United States, estab¬ 
lished in 1865, exercised general supervis¬ 
ion over the freedmen and other loyal ref¬ 
ugees, protected their rights, and found 
work and provided education and medical 
treatment. It was abolished in 1870. 

Free Libraries. See Libraries. 

Freeman, Edward Augustus, English 
historian and archaeologist, born 1823, edu¬ 
cated at Trinity College, Oxford, of which 
he was scholar and fellow. He has received 
various academical and other distinctions, 

75 


and in 1884 became Regius professor of 
modern history at Oxford. His works, 
which are very voluminous, include History 
of Architecture, 1849; History and Con¬ 
quests of the Saracens, 1856; History of 
Federal Government, 1863; Old English 
Plistory, 1869; Growth of the English Con¬ 
stitution, 1872; Historical Essays, 1872-79; 
History of the Norman Conquest, 1867-76; 
Historical Geography of Europe, 1881; and 
the Reign of William Rufus and Accession 
of Henry I., 1882. He died Mar. 16,1892. 

Freemasonry, a term applied to the 
organization of a society calling themselves 
free and accepted masons, and all the mys¬ 
teries therewith connected. This society, if 
we can reckon as one a number of societies, 
many of which are unconnected with each 
other, though they have the same origin and 
a great similarity in their constitution, ex¬ 
tends over almost all parts of the globe, and 
is consequently of the greatest service to 
travellers who are members of the craft. 
According to its own peculiar language it 
is founded on the practice of social and 
moral virtue. It claims the character of 
charity in the most extended sense; and 
brotherly love, relief, and truth are incul¬ 
cated in it. Fable and imagination have 
traced back the origin of freemasonry to the 
Roman Empire, to the Pharaohs, the temple 
of Solomon, the Tower of Babel, and even 
to the building of Noah’s ark. In reality 
it took its rise in the middle ages along with 
other incorporated crafts. Skilled masons 
moved from place to place to assist in build¬ 
ing the magnificent sacred structures—ca¬ 
thedrals, abbeys, &c.—which had their origin 
in these times, and it was essential for them 
to have some signs by which, on coming to 
a strange place, they could be recognized as 
real craftsmen and not impostors. Free¬ 
masonry in its modified and more modern 
form dates only from the 17th century. 
The modern ritual is said to have been 
partly borrowed from the Rosicrucians and 
knights templars, and partly devised by 
Elias Ashrnole, the founder of the Ashmolean 
Museum. Freemasonry, thus modified, soon 
began to spread over J;he world. In 1725 it 
W'as introduced into France by Lord Uer- 
wentwater; and in 1733 the first American 
lodge was established. The United Grand 
Lodge of England recognizes only two species 
of Freemasonry—the Craft and the Royal 
Arch; Scotch, Irish, American, and Con¬ 
tinental lodges acknowledge higher degrees; 
but these, with the exception of the Mark 










FREE FORT- 

Degree, are not universal. In ordinary free¬ 
masonry there are three grades—those of 
apprentice, fellow-craft, and master-mason— 
each of which has its peculiar initiatory cere¬ 
monies; the last of these grades, however, is 
necessary to the attainment of the full rights 
and privileges of brotherhood. 

Free Port, a harbour where ships of all 
nations may enter on payment of a moder¬ 
ate toll, and load or unload. Goods may 
be stored at first at free ports without pay¬ 
ing any duty; the goods may then be either 
resbipped for export on paying a mere 
transit duty, or they may be admitted for 
home consumption on payment of the usual 
full customs of the country. 

Freeport, the seat of Stephenson co., Illi¬ 
nois, 120 miles w. by N. of Chicago; pos¬ 
sesses flourishing carriage, windmill and 
bicycle manufactories. Pop. 1890, 10,189. 

Free Spirit, Brethren of the, a sect of 
heretics which originated in Alsace in the 
13th century, and quickly became dissemi¬ 
nated over Italy, France, and Germany. 
They claimed ‘ freedom of spirit,’ and based 
their claims on Rom. viii. 2-14: ‘The law of 
the spirit hath made me free from the law 
of sin and death.’ Thence they deduced 
that they could not sin, and lived in open 
lewdness, going from place to place accom¬ 
panied by women under the name of ‘sisters.’ 

Freestone. See Sandstone. 

Freethinkers, an epithet applied to the 
English Deists of the 17th and 18th cen¬ 
turies who argued for natural as against re¬ 
vealed religion. Anthony Collins (who first 
made it a name of a party by his Discourse 
of Free-thinking, London, 1713), and his 
friend, John Toland, are among the chief of 
the early fi’eethinkers. Another able writer 
on the same side was Math. Tindal (died 
1733), whose Christianity as Old as the 
Creation (1730) caused a great sensation. 
Lord Bolingbroke and Hume take the lead 
among advanced freethinkei’s. In France 
Voltaire and the encyclopedists D’Alembert, 
Diderot, and Helvetius led the opposition 
against revealed religion. The same spirit 
became fashionable in Germany in the reign 
of Frederick the Great. The term is now 
generally applied to designate Rationalists 
in general, who are to be found among 
Christians as well as non-Christians. 

Freetown, a seaport, West Africa, capital 
of the British settlement of Sierra Leone, 
not far from the entrance of the estuary 
or river of Sierra Leone, in the vicinity of 
extensive swamps, which make it very un- 


- FREEZING. 

healthy. Its principal streets are broad 
and straight, and have a very attractive ap¬ 
pearance. Among the public buildings are 
several churches, a governor’s house, and 
barracks. Pop., mostly liberated negroes, 
18,000. 

Free-trade, the term applied to national 
commerce when relieved from such inter¬ 
ference as is intended to improve or other¬ 
wise influence it; that is, unrestricted by 
laws or tariffs, and not unduly stimulated 
by bounties. In all countries it was long 
held to be of importance to encourage native 
production and manufactures by excluding 
from their own markets, and from the co¬ 
lonial markets over which they had control, 
the competing produce and manufactures of 
other countries. On this theory the great 
body of British commercial legislation was 
founded until 1846, when the policy of free- 
trade was introduced in grain, and after 
wards gradually extended by the repeal of 
the navigation laws in 1849 and other great 
measures, until nearly all British commercial 
legislation has been brought into conformity 
with it. Free-trade can hardly yet be said 
to have been adopted as a principle of com¬ 
mercial policy by any nation except Great 
Britain. As an economic principle free-trade 
is the direct opposite to the principle or sy stem 
of protection, which maintains that a state 
can reach a high degree of material pros¬ 
perity only by protecting its domestic in¬ 
dustries from the competition of all similar 
foreign industries. To effect this protecting 
countries either prohibit the importation of 
foreign goods by direct legislation, or impose 
such duties as shall, by enhancing the price, 
check the introduction of foreign goods. The 
advocates of what is called/ai-r trade in Bri¬ 
tain profess a preference for free-trade were 
it universal or even common; but seeing 
that Britain is almost the sole free-trade 
country in the world, declare that a policy 
of reciprocity is required for the protection 
of British traders and manufacturers. The 
progress made'by Britain since 1846 is ad¬ 
duced as a striking proof of the wisdom of 
her free-trade policy. See Protection. 

Free-will, the power of directing our own 
actions without constraint by necessity or 
fate, a doctrine maintained in the fields both 
of theology and of metaphysics. See Will. 

Freezing, Congelation, or Solidifica¬ 
tion, the transformation of a liquid into a 
solid under the influence of cold. Each 
liquid always solidifies at the same tempera¬ 
ture, which is called its freezing-point, and 



FREIBERG — 

the solid also melts asfain at the same tern- 
perature. Thus the freezing-point and the 
melting-point, or point of fusion, are the 
same, and the point is always the same for 
the same substance. Consequently the freez¬ 
ing-point of water, or the melting-point of 
ice (32° Fahr.), is taken for one of the fixed 
points in thermometry. The freezing-point 
of mercury is 39° below zero, of sulphuric 
ether 46° below zero, of alcohol 203° below 
zero Fahr. It has been shown that the in¬ 
crease of pressure upon water, and upon all 
substances which expand in freezing, will 
lower the freezing-point; and that such 
substances as wax, spermaceti, sulphur, and 
paraffin, which contract in freezing, have 
the freezing-point raised by pressure. Arti¬ 
ficial freezing is attained by the liquefac¬ 
tion of solids or the evaporation of liquids. 
These processes absorb heat, and by abstract¬ 
ing it from the surrounding substances freeze 
the latter. Among freezing-mixtures are: 
(1) two parts of pounded ice or fresh snow 
and one part of common salt, which causes 
the thermometer to fall to - 4°; (2) equal 
parts of water, of powdered crystallized 
nitrate of ammonia, and of powdered crystal¬ 
lized carbonate of soda, which produces a 
cold of - 7°; (3) three parts of snow with 
four parts of crystallized chloride of calcium, 
producing a temperature of - 54°; while 
(4) with a mixture of liquid nitrous oxide 
and carbon disulphide a temperature of 
— 220° is reached. 

Freiberg (fri'ber/i), a German mining 
town, the centre of the mining district of 
Saxony, 20 miles w.s.w. of Dresden, near 
the Mulde. There are still remains of its 
former walls, towers, and ditches, but their 
site hais mostly been converted into a pro¬ 
menade. The principal buildings and estab¬ 
lishments are the cathedral, the mining aca¬ 
demy wdth a museum attached, the town- 
house, the castle (now a military magazine), 
the royal silver refinery, &c. The Freiberg 
district yields silver, copper, lead, and cobalt. 
Pop. of town 1890, 28,955. 

Freiburg (frI'burA), or Freiburg im Breis- 
GAU, a town of Baden, on the Dreisam, 42 
miles S.S.E. of Strasburg. It consists of the 
town proper, still possessing some remains 
of fortifications, and of two suburbs. The 
chief buildings are the cathedral, a large and 
beautiful Gothic structure, with a fine portal 
richly sculptured, and surmounted by a 
tower with a spire of exquisite open work 
380 feet high; the Ludwigskirche; the 
university, founded in 1456; the museum, 

77 


FREMONT. 

theatre, grand-ducal palace, &c. The manu¬ 
factures are numerous, but not individually 
of great extent. Pop. 1890, 48,909. 

Freiburg, a canton and town of Switzer¬ 
land. See Fribourg. 

Freienwalde (fri'en-val-de), a town of 
Prussia, district of Potsdam, with a chaly¬ 
beate spring and bathing establishment in 
the vicinity. Pop. 6819. 

Freight, the sum paid by a merchant or 
other person hiring a ship or part of a ship, 
for the use of such ship or part during a 
specified voyage, or for a specified time; also 
any sum charged for the transportation of 
goods. 

Freiligrath (fridi/t-riit), Ferdinand, Ger¬ 
man lyric poet, born at Detmold 1810; died 
atCannstadt,inWurteinberg, 1876. Inl838 
he published at Mainz a volume of his col¬ 
lected poems, which proved successful and 
gained him a pension, which he relinquished 
on the publication of his Glaubensbekenntnis 
(Confession of Faith), the republican char¬ 
acter of which caused his prosecution and 
flight to London. He returned to Germany 
in 1848 and took part in the revolutionary 
movements, publishing the political poems 
Die Revolution, Februarklange, and Die 
Todten an die Lebenden. The last of these 
led to his being put on trial for treason. 
This trial, in which he was acquitted, is 
memorable for another reason, being the 
first jury trial ever held in Prussia. From 
1851 till 1867 Freiligrath again resided in 
England, but his last years were spent at 
Cannstadt. Many of his songs are yet very 
popular. Germany is indebted to him for 
many admirable translations from foreign 
languages, as from Burns, Tannahill, Moore, 
Hemans, Shakspere, Longfellow, Walt 
Whitman, and Victor Hugo. 

Freising (fri'zing), a town of Bavaria, on 
the left bank of the Isar, 21 miles n.n.e. of 
Munich. It has a fine old cathedral church. 
Pop. 8850. 

Frejus (fra-zhiis; ancient Forum, Julii), 
a town, France, dep. Var, on the Mediter¬ 
ranean, 45 miles n.e. of Toulon. Pop. 3050. 

Fremont, Dodge co.. Neb., 47 m. n.w. 
Council Bluffs. It has a large trade in grain, 
cotton, lumber and naval stores. Pop. 6747. 

Fremont, an American city, the seat of 
Sandusky co., Ohio. It has a considerable 
trade, lines of steamers running from the 
city, which stands at the head of steam 
navigation on the river Sandusky, to the 
principal ports of Lake Erie. Pop. 7140. 
Fremont, John Charles, American ex* 







FRENCH BEANS 


FRERON. 


plorer, born at Savannah, Georgia, 1813. 
He conducted five separate and adventurous 
expeditions which explored the passes of 
the Rocky Mountains, He took an active 
part in the conquest of Ui)per California, 
and served in the civil war. He was the 
first candidate of Republican party for Pres¬ 
ident, but was defeated by Buchanan in 
1856. He died at New York, July 13,1890. 

French Beans, or Kidney-beans, the ha¬ 
ricots of the French, are the products of the 
Phaseolus vulgaris, supposed to be a native 
of the East Indies, but now commonly culti¬ 
vated in all parts of the globe. This plant 
is a twining annual, bearing alternate leaves, 
on footstalks, composed of three oval pu¬ 
bescent folioles. The flowers are whitish, 
somewhat resembling those of the pea. The 
seeds are more or less kidney-shaped. A 
great number of varieties are cultivated, 
among which is that commonly called Lima 
bean. They are eaten pi’epared in various 
manners. 

French Berries, known also as Avignon 
Berries and Yellow Berries, the fruit of the 
Bhamnus Clusii, or other species of buck¬ 
thorn, rather less than a pea, have a bitter 
and astringent taste and are used by dyers 
and painters as a yellow colouring matter. 

French Chalk, scaly talc, a variety of in¬ 
durated talc, in masses composed of small 
scales of a pearly-white or grayish colour: 
much used by tailors for drawing lines on 
cloth, and for similar purposes. 

French Honeysuckle {Hedgsarum coro- 
narium), the inappropriate name of a legu¬ 
minous plant, a common perennial in gar¬ 
dens, where it is grown for the sake of its 
beautiful scarlet flowers. In Sicily and 
Spain it is largely cultivated as a green crop, 
yielding an enormous quantity of herbage. 

French Language and Literature. See 
France. 

French Polish, a solution of shell-lac in 
.alcohol, used for giving a smooth surface- 
•coating to furniture and cabinet-work. The 
most common of the varnishes known under 
the name of French polish are prepared as 
follows: Pale shell-lac, 5^ oz.; finest wood- 
naphtha, 1 pint: dissolve. Or pale shell-lac, 
3 lb.; wood-naphtha, 1 gallon. Methylated 
spiilt (68 o.p.) may be substituted for the 
naphtha in the above formulae. 

Freneau, Philip, poet, was born in New 
York city in 1752. Graduated at Prince¬ 
ton in 1771. Captured by a British cruiser 
in 1780, he wrote “The Rritish Prison 
ghip” A_g ^itor of the “National Ga¬ 


zette” his virulent attacks on the Federal¬ 
ists aroused Hamilton’s anger. His poems 
were numerous, cliiefly of Revolutionary 
times. He died in 1832. 

Frere, Sir Henry Bartle Edward, 
statesman and administrator, born at Cly- 
dale, Wales, 1815, died at Wimbledon 1884. 
He entered the East India Company’s civil 
service in 1833; mastered the native lan¬ 
guages with great rapidity, and introduced 
important improvements into the system of 
tax collection. From 1847 to 1850 he was 
resident at Sattara, and at the latter date 
succeeded Sir Charles Napier as chief-com¬ 
missioner at Scinde. He rendered valuable 
services during the mutiny, at the close of 
which he was nominated to the viceroy’s 
council at Calcutta. He returned to Eng¬ 
land in 1867. In 1872 he negotiated a treaty 
wdth the Sultan of Zanzibar, abolishing the 
slave-trade in that ruler’s dominions. In 
1877 he went to South Africa as commis¬ 
sioner for the settlement of native affairs, 
but this mission was a failure. He was the 
author of a life of his uncle, John Hookhara 
Frere, numerous lectures, pamphlets, &c. 

Frere, John Hookham, born in London 
1769, died at Malta 1846. He is now 
chiefly remembered as one of the writers 
in the Anti-Jacobin Review at the close of 
the last century; and afterwards connected 
with the establishment of the Quarterly- 
Review in 1809. A satirical poem pub¬ 
lished by him in 1817, entitled Prospectus 
and Specimen of an Intended National 
Work, by William and Robert Whistle- 
craft, follow’ed by another entitled The 
Monks and the Giants, obtained in their 
day much popularity. His translations in 
verse of some of the comedies of Aristo¬ 
phanes are well known for their remarkable 
excellence. Mr. Frere entered parliament 
in 1796, and succeeded Canning as under¬ 
secretary for foreign affairs in 1799. In 
1818-19 he acted as British ambassador in 
Spain, and subsequently held other diplo¬ 
matic posts in Portugal and Prussia. The 
latter years of his life were spent in Malta. 

Freron (fra-ron), ^Ilie Catharine, French 
journalist, born at Quimper 1719, died at 
Paris 1776. In 1746 he commenced a periodi¬ 
cal entitled Lettres de Madame la Comtesse 

de -; this, wdth various interruptions 

and change of name, was continued till his 
death. He may be called the founder of 
newspaper criticism in France; and had a 
life-long conflict with-Voltaire and the en» 
c^clopedists, 




FRESCO PAINTING-FREYTAG. 


Fresco Painting, a method of mural paint¬ 
ing in water colours on fresh or wet grounds 
of lime or gypsum. Mineral or earthy pig¬ 
ments are employ ed, which resist the chemical 
action of lime. In drying, the colours are 
incorporated with the plaster, and are there¬ 
by rendered as permanent as itself. In 
producing fresco paintings, a finished draw¬ 
ing on paper, called a cartoon, exactly the 
size of the intended picture, is first made, to 
serve as a model. The artist then has a 
limited portion of the wall covered over with 
a fine sort of plaster, and upon this he traces 
from his cartoon the part of the design suited 
for the space. As it is necessary to the 
success and permanency of his work that 
the colours should be applied while the plas¬ 
ter is yet damp, no more of the surface is 
plastered at one time than what the artist 
can finish in one day. A portion of the 
picture once commenced, needs to be com¬ 
pletely finished before leaving it, as fresco 
does not admit of retouching after the 
plaster has become dry. On completing a 
day’s work, any unpainted part of the plas¬ 
ter is removed, cutting it neatly along the 
outline of a figure or other definite form, so 
that the joining of the plaster for the next 
day’s work may be concealed. The art is very 
ancient, remains of it being found in India, 
Egypt, Mexico, &c. Examples of Roman 
frescoes are found in Pompeii and other 
places. After the beginning of the 15th 
century fresco painting became the favourite 
process of the greatest Italian masters, and 
many of their noblest pictorial efforts are 
frescoes on the walls of palaces and churches. 
Some ancient wall-paintings are executed in 
what is called Fresco Secco, which is distin¬ 
guished from true fresco by being executed 
on dry plaster, which is moistened with lime- 
water before the colours are applied. Fresco 
painting has in recent years again been re¬ 
vived, and works of this kind have been 
executed in the British Houses of Parliament 
and other public and private buildings, more, 
especially in Germany. 

Freshwater Herring. See Pollan. 

Freshwater Mussel. See Mussel. 

Freshwater Shrimp. See Shrimp. 

Freshwater Strata, in geology, strata 
formed by the deposition of mud, sand, &c., 
in lakes or rivers, or by fresh water filtering 
into caverns, the character of the strata be¬ 
ing determined by an examination of the con¬ 
tained fossils. They are generallymore limited 
in area than those deposited by the sea. 
IPresnel (fra-pel), Augustin Jean, French 

79 


physicist, born 1788, died 1827. He made 
discoveries in the polarizing of light, and 
greatly improved lighthouse apparatus. 

Fresnillo, (-nil'yo,) a city, Mexico, state 
of and 30 miles N. N. W. Zacatecas. In its 
vicinity are celebrated silver and copper 
mines. Pop. 13,000. 

Fresno, Fresno co,, Cal., on Southern 
Pacific R. R. Pop. 1890, 10,818. 

Fret, a kind of ornament much employed 
in Grecian art and in sundry modifications 
common in various other styles. It is formed 
of bands or fillets variously combined, but 
most frequently consists of continuous lines 
arranged in rectangular forms. Sometimes 
called Key Ornament. 

Frets, certain short wood, ivory, or metal 
cross-bars on the finger-boards of stringed 
instruments, as the guitar, &c., which regu¬ 
late the pitch of the notes. By pressing the 
string down to the finger-board behind a fret 
only so much of the string can be set in vibra¬ 
tion as lies between the fret and the bridge. 

Freudenstadt (froi'den-stat), a town of 
Wlirtemberg, 40 miles s.w. Stuttgart, with a 
fine old church and a town-house. Pop. 6204. 

Freya, in the northern mythology, the 
goddess of love, and wife of Odhr; she was 
a friend of sweet song, and loved to hear 
the prayers of mortals. She had a famous 
necklace, much celebrated in Scandinavian 
legends. She is often confounded with 
Frigga. 

Freyberg. See Freiberg. 

Freyburg. See Freiburg. 

Freycinet (fra-si-n.a), Charles Louis de 
Saulces de, Frencli/statesman, born at Foix 
(Ari^ge) 1828. He was trained as an en¬ 
gineer, and held several important appoint¬ 
ments; he was elected to the senate in 1876; 
was minister of public works 1877; minister 
for foreign affairs 1879; and president of 
the council and minister for foreign affairs 
for longer or shorter periods in 1882 and 
1886. He is the author of several impor¬ 
tant works on engineering. 

Freytag (frTtaA), Gustav, German poet, 
dramatist, and novelist, born 1816. He was 
editor of the Leipzig Grenzboten from 1848 
to 1870, and has produced numerous success¬ 
ful plays, tales, and poems. Among his more 
famous works are Soli und Haben (Debit 
and Credit); Bilder aus der Deutschen Ver- 
gangenheit (Pictures from the German Past); 
Die Verlorene Handschrift (The Lost Manu¬ 
script); and Die Ahnen (Our Ancestors), a 
series of six romances illustrative of old Gerr 
map life, 









FRIAR 


FRIEDRICHSTHAL. 


Friar (Fr. frere, Lat. frater, brother), in 
the R. Cath. Ch, an appellation common to 
the members of all religious orders, but more 
especially to those of the four mendicant 
orders, viz. (1) Minors, Gray Friars, or Fran¬ 
ciscans; (2) Augustines; (3) Dominicans or 
Black Friars; (4) WhiteFMars orCarmelites. 

Fribourg, or Fkeibukg (fre-bor, fri'bur/i), 
a canton of Switzerland, surrounded by the 
cantons of Berne and Vaud, except a narrow 
part, which touches the Lake of Neufchatel. 
The southern part is mountainous, the nor¬ 
thern part more level. The whole canton 
abounds in excellent pasturage, and cattle- 
breeding and dairy husbandry are the chief 
occupations of the inhabitants. Area, 644 
square miles; pop. 119,155, of whom the 
great majority are Roman Catholics speak¬ 
ing French.—The capital, which has the 
same name, is picturesquely situated on the 
Saane, 17 miles s.w. Berne. It stands partly 
on a rocky eminence at the edge of a ravine 
nearly surrounded by the river, which is 
here spanned by a suspension bridge 168 
feet above the water. The Gothic church 
of S. Nicholas contains one of the finest 
organs in Europe. Pop. 11,546. 

Fricassee (fri-kas-se'), a dish of food made 
by cutting chickens, rabbits, or other small 
animals into pieces, and dressing them with 
a strong sauce in a frying-pan or a like 
utensil. 

Fric'ative, a term applied to certain letters 
produced by the friction of the breath issuing 
through a narrow opening of the organs of 
articulation, as/, v, s, z, &c. 

Friction, in physics, the effect of rubbing, 
or the resistance which a moving body meets 
with from the surface on which it moves. 
Friction arises from the roughness of the 
surface of the body moved on and that of 
the moving body. No such thing can be 
found as perfect smoothness of surface in 
bodies. In every case there is, to a less or 
greater extent, a roughness or unevenness 
of the parts of the surface, arising from pe¬ 
culiar texture, porosity, and other causes, 
and therefore when two surfaces come to¬ 
gether the prominent parts of the one fall 
into the cavities of the other. This tends 
to prevent or retard motion, for in dragging 
the one body over the other an exertion 
must be used to lift the prominences over 
the parts w'hich oppose them. What is called 
the coefficient of friction for any two surfaces 
is the ratio that subsists between the force 
necessary to move one of these surfaces hori¬ 
zontally over the other, and the pressure be¬ 



Friction-wheels. 


tween the two surfaces. Thus the coefficient 
of friction for oak and cast-iron is 38 : 100, 
or ‘38. Friction plays a most important part 
in nature and art; for instance, but for it 
threads could not be made nor textile fabrics 
manufactured. 

Friction-rollers, a name common to any 
small rollers or cylinders employed to con¬ 
vert sliding motion into rolling motion. 
Such cylinders are often placed under heavy 
bodies when they are required to be moved 
any short distance on the surface of the 
ground; and, in machinery, the same method 
is occasionally employed to diminish the fric¬ 
tion of a heavily-loaded axis. In that case 
a number of small cylinders are inclosed 
round the axis, and partake of its motion. 

Friction-wheels, in machinery, two simple 
wheels or cylinders intended to assist in 
diminishing the friction of a horizontal axis. 
The wheels are 
simply plain 
cylinders a, «, 
carried on par¬ 
allel and inde¬ 
pendent axes 
h, h. They ax-e 
disposed so as 
to overlap pair 
and pair at each end of the main axis c, which 
rests in the angles thus formed by the cir¬ 
cumferences. The axis, instead of sliding 
on a fixed surface, as in ordinary cases, car¬ 
ries round the circumferences of the wheels 
on which it is supported with the same 
velocity as it possesses itself, and in conse¬ 
quence the friction of the system is propor¬ 
tionally lessened. 

Friday, the sixth day of the week, from 
the Anglo-Sax. Frige-dcerf, the day sacred to 
Frigga or to Frey a, the Saxon Venus. See 
Good Friday. 

Friedland (fred'lant). (1) A town of 
Northern Bohemia. Wallenstein w'as created 
Duke of Friedland in 1622. Pop. 4817.—■ 
(2) A small town of East Pi’ussia, 28 miles 
s.E. of Konigsberg, on the river Alle. Pop. 
3366. The Russians under Benningsen were 
here defeated on the 14th June 1807, by 
the French under Napoleon.—(3) A town 
of Mecklenburg - Strelitz, 30 miles N.E. of 
Strelitz. Pop. 5502. 

Friedrich (fred'riA), the German form of 
FredericTc. 

Friedrichsthal (fred'ri^s-tal), a town in 
the extreme south of Rhenish Prussia, with 
glass-works and coal and iron mines. Pop. 

6871. 


80 








FRIENDLY ISLANDS-FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. 


Friendly Islands, or Tonga Islands, a 
cluster iu the South Pacific Ocean, between 
lat. 18° and 23° s., and Ion. 173° and 176° 
w. They consist of three groups, which are 
divided from each other by two narrow chan¬ 
nels, and number altogether about 150, with 
a collective area of about 400 sq. miles. 
The largest island is Tongatabu, in the s. 
group, with an area of 128 sq. miles, and 
containing the capital, Nukualofa. Vavao, 
in the N. group, which is named after it, is 
next Tongatabu in size; the centre group 
is called Hapai. The islands are nearly all 
volcanic, with coral reefs and rocks about 
them; earthquakes and volcanic eruptions 
are frequent; during one of which, in Oct. 
1885, a new island 2 miles in circumference 
suddenly appeared. These islands were dis¬ 
covered in 1643 by Tasman, but received 
their collective name from Cook. They are 
now governed by a native Christian prince. 
The trade is considerable, the chief exports 
being copra, coffee, and wool. Pop. 1891, 
19,250, including 260 foreigners. 

Friendly Societies, societies formed for 
the mutual advantage of the members, and 
based on the principle that it is by the con¬ 
tribution of the savings of many persons to 
one common fund that the most effectual 
provision can be made for casualties affect¬ 
ing, or liable to affect, all the contributors. 
Mutual provident associations, taking the 
friendly society form, may be grouped under 
seven main heads:—(1) Affiliated Societies; 

(2) Centralized or General Societies; (3) 
Peculiar Trade and Profession Societies; (4) 
Local, including Dividing, Clubs; (5) Col¬ 
lecting Burial Clubs; (6) Societies of Fe¬ 
males; and (7) Societies of Juveniles. All 
these divisions, except the 5th, offer a sick¬ 
ness as well as a funeral benefit to their 
members, and some few of them offer a de¬ 
ferred annuity or superannuation as an op¬ 
tional benefit in addition. The following 
figures may be taken as giving the approxi¬ 
mate number of members and extent of 
funds of such societies in 1888:— 


Members. Funds. 


(1) Affiliated Societies,.2,024,000 

(2) General Societies,. 300,000 

(3) Peculiar Trade Societies: 

a. Miners’ Permanent 

Relief Funds,. 230,000 

h. Railway Group,. 57,000 

(4) Local Benefit Clubs,_1,000,000 

(5) Collecting Burial Clubs, 3,590,000 

(6) Societies of Females,.... 10,000 

(7) Societies of Juveniles,.. 200,000 


£13,103,000 

1,500,000 


253,000 

144,000 

2,000,000 

2,286,000 

20,000 


Total,.7,411,000 £19,306,000 

VOL, IV. 81 


Mutual provident association, on the vol¬ 
untary principle and in a friendly society 
form, as an economic duty, is strictly con¬ 
fined at present to the English-speaking 
races, though attempts are being made to 
introduce the system in both Italy and 
Austria - Hungary. Provident insurance, 
indeed, is enforced throughout the German 
empire among all classes of workmen, but 
only as a form of state socialism enacted by 
law and largely subsidized by the employers. 
In France the method employed is the indi¬ 
vidualistic system of savings-banks. 

The affiliated societies (or orders, as they 
are called) form the only group that extends 
its operations beyond the confines of the 
United Kingdom to America and the Brit¬ 
ish colonies and dependencies. These so¬ 
cieties are fraternities or brotherhoods, occu¬ 
pying in part the position of the old craft 
guilds. The Ancient Order of Foresters and 
the Independent Order of Oddfellows (Man¬ 
chester Unity) far outstrip all the other 
orders in numerical and financial strength, 
the former possessing a membership of 
686,127, of which 38,569 belong to the 
United States, and an accumulated capital 
of £3,689,000; the latter 627,594 members, 
and funds to the sum of £6,807,000, being 
the wealthiest friendly society in the world, 
as the Ancient Order of Foresters is the 
largest numerically. The amount of relief 
work done by these societies may be esti¬ 
mated from the fact that during the past 
fourteen years the Manchester Unity has 
disbursed in sickness and funeral benefits to 
its members no less a sum than £7,442,000, 
and in the same period added three millions 
to its capital. The Order of Shepherds (Ash¬ 
ton Unity) is another powerful fraternity, 
being particularly strong in Scotland; other 
orders are known as Druids, Rechabites, 
Free-gardeners, Sons of Temperance, Ro¬ 
mans, Locomotive Steam Enginemen and 
Firemen’s Friendly Society, &c. The Re¬ 
chabites and Sons of Temperance exhibit 
the economic phase of the temperance move¬ 
ment, and the former especially has in¬ 
creased very rapidly in recent years and 
possesses an adult membership of 75,000, 
with a capital of £450,000. The Locomo¬ 
tive Steam Enginemen, &c., is confined to 
railway employes, and is the only peculiar 
trade society which is constituted as an 
order. In this group, as a rule, the con¬ 
stitution and government are purely demo¬ 
cratic, consisting of individual branches 
(called lodges, courts, tents, or senates), 













FEIENDLY SOCIETIES. 


local gatherings of branches (called dis¬ 
tricts), and a central executive elected from 
annual or biennial parliaments of branch 
delegates. 

The general group consists of bodies with 
one central office and a scattered area of 
membership up and down the country, as 
the Hearts of Oak, the Rational Sick and 
Burial Association, and the United Pa¬ 
triots; or of bodies known as county so¬ 
cieties, because the membership of each 
society is restricted to the geographical area 
of some one county—generally of the E. and 
S. of England. The Hearts of Oak is the 
giant among its fellows, taking out of the be¬ 
fore-given totals for the group over 115,000 
members and £907,000 capital. The funds 
are all centralized and not retained in dis¬ 
tricts and lodges (or courts), as is the case 
with the orders. The registered offices of 
these societies are generally situate in Lon¬ 
don, and, with the exception of those men¬ 
tioned, their status cannot be considered 
satisfactory, since in financial matters they 
are behind the times. 

Among the societies connected with pecu¬ 
liar trades the most important are those 
connected with mining. Indeed the miners’ 
funds constitute the bulk of this division. 
These are accident insurance organizations, 
the funds of which are subsidized by the 
employers as a contribution towards their 
liabilities in the case of fatal or non-fatal 
casualties to the workmen in their employ. 
By means of them the workmen have largely 
contracted themselves out of the Employers’ 
Liability Act of 1880. Membership is almost 
entirely confined to the coal-getting miners. 

Local benefit clubs have had their day, and 
are being everywhere displaced by branches 
of the larger of the affiliated orders, as 
affording superior benefits with greater se¬ 
curity. A large proportion of this division 
consists of what are termed tontine or divid¬ 
ing societies; temporary combinations 
on the mutual basis, which break up and 
divide their capital every twelvemonth or 
so, and then re-form and commence anew. 
There is here no foresight—no provision 
made for advancing years of life. 

While all the foregoing provide, more or 
less, a sickness benefit to members, the col¬ 
lecting burial societies restrict themselves to 
insuring for a funeral benefit. The larger 
members of the group have nearly swallowed 
up the smaller, and in Britain there are four 
societies of over 100,000 members, which 
comprise between them over 90 per cent 


of the members, and over 88 per cent of 
the funds. These clubs are: Royal Liver, 
Liverpool Victoria Legal, Royal London, and 
Scottish Legal, the membership of the first 
two exceeding a million each. More than 
one-half, however, of gross membership is 
made up of children and non-adults. They 
are trading concerns chiefly for the benefit 
of the promoters and collectors, these latter 
calling from door to door for the weekly 
pence of the members. There is only a tech¬ 
nical difference between them and the indus¬ 
trial insurance companies. The contrast in 
the amount of funds between these clubs and 
the affiliated societies is as striking as it is 
suggestive. 

Societies of females occupy but a very 
small position in the great voluntary thrift 
army—a matter the more to be regretted 
since the number of girls and women \vorkers 
in the United Kingdom is over four millions. 
The societies of juveniles consist (with the 
exception of a few attached to the general 
group) of branches of the affiliated orders con¬ 
nected with adult lodges or courts. Member¬ 
ship on the average commences at 5 years 
of age and continues to 18. The Foresters 
have 73,000 juveniles in their ranks, while 
the Rechabites number over 32,000. Al¬ 
together the number of different bodies of 
one class or another registered as separate 
societies or branches, in Great Britain and 
Ireland, is about 25,000, and of this total 
only some 400 belong to Ireland. 

After being used by the ‘masses’ for at 
century and more the ‘classes’ have begun 
to adopt the friendly society form of mutual 
insurance, and we instance the establishment 
in London of a society of the general type 
for the benefit of the medical profession, the 
Medical Sickness and Annuity Friendly 
Society; and the Clergy Friendly Society, 
restricted to members of the Church of Eng¬ 
land. 

In the United States, among fraternal 
organizations, the following are the prin¬ 
cipal, the membership numbering, in 1891, 
2,836,000: Free Masons, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of 
United Workmen, Knights of Pythias, 
Knights of Honor, Improved Order of 
Red Men, Royal Arcanum, Knights and 
Ladies of Honor, American Legion of 
Honor, Knights of the Maccabees, Modern 
Woodmen of America, United American 
Mechanics, Equifable Aid Union, Order 
of Chosen Friends, Catholic Mutual Ben¬ 
efit Association, National Union, Indepeiv 

82 


FRIENDS 


FRINGE-TREE. 


dent Order of B’nai B’rith, Catholic Benev¬ 
olent Legion, Order of United Friends, 
Catholic Knights of America, Order of the 
Golden Cross, Royal Templars of Temper¬ 
ance, Ancient Order of Druids, Royal 
Society of Good Fellows, United Order of 
Pilgrim Fathers, Order of the Golden 
Chain, Knights of the Golden Eagle. 

Friends. See Quakers. 

Fries (fres), Elias Magnus, Swedish 
botanist, born 1794, died 1878. In 
1824 he was appointed professor of 
botany at the University of Lund, 
and in 1836 was transferred to that 
of Upsala. His botanical writings 
are very numerous, and cover the 
entire field of botany. He devised 
a natural system of classification, 
based on morphology and biology, 
which differs in many respects from 
those of Jussieu and Decandolle. 

Fries (fres), Jakob Friedeich, a German 
philosopher, born 1773, died 1843. He 
studied at the universities of Leipzig and 
Jena; in 1805 became professor of philo¬ 
sophy and mathematics at Heidelberg, and 
in 1816 was appointed to the chair of 
theoretical philosophy at Jena. His works 
are numerous, the most important being 
Neue Kritik der Vernunft, System der 
Philosophie als evidente Wissenschaft, and 
Wissen, Glaube und Ahnung. He aimed 
in his philosophical system to effect a recon¬ 
ciliation between the critical philosophy and 
faith, 

Friesland, the most northerly province 
of Holland, sometimes called West Fries¬ 
land to distinguish it from East Friesland, 
now the district of Aurich in Hanover. It 
is generally flat, and parts of it are below 
sea-leveL The area is 1281 sq. miles, four- 
fifths of which are under cultivation. Leeu- 
warden is the capital. Pop. 1892, 336,442. 
See Frisians. 

Frieze (frez), a kind of coarse woollen 
stuff or cloth, with a nap on one side. 

Frieze (frez), in architecture, that part of 
the entablature of columns which lies be¬ 
tween the architrave and cornice. It is a 
flat member or face, usually enriched with 
figures or other ornaments of sculpture. See 
Entablature. 

Frig'ate, in the navy, among ships of war 
of the older class, a vessel of a size larger 
than a sloop or brig and less than a ship of 
the line; usually carrying her guns (which 
varied from about thirty to fifty or sixty in 
pumber) on the main deck and on a raised 

83 


quarter-deck and forecastle, or having two 
decks. Such ships were often fast sailers, 
and were much employed as cruisers in the 
great wars of the 18th and early part of the 
19th centuries. Since the introduction of 
iron-clad vessels the term frigate has been 
applied to war-ships having a high speed 
and great figliting power. 

Frigate-bird, or Man-of-war Bird 
{TachypUes aquilus), a tropical web-footed 


bird of the family Pelecanidse. Including 
the long tail the male bird reaches 3 feet in 
length, but the body is comparatively small. 
The bill is longer than the head, strong, 
hooked at the point, and sharp. In pro¬ 
portion to their size their wings are longer 
than in any other bird, having an extent 
of 7 feet or moi'e. Their flight is powerful 
and graceful; they neither swim nor wade, 
but catch the flying-fishes in the air, and 
cause fishing-birds to disgorge their prey, 
which they dexterously seize as it falls. 

Frigga, or Frigg, in northern mythology, 
the wife of the god Odin, the goddess after 
whom Friday is named. She is a goddess 
in some respects corresponding with V^enus, 
and is often confounded with Frey a. 

Frilled Lizard, an Australian lizard, 
Chlamydosaurus Kingii, so called from a 
cui’ious membrane-like ruff or tippet round 
its neck, covering its shoulders, and which 
lies back in plaits when the animal is tran¬ 
quil, but which elevates itself when it is 
irritated or frightened. A full-grown speci¬ 
men is about 3 feet in length. 

Frimaire (fre-mar; Fr.,from/rmas, hoar¬ 
frost), the third month of the French repub¬ 
lican calendar, dating from September 22, 
1792. It commenced November 21, and 
ended December 20. 

Fringe-tree {Chionanthus virginica), a 
small tree belonging to the same natural 
family with the olive, and having snow- 
white flowers w'hich hang down like a 
fringe, inhabiting America from lat. 39° to 
the Gulf of Mexico. It is frequently culti¬ 
vated in gardens as an ornamental plant. 



Frigate-bird (Tachypdtes aqiiilua). 




















FRINGILLID^-FRIULI. 


Four other species of Chionanthus are 
known, two of which inhabit the West 
Indies, the third Ceylon, and the fourth 
Australia. 

Fringillidse, a large family of conirostral 
birds, comprising the finches (which see). 

Frisches-Haff, an extensive lagoon of 
Prussia, •n the Baltic, from which it is 
separated by a long and narrow line of low 
gravel and sand-banks called the Frische- 
Nehrung, and with which it communicates 
by a narrow strait, on the north side of which 
is the town of Pillau. 

Frisians, a German tribe who, about the 
beginning of the Christian era, occupied the 
territory between the mouths of the Rhine 
and the Ems. They became tributaries of 
Rome under Drusus, and lived for some 
time on friendly terms with their con¬ 
querors, but were driven to hostilities by 
oppression. In time they extended as far 
eastward as Slesvig, and even made settle¬ 
ments on the Firth of Forth, and probably 
in other parts of Northern Britain. About 
the end of the 7th century the Frisians in 
the south-west were subdued by the Franks 
under Pippin d’Ht^ristal, who compelled 
them to accept Christianity. A century 
later the eastern branch of the tribe was 
conquered and Christianized by Charle¬ 
magne. Their country w'as divided into 
three districts, two of which were annexed 
on the division of the Carlovingian Empire 
to the possessions of Louis the German, and 
the other to those of Charles the Bald. The 
latter part was called West Frisia (W. 
Friesland), and the two former East Frisia 
(E. Friesland). Their modern history is 
chiefly connected with Holland and Hanover. 
The Frisian Language holds in some re¬ 
spects an intermediate position between 
Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse. Of all the 
Teutonic dialects it is the most nearly re¬ 
lated to English. Its ancient form exists 
only in some remarkable collections of laws. 
Three dialects of it are now recognized: the 
West Frisian, spoken in the Dutch province 
of Friesland, about Leeuwarden, Bolsward, 
&c., and used to some extent in literature; 
the East Frisian, spoken between the 
mouths of the Ems and Weser; and the 
North Frisian, spoken on the west coast of 
Schleswig and South Jutland, and on the 
islands Sylt, Fohr, Amrun, &c. 

Frit, the matter of which glass is made 
after it has been calcined. (See Glass.) The 
term is also applied to semi-vitrified earthen¬ 
ware, often pounded and used for glaze. 


Frit, the Chlorops or Oscinis frit, a small 
greenish-black fly, the larvae of which do 
great damage to barley crops in some parts 
of the north of Europe. It is nearly allied 
to the corn or wheat fly known in Britain. 

Frith. See Firth. 

Frith, William Powell, R.A., born at 
Studley, near Ripon, 1819. Since 1840, 
when he exhibited Malvolio before Olivia 
at the Royal Academy, he has produced a 
great number of scenes from Shakspere, 
Moli^re, Dickens, Sterne, Goldsmith, &c., 
besides his immensely popular pictures. 
Coming of Age in the Olden Time (1849), 
Life at the Sea-side (1854), The Derby Day 
(1858), The Railway Station (1862), Before 
Dinner at Boswell’s Lodgings (1868—sold 
in 1875 for £4567), The Private View at the 
Royal Academy (1881), &c. He was com¬ 
missioned by the queen to paint the mar¬ 
riage of the Prince of Wales. He was 
elected R.A. in 1852, and is a member of 
several foreign academies. Large engravings 
have been produced from a number of his 
pictures. In 1887-88 he published his auto¬ 
biography, 3 vols. 8 VO. 

Frith Gilds, among the Anglo-Saxons, 
voluntary associations of neighbours for 
purposes of order and self-defence. They 
repressed theft, traced stolen cattle, and 
indemnified parties robbed from a common 
fund raised by subscription of the members. 

Frithjof (fret'yof), an Icelandic hero, sup¬ 
posed to have lived in the 8th century. After 
a series of adventures, recorded in an ancient 
Icelandic saga of the 13th century, he mar¬ 
ries Ingebjorg, the widow of the king Hring. 
The story forms the groundwork of Tegner’s 
popular poem, Frithjof’s Saga, and has been 
frequently translated. 

Frit'illary (Fritillaria), a genus of plants, 
nat. order Liliaceae, natives of north tem¬ 
perate regions. F. Meleagris, or common 
fritillary, is found in meadows and pas¬ 
tures in the eastern and southern parts of 
England. Several species, as F. imperialis 
or crown-imperial, are cultivated in gar¬ 
dens, chiefly introduced from Persia and 
the warmer parts of Europe. 

Frit'illary, the popular name of several 
species of British butterflies. The A rgynhis 
paphia is the silver-washed fritillary; the 
A. aglaia is the dark-green fritillary; the 
rare and much-prized A. lattonia is the 
queen-of-Spain fritillary. 

Friuli (fri-o'le), a formerly independent 
duchy at the head of the Adriatic, now 
forming part of Italy and Austria. It wai 

84 


FROBISHER- 

one of the most important duchies of the 
Longobard Kingdom, and up to the 15th 
century, when it was conquered by Venice 
and its territories dismembered, it retained 
a considerable degree of independence. The 
inhabitants, called Furlani, are Italian for 
the most part, but speak a peculiar dialect. 

Fro'bisher, Sir Martin, one of the great 
Elizabethan navigators, born near Doncas¬ 
ter, England, about 1535; died at Plymouth 
1594. He made three expeditions to the 
Arctic regions for the purpose of discovering 
^ a north-west passage to India, and endeav¬ 
oured to found a settlement north of Hud¬ 
son’s Bay, hopes of immense wealth to be 
found in these northern regions having taken 
the public fancy. In 1585 he accompanied 
Sir Francis Drake to the West Indies. At 
the defeat of the Spanish armada in 1588 he 
commanded one of the largest ships in the 
fleet, and was honoured with knighthood 
for his services. In the years 1590 and 
1592 he commanded squadrons against the 
Spaniards and took many rich prizes. In 
1594 he was sent to the assistance of Henry 
IV. of France, when, in an attack on a fort 
near Brest, he was mortally wounded. 

Froebel ^IrmTel), Friedrich Wilhelm 
August, German educationist, born 1782, 
died 1852. After an unsettled and aimless 
youth, and with somewhat imperfect cul¬ 
ture, he started teaching, and soon developed 
a system which has become famous under 
the name of Kindergarten (which see). He 
is the author of Die Menschenerziehung 
(Human Education), and Mutter-und-Kose- 
lieder, a book of poetry and pictures for 
children. A Froebel Society, for the pro¬ 
motion of the Kindergarten system, was 
established in 1874. 

Frog, the common English name of a 
number of animals belonging to the class 
Amphibia, having four legs with four toes 
on the fore feet and five on the hind, more 
or less webbed, a naked body, no ribs, and 
no tail. Owing to the last peculiarity frogs 
belong to the order of amphibians known as 
Anura or tailless Amphibia. The tongue is 
fleshy, and is attached in front to the jaw, 
but is free behind, so that the hinder extrem¬ 
ity of the tongue can be protruded. Frogs 
are remarkable for the transformations they 
undergo before arriving at maturity. In 
the spring the spawn is deposited in ponds 
and other stagnant waters in large masses 
of gelatinous matter. These masses, with 
black globules scattered through them, soon 
manifest change, and after a time the young 

85 


- FROISSART. 

escapes as a tadpole, as an animal with 
short body, circular suctorial mouth, and 
long tail, compressed from side to side. 
Gills project on either side of the head from 
a cleft which answers in position to the gill 
opening of fishes. The hind limbs first ap¬ 
pear as buds, later the fore limbs project. 



Frog and its metamorphoses. 

1, 2, 3, 4, Various stages of tadpole state; 5, fully 
formed auimal. 

the gills disappear, the lungs becoming more 
fully developed; the tail gradually shrinks 
and disappears, and the animal, which was 
at first fish-like, then closely resembled a 
newt (or tailed Amphibian), finally assumes 
the adult or tailless form. The mature frog 
breathes by lungs, and cannot exist in water 
without coming to the surface for air. The 
only British species is the common frog 
(Rana temporaria), but the tribe is very nu¬ 
merous, other varieties being the edible frog 
{R. esculenta) of the south of Europe, eaten 
in France and South Germany, the hind 
quarters being the part chiefly used; the 
bull-frog of America (R. pipiens), 8 to 12 
inches long, so named from its voice resem¬ 
bling the lowing of a bull; the blacksmith 
frog of Janeiro; the Argus frog of America, 
&c. Of the tree-frogs most belong to the 
genus Hyla. ^^See Tree-frog.) Frogs swim 
with rapidity, and move % long bounds, 
being able from the power of the muscles of 
their hind-legs to leap many times their 
own length. 

Frog-fish. See Angler^ and also Cheiro- 
nectes. 

Frog-spit. Same as Cuckoo-spit. 

Frohsdorf. See Froschdorf. 

Froissart (frwa-sar), Jean, a French poet 
and historian, was born in 1337 at Valenci¬ 
ennes, died in Flanders between 1400 and 
1410. He received a liberal education, and 
took orders in the church, but his inclination 
was more for poetry and gallantry. At the 
age of eighteen he went to England, where, 
having already the reputation of being a gay 
















i'ROME- 

poet and narrator of chivalric deeds, he was 
received with great favour, Philippa of Hain- 
ault, wife of Edward III., declaring herself 
his patroness. After returning to the Con¬ 
tinent and travelling for some time, he 
again visited England, and in 1361-66 he 
was a secretary to the queen. He also 
visited Scotland, and was entertained by 
King David Bruce, and William, earl of 
Douglas. In 1366 he left England and 
again travelled. After the death of Queen 
Philippa, Froissart became cure of Destines 
in Hainault, and was patronized by Wen- 
ceslaus, duke of Brabant, who was himself 
a poet, and of whose verses, united with 
some of his own, Froissart formed a sort of 
romance called Meliador. On the death of 
Wenceslaus he entered the service of Guy, 
count of Blois, who gave him the canonry 
of Chimay, and induced him to take in hand 
the history of his own time. After twelve 
years of a quiet life he again began his 
travels, chiefly for the purpose of collecting 
further matter for his Chronicle, and he 
again visited England after a lapse of forty 
years. Little is known of the closing part 
of his life, which is said to have terminated 
at Chimay. His Chronicle, which reaches 
down to 1400, gives a singularly vivid and 
interesting picture of his times, and also 
presents his own character in a pleasing 
light. The best edition of his Chronicle is 
that of Buchon, which also contains his col¬ 
lected Poesies (Paris, 1835-36, three vols.). 
fl'he earliest, and in some respects the best, 
English translation is that of Lord Berners 
(London, 1525), although that by Thomas 
Johnes (1803-5) is more exact. 

Frome, or Frome-Selwood, a town, Eng¬ 
land, county Somerset, on a small river of 
the same name, 19 miles south-east of 
Bristol. The staple manufactures are wool¬ 
len cloths. Previous to 1885 it sent one 
member to parliament; it now gives name 
to a pari, district. Pop. 1891, 9613. 

Fronde (frond), a French party during the 
minority of Louis XIV., which waged civil 
war against the court party on account of 
the heavy fiscal impositions laid on the people 
by Cardinal Mazarin, whom the queen- 
mother had appointed prime-minister after 
the decease of Louis XIII. (1648). At the 
head of the Fronde stood the Cardinal de 
Betz (which see), and latterly the Prince 
liouis Condd The result of this contest, 
which lasted from 1648 to 1654, served 
only to strengthen the royal power. The 
name is from Yv. fronde, ‘a sling,’ a mem- 


- FROST. 

her of the parliament having likened the 
party to boys slinging stones in the streets, 
but who dispersed on the appearance of the 
authorities. 

Fronti'nus, Sextus Julius, a Roman of 
patrician descent, born about A.D. 40, died 
106. He was governor of Britain from 75 
to 78, and distinguished himself in the wars 
of the Silures. He appears to have been 
twice consul, and was appointed by Nerva 
to superintend the aqueducts, on which he 
also wrote. His De Stratagematibus, a 
treatise on war, and his De Aquseductibus 
Urbis Romse are well known. 

Fronto, Marcus Cornelius, Roman 
orator and rhetorician of the 2d century after 
Christ, born at Cirta in Numidia. Having 
removed to Rome, he won the special favour 
of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, and was 
intrusted with the education of the imperial 
princes Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. 
His extant remains consist chiefly of some 
letters to these princes. 

Froschdorf (frosh'dorf; called by the 
French Frohsdorf), a village in Lower 
Austria, on the river Leitha, about 30 miles 
from Vienna. It is remarkable for its 
magnificent castle, which has acquired a 
kind of political importance since 1844, 
when it became the head-quarters of the 
Bourbon party. It w^as the favourite resi¬ 
dence of the late Comte de Chambord, who 
greatly improved and beautified the interior. 

Frosino'ne, a town, Italy, near the left 
bank of the Cosa, 50 miles e.s.e. of Rome. 
Pop. 9768. 

Frost is the name we give to the state of 
the weather when the temperature is below 
the freezing-point of water (32° F.). The 
intensity of the cold in frost is conveniently 
indicated by the popular expression so many 
degrees of frost, which means that the tem¬ 
perature of the atmosphere is so many de¬ 
grees below the point at wLich the freezing 
of water commences. Frost is often very 
destructive to vegetation, owing to the fact 
that w'ater, which is generally the chief 
constituent of the juices of plants, expands 
when freezing, and bursts, and thus destroys, 
the vesicles of the plant. In the same way 
rain-water, freezing in the crevices of rocks, 
breaks up their surfaces, and often detaches 
large fragments. Hoar-frost is frozen dew. 
It may either freeze while it is falling, when 
it is found loosely scattered on the ground; 
or being deposited as dew in the early part 
of the night it may freeze during a subse¬ 
quent part of it, owing to radiation. It is 

86 



FROST-BITE 


FRY. 


generally seen most profusely in spring and 
autumn; because at those times, while on 
clear nights the cold is sufficient to freeze the 
dew, the days are at the same time suffi¬ 
ciently warm to cause a very considerable 
quantity of moisture to evaporate into the 
air. 

Frost-bite, a condition caused by the 
action of frost on the human economy. It 
is generally local and partial, varying from 
ordinary chilblain to complete death of the 
part frozen. The simplest treatment con¬ 
sists in coaxing back the vitality of the part 
affected by means of friction. 

Frosted-glass, glass roughened on the 
surface, so as to destroy its transparency, 
in consequence of which the surface has 
somewhat the appearance of hoar-frost.— 
The term frosted is also applied to the dead 
or lustreless appearance of gold and silver 
jewelry when the surface is unpolished. 

Froth-fly, Froth-hopper, the common 
name of insects of the family Cercopidse, 
the larvse and pupae of which are found in 
a frothy exudation on plants. See CuckoO' 
spit. 

Fronde (frod), James Anthony, historian 
and miscellaneous writer, born at Totness, 
Devonshire, 1818. He was educated at 
Oxford, was elected fellow of Exeter Col¬ 
lege, and received deacon’s orders. He 
resigned his fellowship and withdrew from 
orders on the publication of his Nemesis of 
Faith, 1848. Between the years 1856 and 
1869 appeared his great work The History 
of England from the Fall of Wolsey to 
the Defeat of the Spanish Armada, which 
was very popular, though it received but 
doubtful approval from historians. He was 
for some time editor of Fraser’s Magazine, 
to which he contributed many articles, as 
w’ell as to other periodicals. He was elected 
rector of St. Andrews University in 1869; 
travelled in the United States in 1874; and 
visited the Cape Colony on a political mis¬ 
sion, 1874-75. He was made literary ex¬ 
ecutor to Carlyle, and his Life of Carlyle, 
and Carlyle’s Reminiscences, and Letters 
and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle, as 
edited by him, provoked an extraordinary 
amount of interest and controversy. Among 
his other works are Short Studies on Great 
Subjects; English in Ireland in the Eigh¬ 
teenth Century; Julius Caesar; Oceana, or 
England and her Colonies; The English in 
the West Indies, or the Bow of Ulysses; &c. 
He died on Oct. 20,1894. 

Fruc'tidor, the twelfth month of the 
87 


French republican calendar (dating from 
September 22, 1792), beginning August 18, 
and ending September 16. 

Fruit, in botany, the seed of a plant, or 
the mature ovary, composed essentially of 
two parts, the pericarp and the seed. In a 
more general sense the term is applied to 
the edible succulent products of certain 
plants, generally covering and including their 
seeds. The hardier sorts of fruits, such as are 
indigenous to the U. S., or which have been 
cultivated to any important extent there, 
are the apple, pear, plum, cherry, apricot, 
peach, and nectarine; the gooseberry, cur-, 
rant (red, white, and black), raspberry, * 
strawberi’y, mulberry. The more impor¬ 
tant fruits requiring a warm climate are 
the fig, date, grape, orange, lime, banana, 
tamarind, pomegranate, citron, bread-fruit, 
olive, almond, melon, coco-nut, &c. Some 
fruits are of immense economic importance, 
either from supplying food to great num¬ 
bers of people (dates) or from furnishing 
beverages in extensive use (as wine from the 
grape.) The value of orchard products in 
the United States has shown a very marked 
increase in the past ten years. 

Fruit-pigeon, the name given to the 
pigeons of the genus Carpophdgus, birds of 
very brilliant plumage, occurring in India, 
the warmer parts of Australia, &c. They are 
so called because they feed entirely on fruit. 

Frustum, in geometry, the part of a solid 
next the base, left by cutting off the top 
portion by a plane parallel to the base; or 
the part of any solid between two planes, 
which may be either parallel or inclined to 
each other, as the frustum of a cone, of a 
pyramid, or of a sphere, which latter is any 
part comprised between two parallel circular 
sections. 

Fry, Elizabeth, philanthropist, the third 
daughter of John Gurney, of Earlham Hall, 
near Norwich, was born 1780, died at Rams¬ 
gate 1845. In her eighteenth year a sermon 
preached by William Savery, an American 
Quaker, at Norwich, had the effect of turn¬ 
ing her attention to serious things, and 
making her adopt decided views on reli¬ 
gious matters. About this time also she 
made the acquaintance of Joseph Fry, a 
London merchant and a strict Quaker, to 
whom she was married in 1800. In 1810 
she became a preacher among the Friends. 
Having paid a visit to Newgate in 1813, she 
was so impressed by the scene of squalor, 
vice, and misery which she there witnessed, 
that the amelioration of prison life became 






FUAD PASHA-FUEL. 


with her a fixed object. In 1817 she suc¬ 
ceeded in establishing a ladies’ committee 
for the reformation of female prisoners in 
Newgate, along with a school and manu¬ 
factory in the prison, the results of which 
proved eminently satisfactory. These im¬ 
provements were shortly afterwards intro¬ 
duced by her means into other prisons. In 
the pursuit of her philanthropic labours she 
made tours through various parts of the 
United Kingdom, and also visited France, 
Belgium, Germany, and Holland. 

Fuad Pasha, Mehemed, Turkish states¬ 
man and man of letters, was born at Con¬ 
stantinople 1814, died at Nice 1869. His 
diplomatic career took him to London, 
Madrid, and St. Petersburg; he was four 
times minister of foreign affairs, and for five 
years grand vizier; and was the chief sup¬ 
port of the reform party in the Turkish 
empire. He wrote poetry, political pam¬ 
phlets, and a Turkish grammar, which has 
been translated into several languages. 

Fuca, Strait of. See Juan de Fuca, 
Strait of. 

Fuca'cese, a nat. order of dark-coloured 
algae, consisting of olive-coloured inarticu¬ 
late sea-weeds, distinguished from the other 
algae by their organs of reproduction, which 
consist of archegonia and antheridia, con¬ 
tained in common chambers or conceptacles, 
united in club-shaped receptacles at the ends 
or margins of the fronds. Fucaceae exist 
in all parts of the ocean, and, though all are 
probably occasionally attached, they may 
persist as floating masses, like the gulf- 
weed. Macrocystis pyrifera is said to have 
fronds of 500 to 1500 feet long. See Fucus. 

Fu-chow. See Foo-chow. 

Fuchsia (fu'shi-a; named after the dis¬ 
coverer Leonard Fuchs, a German botanist), 
a genus of beautiful flowering shrubs, natives 
of South America, Mexico, and New Zealand, 
nat. order Onagraceae, characterized by hav¬ 
ing a funnel-shaped, coloured, deciduous, 
four-parted calyx, sometimes with a very 
long tube; four petals set in the mouth of 
the calyx-tube and alternating with its seg¬ 
ments; eight exserted stamens, and a long 
style with a capitate stigma. This is one of 
our most common decorative greenhouse 
plants, while the hardy varieties out of doors 
in the open border form an important feature 
with their drooping elegant habit and their 
wonderful profusion of flowers. 

Fucino, or Celano (fo'che-no, chel-ii'no; 
Latin, Fuclnus Lacus), formerly a lake of 
Southern Italy, about 11 miles long and 5 


miles broad, 2181 feet above sea-level in 
the province of Aquila in the central Apen¬ 
nines. As the lake often rose and submerged 
the neighbouring lands, the emperor Clau¬ 
dius caused a tunnel to be constructed to 
carry off its surplus waters into the Gari- 
gliano. This vast work was soon allowed to 
fall into disrepair. Between 1852 and 1875, 
however, this work w^as repaired and en¬ 
larged by a company, and the lake has now 
been thoroughly drained, and 36,000 acres 
of rich arable land reclaimed. 

Fucus, a genus of sea-weeds, family Fuca¬ 
ceae, comprising various common sea-weeds 
which have a flat or compressed forked frond, 
sometimes containing air-vessels. Many of 
the species are exposed at low-water; they 
form a considerable proportion of the sea¬ 
weeds thrown up on some coasts, and are 
used for manure and for making kelp. Most 
contain iodine. 

Fuel, carbonaceous matter, which may 
be in the solid, the liquid, or the gaseous 
condition, and which, in combining with 
oxygen, gives rise to the phenomenon of 
heat, the heat being made use of for domestic, 
manufacturing, or other purposes. The most 
important of the gaseous fuels is common 
coal-gas, which is now commonly applied 
for the heating of rooms by means of gas- 
fires and gas-stoves. For such purposes the 
coal-gas should be mixed with air just below 
the point at which it is burned. It then 
gives a blue, hot, and smokeless flame. A 
gas-fire may be obtained in an ordinary 
grate by filling it with asbestos, which is 
heated to incandescence by gas properly 
applied. Gas-stoves of various constructions 
are also used for heating apartments, cook¬ 
ing, &c. Another gaseous fuel now coming 
into use for industrial purposes is water-gas, 
obtained by the decomposition of water. 
The principal liquid fuels are petroleum, 
shale-oil, creasote, the various animal and 
vegetable oils, and alcohol. It is only the 
mineral oils that are used to any great ex¬ 
tent for producing heat. Alcohol is only 
employed in operations requiring the appli¬ 
cation of a small volume of heat, and in such 
it is as convenient and manageable a fuel as 
can be desired. Successful attempts have 
been made in recent times to discover me¬ 
thods by which liquid fuel, and more esj)e- 
cially petroleum, may be applied to the heat¬ 
ing of steam-boilers. In some of the systems 
it is the combustion of the oil itself, sup¬ 
plied in the form of spray, that produces 
the heat; in others the oil is volatilized by 

88 









fuel-FUGGER FAMILY. 


means of superheated steam, and the gas is 
burned in the furnace from ordinary pipes 
as in a gas-stove. The heating power of 
petroleum is considerably greater than that 
of coal, and in a ship, for instance, it would 
occupy less space, while the laborious process 
of stoking would be dispensed with. Crea- 
sote has been successfully employed as fuel 
in the process of armour-plate bending. Peat 
is used as a domestic fuel in many places, 
but, compared with the more solid fuels, it 
is unfit to be employed for producing very 
strong heats. An improvement in the use 
of it as a fuel, however, has been introduced 
by employing a process of compression, 
which gives it almost the solidity of coal. It 
is also sometimes soaked in oil or tar, and 
then used in the form of bricks. Wood, 
though comparatively little used as a fuel 
in Great Britain, is in some countries almost 
the only sort of fuel to be had. In France, 
Germany, &c., it is extensively used in metal¬ 
lurgy as well as for domestic purposes. Be¬ 
fore it is suited for making satisfactory fuel, 
wood must be dried for a considerable time 
either in the open air or under cover, but 
the latter method is the better, as little or 
no decomposition of the wood goes on. Woods 
that have a close and compact texture, such 
as the oak, beech, or elm, burn much more 
slowly and with less flame than soft woods 
like the lime, horse-chestnut, or pine; the 
latter are consequently preferred as fuel for 
some purposes. By far the greatest propor¬ 
tion of the fuel consumed in Great Britain 
consists of coal. Coal, as is well known, is 
of vegetable origin, and this is clearly seen 
in that variety of it known as lignite, which 
still retains its woody structure, even to the 
eye. Wood charcoal is another kind of fuel 
which is extensively used in metallurgy, 
chemistry, and in various industrial arts. It 
kindles quickly, emits few watery or other 
vapours while burning, and, when consumed, 
leaves few ashes, and those very light. They 
are, therefore, easily blown away, so that the 
fire continues open, or pervious to the cur¬ 
rent of air which must pass through it to 
keep it burning. This sort of fuel, too, is 
capable of producing as intense a heat as 
can be obtained by any; but in violent heats 
it is quickly consumed, and needs to be fre¬ 
quently supplied. Coke or pit-coal charred 
is a fuel which possesses in many respects 
the same properties as charcoal of wood. 
It is employed for producing intense melt¬ 
ing heats. Various kinds of artificial fuel 
are manufactured. These are composed of 

89 


different ingredients, of which coal slack or 
dust is the most important. The coal-dust 
is mixed with some adhesive substance, such 
as clay, lime, coal-tar, &c., and compressed 
into bricks. Slack-coal has also been em¬ 
ployed as fuel in an entirely different mode. 
It is ground as fine as possible, and blown 
into the furnace, where it burns much in the 
same way as the spray of liquid fuel. An 
immense quantity of fuel is lost by bad 
or wasteful methods of using. In ordinary 
grates the greater part of the heat escapes 
up the chimney and is utterly lost, while 
the noxious gases arising from the combus¬ 
tion of the coal find their way to a greater 
or less extent into the room. In the United 
States, for domestic purposes, wood, and 
anthracite or bituminous coal are chiefly 
depended upon ; some charcoal is used, and 
gas and coal-oil are growing in favor for 
both heating and cooking in the cities. The 
stoves used for consuming coal-oil and gas 
are favorites with American housekeepers, 
having no attendant dust or smoke. 

Fuente (fu-en'ta), with affixes, the name 
of numerous small towns in Spain. The 
most impoi’tant is Fuente-del-Maestk, a 
town, province of Badajoz, near the right 
bank of the Guadajira, 32 miles s.s.e. of 
Badajoz, Pop. 6580. 

Fuentes d’Ono'ro, a village of Spain, pro¬ 
vince of Salamanca, about 16 miles w.s.w. 
of Ciudad Rodrigo, the scene of two engage¬ 
ments fought between Wellington and Mas- 
sena on 3d and 5th May, 1811, the result 
of which was that the French were forced 
across the Portuguese frontier, and an end 
was put to the French invasion of Portugal. 

Fuero (fix-a'ro), a Spanish word signify¬ 
ing jurisdiction, law, privilege, and applied 
historically to the written charters of par¬ 
ticular districts, towns, &c. In 1833 a civil 
war broke out in the Basque provinces, in 
assertion of the fueros of that district, which 
lasted ten years, and was only pacified by 
the formal recognition of the Basqxxe privi¬ 
leges in 1844 by the queen and cortes of 
Spain. The Basque fueros, however, were 
finally abrogated in 1876 as a result of the 
Carlist rising. 

Fuerteventu'ra, one of the Canary 
Islands, separated from Lancerota by the 
Strait of Bacayna. Cabras on the east 
coast has a good harbour. Area, 758 sq. m. 
Pop. about 11,600. 

Fugger Family, a distinguished German 
family, early admitted among the hereditary 
nobility, and now represented by two main 








I’tJGUE — 

lines of princes and several minor noble 
branches. The founder of this family was 
Johann Fugger, a master-weaver who set¬ 
tled in Augsburg in 1368 and acquired much 
property. His descendants became leading 
bankers, merchants, and mine-owners; were 



Jakob Yon Fugger. 


liberal and public-spirited men, patrons of 
art, and several of them became distin¬ 
guished soldiers and statesmen. Among 
the most eminent of the family was Jakob 
Fugger (1459-1525), who carried on great 
commercial operations, advanced money to 
the Emperors Maximilian and Charles V., 
and by the former was raised to the rank 
of nobleman, being also imperial councillor 
under both. Charles V. raised Jakob’s two 
nephews, Rairaund and Anton Fugger, to 
the dignity of counts. He also invested 
them with the estates of Kirchberg and 
Weissenhorn, which had been mortgaged to 
them, granted them a seat at the imperial 
diet, and letters giving them princely privi¬ 
leges. Latterly the highest places of the 
empire were held by the Fuggers, and 
princely families thought themselves hon¬ 
oured by their alliance. 

Fugue (fug), a musical term derived from 
the Latin word fuga (a flight), and signify¬ 
ing a polyphonic composition constructed on 
one or more short subjects or themes, which 
are harmonized according to the laws of 
counterpoint, and introduced from time to 
time with various contrapuntal devices, the 
interest in these frequently-heard themes 
being sustained by diminishing the interval 
of time at which they follow each other, 
and monotony being avoided by the occa- 


FULLER. 

sional use of episodes, or passages open to 
free treatment. 

Fuhnen. See Funen. 

Fuji-Yama or Fusi-Yama, a dormant 
volcano of a symmetrical cone-like shape, 
in the island of Hondo, Japan, the sacred 
mountain of the Japanese. It has been 
quiescent since 1707; is 12,400 feet in height, 
and is visible in clear weather for a distance 
of nearly a hundred miles. 

Fula, Fulbe. See Fcllatah. 

Fulcrum, in mechanics, the support cr 
fixed point about which a lever turns. See 
Lever. \ 

Fulda, a Prussian town, province of Hes- 
sen-Nassau, on a river of the same name, 
54 miles s.s.e. Cassel. It is irregularly 
built; contains a cathedral, a handsome 
modern edifice; a castle, once occupied by 
the prince bishops; a library of 50,000 
volumes; and has manufactures of cotton, 
woollen, and linen goods, &c. The town 
derives its origin from a once-celebrated 
abbey founded by St. Boniface (Winfried), 
the apostle of Germany, in 744. Pop. 
12,284. 

Ful'gora, the generic name of the lan¬ 
tern-flies (which see). 

Ful'gurite, any rocky substance which 
has been fused or vitrified by lightning. 
More strictly, a vitrified tube of sand formed 
by the intense heat of lightning penetrating 
the sand, and fusing a portion of the mate¬ 
rials through which it passes. 

Fulham (ful'am), one of the London 
parliamentary boroughs, bounded by the 
Thames, and the boroughs of Chelsea, Ken^ 
sington, and Hammersmith. It contains 
the palace of the Bishop of London, and 
returns one member to parliament. Pop. 
1891, 91,640. 

Fu'lica. See Coot. 

Fulig'ula. See Pochard. 

Fuller (ful'er), Andrew, English Baptist 
minister and theological and controversial 
writer, born 1754, died 1815. In 1782 he 
accepted the pastoral charge of a Baptist 
church at Kettering, in Northamptonshire, 
in which office he continued till his death. 
His theology was a moderate Calvinism, 
and he devoted much of his energy to the 
subject of foreign missions. His works 
have been frequently reprinted. 

Fuller, Margaret. See OssoU {Marga¬ 
ret Fuller). 

Fuller, Thomas, an eminent historian and 
divine of the Church of England, born in 
1608 at Aldwinkle, in Northamptonshire, 

90 







FULLER’S EARTH-FULTON. 


died 1661. He was sent to Queen’s College, 
Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 
1625, M.A. in 1628. He afterwards re¬ 
moved to Sidney Sussex College in the same 
university; and being chosen minister of 
St. Benet’s parish, Cambridge, ho became 
very popular as a pulpit orator. In 1631 
he obtained a fellowship at Sidney Sussex, 
and was collated to a prebend in the cathe¬ 
dral of Salisbury. He was next chosen 
rector of Broad Windsor, Dorset, and lec- 
tui’er at the Savoy, London. In 1643 he 
went to Oxford and joined the king; left in 
a few months for the army, in which he 
became chaplain to Sir Ralph Hopton, and 
employed his leisure in making collections 
relative to English history and antiquities. 
At the close of the war he took refuse in 
Exeter, and was appointed chaplain to the 
infant Princess Henrietta Maria. Shortly 
before the restoration he was reinstated in 
his prebendal stall, and soon after that event 
was made one of the king’s chaplains. Sev¬ 
eral of his writings are English classics, re¬ 
markable for quaintness of style, wit, saga¬ 
city, and learning. Among the more im¬ 
portant are: History of the Holy War; 
The Holy and Profane State; Pisgah Sight 
of Palestine; Church History of Britain; 
and the Worthies of England, a production 
valuable alike for the solid information it 
affords relative to the provincial history of 
the country, and for the profusion of biogra¬ 
phical anecdote and acute observation on 
men and manners. 

Fuller’s Earth, a variety of clay or marl, 
compact but friable, unctuous to the touch, 
and of various colours, usually with a shade 
of green. It is useful in scouring and 
cleansing cloth, as it imbibes the grease and 
oil used in preparing wool. It consists of 
silica 50 per cent, alumina 20, water 24, 
and small quantities of magnesia, lime, and 
peroxide of iron. There are very extensive 
beds of this earth in several counties in 
England. 

Fulling-mill, a mill for fulling cloth by 
means of pestles or stampers, which beat 
and press it to a close or compact state, and 
cleanse it. d'he principal parts of a fulling- 
mill are the wheel, with its trundle, which 
gives motion to the tree or spindle, whose 
teeth communicate that motion to the pes¬ 
tles or stampers, which fall into troughs, 
wherein the cloth is put, with fuller’s-earth, 
to be scoured and thickened by this process 
of beating. 

Fulmar, a natatorial or swimming oceanic 
91 


bird {Fulmdrus glacidlis) of the family 
Procellariidse or petrels, about the size of a 
large duck. It inhabits the northern seas 
in prodigious numbers, breeding in Iceland, 
Greenland, Spitzbergen, the Shetland and 
Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, &c. It feeds 


V. 



on fish, the blubber of whales, and any fat, 
putrid, floating substance that comes in its 
way. It makes its nest on sea-cliffs, in which 
it lays only one egg. The natives of St. Kilda 
value the eggs above those of any other bird. 
The fulmar is also valued for its feathers and 
down, and for the oil found in its stomach, 
which is one of the principal products of St. 
Kilda. When caught or assailed it lightens 
itself by disgorging the oil from its stomach. 
There is another and larger species found in 
the Pacific Ocean. 

Fulmination, a term used in chemistry 
to denote the sudden decomposition of a 
body by heat or percussion, accompanied by 
a flash of light and a loud report. Fulmi¬ 
nating compounds, or fulminates, are explo¬ 
sive compounds of fulminic acid with vari¬ 
ous bases, such as gold, mercury, platinum, 
and silver. The old fulminating powder is 
a mixture of sulphur, nitre, and potash. Ful¬ 
minate of mercury forms the priming of 
percussion-caps. 

Fulminic Acid, a peculiar acid known 
only in combination with certain bases, and 
first discovered along with mercury and sil¬ 
ver, with which it forms powerfully deto¬ 
nating compounds. 

Fulton, Robert, who claimed to be the 
introducer of steam navigation on Ame¬ 
rican waters, was born in Pennsylvania in 
1765, died 1815. He adopted the profession 
of portrait and landscape painter, and in his 
twenty-second year proceeded to England 
for the purpose of studying art under West. 
There he became acquainted with the Duke 
of Bridgewater, Earl Stanhope, and James 
Watt, and was led to devote himself to me¬ 
chanical engineering. In 1794 he took a 
















FUMAGE-FUNDS. 


patent for a double inclined plane, which 
was intended to supersede locks on canals; 
and he also patented a mill for sawing 
marble, machines for spinning flax and mak¬ 
ing ropes, a dredging-machine, &c. In 1797 
he went to Paris, where he produced the 
first panorama that was exhibited there. He 
also, after some trials, was successful in in¬ 
troducing a boat propelled by steam upon 
the Seine. During a visit to Scotland he 
had seen and obtained drawings of the Char¬ 
lotte Dundas, a steam-vessel which had plied 
with success on the Forth and Clyde Canal. 
His chief occupation in Paris, however, was 
the invention of torpedoes for naval warfare. 
He returned to America in 1806, and built 
a steam-boat of considerable dimensions, 
which began to navigate the Hudson River 
in 1807. Its progress through the water 
was at the rate of 5 miles an hour. In 1814 
he constructed the first war steamship, and 
was engaged upon an improvement of his 
submarine torpedo when he died. 

Fu'mage (Lat. fumus, smoke), a tax on 
every house with a chimney, mentioned in 
Domesday Book, and commonly called 
smoke-farthings. It is supposed to have 
been the origin of the hearth-money imposed 
by Charles II., and repealed by 1 William 
and Mary, cap. x. 

Fuma'ria. See Fumitory. 

Fumaria'ceee, a small nat. order of exo¬ 
genous plants, closely allied to Papaveraceae. 
The species are slender-stemmed, herbaceous 
plants, generally erect, though some climb 
by means of their twisting leaf-stalks. 
Many species are objects of cultivation by 
the gardener for the sake of their showy 
flowers. All are astringent and acrid plants, 
and are reputed diaphoretics and aperients. 
They inhabit the temperate and warm re¬ 
gions of the northern hemisphere and South 
Africa. 

Fumigation, the application of fumes, 
gas, or vapour for the purpose of disinfect¬ 
ing houses, clothes, and the like. The fumes 
of heated vinegar, burning sulphur, or the 
like, formerly employed, are of but little 
value. For really active processes see Dis¬ 
infectants. 

Fu'mitory, the common name of Fumaria^ 
a genus of plants, nat. order Fumariacese. 
Several species are known, natives of Eu¬ 
rope, Asia and America. The common 
Fumitory is a very frequent weed in our 
corn-fields, and also found in highly-culti¬ 
vated gardens. They are slender annual 
herbs with much-divided leaves and pur¬ 


plish flowers in racemes at the top of the 
stem or opposite the leaves. F. officinalis^ 
the best-known s}:)ecies, was at one time 
much Tised in medicine for scorbutic affec¬ 
tions, &c., but its use is now discontinued. 

Funaria, a genus of mosses, one of which, 

F. hygrometrica^ is common in Britain, espe¬ 
cially on spots w’here a wood-fire has been, 
and grows in all parts of the world. 

Funchal (fun-shah), the capital of the 
Island of Madeira, situated on a bay on the 
south coast. It stretches for nearly a mile 
along the shore, and presents a thoroughly 
European appearance. It is a coaling station 
for steamers, and is much resorted to by in¬ 
valids afflicted with pulmonary complaints. 
Pop. 19,752. 

Function, in math, a quantity so con¬ 
nected with another that no change can be 
made in the latter without producing a cor¬ 
responding change in the former, in which 
case the dependent quantity is said to be 
a function of the other; thus, the circum¬ 
ference of a circle is a function of the dia¬ 
meter ; the area of a triangle is a function 
of any two of the sides and the angle they 
contain. In order to indicate in a general 
way that one quantity y is a function of 
another x the notation y=f{x), or something 
similar, is adopted; thus, if u be the area of 
a triangle, x and y two of the sides, and d 
the contained angle, we should write u = <p 
{x,y,e). 

Function, the specific office or action 
which any organ or system of organs is 
fitted to perform in the animal or vegetable 
economy.— Vital functions, functions im¬ 
mediately necessary to life, as those of the 
brain, heart, lungs, &c. —Natural or vegeta¬ 
tive functions, functions less instantly ne¬ 
cessary to life, as digestion, absorption, 
assimilation, expulsion, &c.— Animal func¬ 
tions, those which relate to the external 
world, as the senses, voluntary motions, &c. 

Fundamental Note, in music, the lowest 
or gravest note that a string or pipe can 
sound. —Fundamental tones are the tones 
from which harmonics are generated. 

Fundi, Fun-dungi, a kind of grain allied 
to millet (the Paspdlum exile), much culti¬ 
vated in the west of Africa. It is light and 
nutritious, and has been recommended for 
cultivation in Britain as food for invalids. 

Funds, Public, and Funded Debt, ■ 
money lent to government constituting a na¬ 
tional debt. The four debts contracted 
by the United States were for war ex¬ 
penditure. In 1860, at the outbreak of 

92 


I 



FUNDY- 

the civil war, our national debt was stated 
at $64,842,287. In 1866 it reached the 
enormous figures of $2,773,236,173. No 
nation ever spent so much for war purposes 
in so brief a time. The money was borrowed 
at varying rates of interest from 5 to 7^ per 
cent. A very large portion of the debt 
consisted of legal tender notes and other 
obligations bearing no interest. Her debt 
was created rapidly, but its reduction has 
excited the admiration of the world ; in 
several instances $100,000,000 being paid 
in a single year. November 30, 1892, the 
public debt amounted to $1,563,612,455; 
the interest-bearing debt being $585,032,- 
980, the greater portion bearing 4 per cent, 
interest; the remainder at 2 per cent. 

Fundy, Bay of, a large inlet of the At¬ 
lantic, on the east coast of North America, 
separating Nova Scotia from New Bruns¬ 
wick. At its inner extremity it divides into 
Chignecto Bay, and Minas Channel and 
Basin, with smaller continuations. It is 
noted for its impetuous tides, which cause 
a rise and fall of from 12 to 70 feet, and the 
navigation is dangerous. At its entrance 
are Grand Manan and other islands. A ship¬ 
railway is being constructed to connect 
Chignecto Bay with Northumberland Strait. 

Fu'nen (Danish, Fyen), the largest of the 
Danish islands except Seeland, from which 
it is separated by the Great Belt, and from 
Jutland by the Little Belt; circuit, about 
185 miles; area, 1132 square miles. The 
interior, towards the west, is covered by a 
range of low hills, but, with this exception, 
it is composed of large and fertile plains, 
under good cultivation. The largest stream 
is the Odense, which has a course of about 
36 miles. The chief towns are Odense, 
Svendborg, and Nyborg. Pop., with Lange- 
land and Arroe, 246,454. 

Funeral Rites, the rites and ceremonies 
connected with the disposing of the dead. 
Among the ancient Egyptians the friends 
of the deceased put on mourning habits, 
and abstained from gaiety and entertain¬ 
ments for from forty to seventy days, dur¬ 
ing which time the body was embalmed. 
Among the ancient Jews great regard was 
paid to a due performance of the rites of 
sepulture; and among the ancient Greeks 
and Romans to be deprived of the proper 
rites was considered the greatest misfortune 
that could happen. The decorous interring 
of the dead with religious ceremonies in¬ 
dicative of hopes of a resurrection is char¬ 
acteristic of all Christian nations. With 

93 


- FUNGI. 

Roman Catholics the body is the object of 
solemn ceremonial from the moment of 
death until interment. The Church of Eng¬ 
land funeral service is too well known 
to require any notice. Among other Pro¬ 
testant bodies there is usually no formal 
service, but prayer is offered up or an ordi¬ 
nary religious service held before the inter¬ 
ment in the house of the deceased or his 
relatives, or, in the case of a public funeral, 
in some public place. The pi'actice of de¬ 
livering funeral orations at the interment 
of the dead by laymen is common in France, 
and not unfrecpient in America. The wake, 
or watching, is celebrated in some parts of 
the United Kingdom, particularly in its re¬ 
moter districts. In Ireland the wake of the 
lower classes is usually a scene of tumult 
and drunkenness. For many curious cus¬ 
toms at funerals see Brand's Popular An¬ 
tiquities and Strutt’s Manners and Customs; 
see also Burial. 

Funfkirchen (funf'kirA-en; ‘Five 
Churches’), a town of the Austrian Em¬ 
pire, in Hungary, on the slope of a hill, 105 
miles s.s.w. Budapest. It is the see of a 
bishop, and the cathedral, a handsome 
Gothic structure, is one of the oldest eccle¬ 
siastical edifices in Hungary. Funfkirchen 
once had a flourishing university, attended 
by 2000 students. Its industries comprise 
fine pottery, woollens, leather, liqueurs, &c. 
In the neighbourhood brown coal and black 
marble are worked. Pop. 1891, 33,780. 

Fungi (fun'ji), a large natural order of cryp- 
togainous or flowerless plants, comprehending 
not only the various races of mushrooms, 
toad-stools, and similar plants, but a large 
number of microscopic plants growing upon 
other plants, and substances which are 
known as moulds, mildew, smut, rust, brand, 
dry-rot, &c. Fungi agree w.ith algai and 
lichens in their cellular structure, which is, 
with very few exceptions, void of anything 
resembling vascular tissue; but differ from 
them in deriving their nutriment from the 
body on which they grow, not from the 
medium by which they are surrounded. 
They are among the lowest forms of vege¬ 
table life, and, from the readiness with which 
they spring up in certain conditions, their 
germs are supposed to be floating in the at¬ 
mosphere in incalculable numbers. Some 
diseases are produced by fungi. Fungi differ 
from other plants in being nitrogenous in 
composition, and in inhaling oxygen and 
giving out carbonic acid gas. Berkeley di¬ 
vides fungi into two great sections, the first 










FUNNEL-FUE AND FUR TRADE. 


having the spores naked, and comprising 
agarics, boleti, puff-balls, rust, smut, and 
mildew; the second comprising the morels, 
truffles, certain moulds, &c., in which the 
spores are in sacs {asci). These are again 
subdivided into six principal orders, all 
formed on the mode in which the spores 
are borne, namely:—1. Ascomycetes, com¬ 
prising a vast number of the black pustu¬ 
lar growths abundant on dead wood, bark, 
twigs, leaves, &c. Among these are the mil¬ 
dews {Erysiphe), the black mildews {Capno- 
dium), and the whole great tribe of Sphcerice. 
The truffles [Tuber), morels [Morchella), and 
IIelvellce also belong to this division. 2. Phy- 
somycetes, a small group comprising the true 
moulds. 3. Ilyphomycetes, including the 
great host of minute moulds which cover 
almost every substance exposed to damp¬ 
ness. To it also belong the mould of the 
potato-rot [Botrytis infestans) and many 
which induce decay in fruit (Oidium), the 
bread and cheese moulds [Penicillium, As- 
pergillus), and the yeast and vinegar plants, 
which are submerged mycelia of Penicil¬ 
lium. 4. Coniornycetes, comprehending the 
whole family of rusts, smuts, and bunt [Puc- 
cinea, Uredo, UstUdgo, TiUetia, jEcidium, 
&c.). 5. including the whole 

tribe of puff-balls, as well as the subter¬ 
ranean fungi which look like truffles, but 
are dusty and smutty within. 6. Hymeno- 
mycetes, typical and well-known examples 
of which are found in the mushrooms and 
sap-balls. Fungi occur in every part of ttue 
earth where the cold is not too intense to 
destroy the spawn, though they abound 
most in moist temperate regions where the 
summer is warm. Several species afford ex¬ 
cellent and abundant food, others are valu¬ 
able in medicine, while many are among 
the greatest pests of the cultivator. 

Funnel, the shaft or hollow channel of a 
chimney through which smoke ascends; es¬ 
pecially in steamships, a cylindrical iron 
chimney for the boiler-furnaces rising above 
the deck. 

Fur and Fur Trade. Fur is the fine soft 
hairy covering of certain animals, especially 
the winter covering of animals belonging to 
northern latitudes. The term fur is some¬ 
times distinctively applied to such coverings 
when prepared for being made into articles 
of dress, &c., while the name of peltry is 
given to them in an unprepared state or 
when merely dried. The animals chiefly 
sought after for the sake of their furs are 
the beaver, raccoon, musk-rat, s(|uirrel, hare, 


rabbit, the chinchilla, bear (black, gray, and 
brown), otter, sea-otter, seal, wolf, w'olverine 
or glutton, marten, ermine, lynx, coypou 
(nutria), polecat (fitch), opossum, fox, &c. 
(See under proper headings.) All the pre¬ 
paration that skins require before being sent 
to the market is to make them perfectly 
dry, so as to prevent them from putrefying. 
This is done by exposing them to the heat 
of the sun or a fire. The small skins are 
sometimes previously steeped in a solution 
of alum. When stored in large quantities 
they must be carefully preserved from damp¬ 
ness, as well as from moths. The fur-dresser, 
on receiving the skins, first subjects them 
to a softening process. He next cleans them 
from loose pieces of the integument by scrap¬ 
ing them with an iron blade. Finally, the 
fur is cleaned and combed, after which it is 
handed over to the cutter, who cuts the furs 
out into the various shapes required to make 
different articles. 

In Europe the fur trade is fed chiefly 
by Russia, which yields great quantities 
of furs, especially in the Asiatic portion 
of her dominions. Austria, Turkey, Scan¬ 
dinavia, &c., also yield a certain quantity. 
The fur trade of America has long been 
highly important, and has given origin to 
several great trading companies, of which 
the Dutch East India Company was first. 
The French early took up the fur trade in 
Canada, and their chain of forts and trad¬ 
ing posts at one time extended from Hud¬ 
son’s Bay to New Orleans. Quebec and 
Montreal were at first trading posts. In 
1670 Charles II. granted to Prince Rupert 
and others a charter empowering them to 
trade exclusively with the aborigines of the 
Hudson’s Bay region. A company, then 
and after called the Hudson's Bay Company, 
w'as formed, whidi for a period of nearly 
two centuries possessed a monopoly of the 
fur trade in the vast tract of country known 
as the Hudson’s Bay Territory. In the 
w'inter of 1783-84 another company was 
formed at Montreal, called the North-loest 
Fur Company, which disputed the right of 
the Hudson’s Bay Company, and actively 
opposed it. After a long and bitter rivalry 
the two companies united in 1821, retaining 
the name of Hudson’s Bay Company. The 
monopoly which had hitherto been enjoyed 
by the original company about Hudson’s 
Bay was now much extended; but in 1868 
an act of parliament was passed to make 
provision for the surrender, upon certain 
terms, of all the territories belonging to the 

94 


FURCA-FURNIVALL. 


company, and for their incorporation with 
the Dominion of Canada. In 1869 the 
surrender was carried out, Canada paying 
£300,000 to the company by way of compen¬ 
sation. The company still possesses about 
150 houses, forts, and posts in the whole re¬ 
gion formerly belonging to it, and its opera¬ 
tions, indeed, extend beyond British America 
into the United States and to the Sandwich 
Isles and Alaska. It employs directly some¬ 
where about 3000 agents, traders, voyageurs, 
and servants, besides Indian hunters. Some 
of its posts are situated very far north, al¬ 
most approaching the Arctic Ocean. The 
trade in furs conducted by citizens of the 
United States has been extensive, but in a 
greater degree the result of individual enter¬ 
prise than of the management of gigantic 
corporations. The Alaska Fur Company 
holds two of the Aleutian Islands in lease 
from the U. S. government with the sole 
right of killing yearly not more than 100,000 
fur-seals. The trade centres in London, 
the only place in which the fur is dyed. 
See Pelagic Sealing. 

Furca, Furcahorn, an Alpine mountain 
in Switzerland, canton Valais, immediately 
west of St. Gothard; height, 9935 feet, 
containing the glacier in which the Rhone 
has its source. The summit of the Furca 
Pass, over which there is a good road, is 
7992 feet high. 

Furies, Eumenides, Erinnyes (among 
the Romans, Furice and Dirce), deities in 
the Greek mythology, who were the aven¬ 
gers of murder, pex'jury, and filial ingrati¬ 
tude. Later mythologists reckon three of 
them, and call them Alecto, Megoira, and 
Tisiphone. .^Eschylus, in his celebrated 
tragedy of the Eumenides, introduced fifty 
furies, and with them Fear and Florror, 
upon the stage. They were regarded with 
great dread, and the Athenians hardly dared 
to speak their names, but called them the 
venerable goddesses. It was by a similar 
euphemism the name Eumenides, signifying 
the soothed or well-pleased goddesses, was 
introduced. Erinnyes, the more ancient 
name, signifies the hunters or persecutors of 
the criminal, or the angry goddesses. 

Furlong (that is, ‘furrow-length’), a mea¬ 
sure of length, 40 rods, poles, or perches, 
equal to 220 yards, the eighth part of a mile. 

Furlough (fer'lo), a military term signify¬ 
ing leave of absence given by the command- 
inor officer to an officer or soldier under his 

O 

command. 

Furnace, a place where a vehement fire 
95 


and heat may be made and maintained, as 
for melting ores or metals, heating the 
boiler of a steam-engine, warming a house, 
baking pottery or bread, and other such 
purposes. Furnaces are constructed in a 
great variety of ways, according to the 
different purposes to which they are ap¬ 
plied. In constructing furnaces the follow¬ 
ing objects are kept in view :—(1) To obtain 
the greatest quantity of heat from a given 
quantity of fuel. (2) To prevent the dissipa¬ 
tion of the heat after it is produced. (3) To 
concentrate the heat and direct it as much 
as possible to the substances to be acted 
upon. (4) To be able to regulate at pleasure 
the necessary degree of heat and have it 
wholly under the operator’s management. 
An air-furnace is one in which the flames 
are urged only by the natural draught; a 
blast-furnace, one in which the heat is in¬ 
tensified by the injection of a strong current 
of air by artificial means; a reverberatory 
furnace, one in which the flames in passing 
to the chimney are thrown down by a low- 
arched roof upon the objects which it is in¬ 
tended to expose to their action. 

Fumeaux Islands (fer'no), a group be¬ 
longing to Tasmania, at the east end of Bass 
Strait, including Flinders Island with an 
area of 513,000 acres; Cape Barren Island, 
110,000 acres; and Clarke Island, 20,000 
acres. On the west the islands have steep 
rocky shores, but on the east slope gradually 
down to a low sandy beach, with numerous 
swamps and lagoons. The inhabitants, who 
number about 620, many of them ‘half- 
castes,’ procure a living by seal-fishing and 
preserving mutton-birds, a species of petrel. 
The islands are named after the officer who 
was second in command in Captain Cook’s 
second voyage. 

' Fur'ness, a district N. W. Lancashire, 
forming part of what is called the Lake 
District. Furness Abbey is a noble ruin 
situated one mile s. of Dalton-in-Furness, 
comprising the church walls, chapter-house, 
refectory, and guest-hall, the whole giving 
evidence of the former magnificence of the 
structure. It was founded in 1127 by 
Stephen, afterwards king of England. 

Fur'nivall, Frederick James, born at 
Egham, in Surrey, 1825; educated at Uni¬ 
versity College, London, and Trinity Hall, 
Cambridge. He has devoted his life chiefly 
to the study of early and middle English 
literature ; and he has been mainly instru¬ 
mental in establishing the Early English 
Text Society, the Chaucer Society, the New 





FURRUCKABAD 


FUSELI. 


Shakspeare Society, the Browning Society, 
the Wickliffe Society, and the Shelley So¬ 
ciety. He is also hon. secretary of the Phi¬ 
lological Society. He has edited numerous 
works, chiefly through the medium of some 
of these societies, notably the Six-Text edi¬ 
tion of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. 

Furruckabad. See Farukhahad. 

Fur-seal, a name given to several of the 
Otariidae or ‘ eared ’ seals which have a dense 
covering of fine under fur. The best known 
and most valuable is the fur-seal or sea- 
bear {Callorhlnus ursinus) of some of the 
islands connected with Alaska, especially 
St. Paul’s and St. George’s, where it breeds. 
See Seal, also Fur and Fur-trade. 

Flirst (furst), Julius, orientalist, born of 
Jewish parents at Zerkowo, Prussian Poland, 
1805; died at Leipzig 1873. He devoted him¬ 
self to philological science, and early showed 
a marvellously extensive acquaintance with 
Rabbinical literature. He obtained an ap¬ 
pointment as lecturer in the University of 
Leipzig in 1839, and in 1864 was promoted 
to the rank of professor. He is the author 
of numerous works all connected with orien¬ 
tal philology, chief among which are his 
Concordantiae Librorum Sacrorum Veteris 
Testament! Hebraicae et Chaldaicse, and his 
Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon. From 1840 
to 1851 he edited Her Orient, a journal de¬ 
voted to J ewish language, literature, history, 
and antiquities. 

Fiirstenwalde (fiirst'en-val-de), a town in 
Prussia, 30 miles e.s.e. of Berlin, on the 
right bank of the Spree. It has a brick 
church of the 14th century, and manufac¬ 
tures of woollen and linen cloth, hosiery, 
and leather. Pop. 11,363. 

Fiirth (fiirt), a town in Bavaria, 6 miles 
w.N.w. of Nurnberg, at the confluence of 
the Pegnitz with the Eednitz. It has im¬ 
portant and varied manufactures, including 
mirrors, picture-frames, jewelry, gold-leaf, 
lead pencils, spectacles, machinery, &c. A 
battle was fought in its neighbourhood in 
1632. Pop. 1890, 43,206. 

Furze, whin, gorse, the common name of 
the species of the genus Ulex, nat. order 
Leguminosse. Twelve species have been 
described, two of which are natives of 
Britain. The common furze {U. europceus) 
is a low shrubby plant, very hardy, and very 
abundant in barren, heathy, sandy, and 
gravelly soils throughout the west of Europe. 
The stem is generally 2 or 3 feet high, much 
branched and most of the leaves converted 
into spines. The flowers are solitary and yel¬ 


low. It often covers exclusively large tracts 
of country, and makes a splendid appearance 
when in flower. It is used as fuel, and some¬ 
times the tops of the branches are used 
(especially the young tops) as fodder for 
horses and cattle, after having been beaten 
or bruised to soften the prickles. The 
dwarf-furze (77. nanus) is found in many 
parts of the British Isles. 

Fu-San, a town and treaty-port of Corea, 
situated on a bay of the same name, on the 
south-east coast. 

Fusa'ro, Lake of, a small Italian lake on 
the Peninsula of Raise, 11 miles w. of Naples. 
It is supposed to have been the harbour of 
ancient Cumse, and is still celebrated for its 
oysters. 

Fuse, a tube filled with combustible 
matter, used in blasting, or in discharging 
hollow projectiles, &c. There are many 
varieties in use, such as the fuse used in 
mining and quarrying, which usually con¬ 
sists of a tube filled with a slow-burning 
composition, which gradually burns down to 
the charge ; the concussion and percussion 
fuses for hollow projectiles, which explode 
the charge when an object is struck; the 
electric fuse, which is ignited by the pas¬ 
sage of an electric spark through it; and 
time ox mechanical fuses, used in some forms 
of torpedo, and with such explosives as 
dynamite and gun-cotton. 

Fusee', the cone or conical part of a watch 
or clock, round which is wound the chain or 
cord. It is a mechanical contrivance for 



equalizing the power of the mainspring ; for 
as the action of a spring varies with its 
degree of tension, the power derived from 
the force of a spring requires to be modifled 
according to circumstances before it can 
become a proper substitute for a uniform 
power. In order, therefore, to correct this 
irregular action of the mainspring, the 
fusee on which the chain or catgut acts is 
made somewhat conical, so that its radius 
at every point may be adapted to the 
strength of the spring. 

Fuseli (fuse-li), John Henry (original 
name Fussli or Fuessli; fiis'le), a painter, 
born in 1741 or 1742 at Zurich, died at 
London, and was buried in St. Paul’s Ca- 

96 


















FYNE. 


FUSEL-OIL 


thedral, 1825. He was educated for the 
church, but a political pamphlet written by 
him and Lavater led to his taking refuge 
in England in 1765, bent on a literary 
career. On the advice of Sir Joshua Rey¬ 
nolds he devoted himself to art, went to Italy 
and studied there for nearly nine years. 
He was elected A.R.A. in 1788, E.A. in 
1790, lecturer on painting in 17 99, and keeper 
of the Royal Academy in 1804. Among his 
notable pictures are his contributions to 
Boydell’s Shakspeare Gallery, and forty- 
seven pictures from Milton. He had con¬ 
siderable literary gifts, and his lectures on 
painting are still esteemed. 

Fusel-oil, a heavy oily inflammable fluid 
with a high boiling-point, disagreeable cut¬ 
ting odour, and pungent taste, which is 
separated in the rectification of ordinary 
spirit distilled from grain, malt, potatoes, 
molasses, beet-root, &c. The composition of 
this fluid depends on the materials used in 
the manufacture of the spirit, but it may 
be said to consist to a large extent of ethylic 
and amylic alcohol (CsHi-^O). Fusel-oil acts 
very deleteriously on the animal system, 
and this is the reason why inferior spirits 
are so injurious in their effects. 

Fusibility. See Fusing-point, Fusion. 

Fusible Metal, an alloy, usually of lead, 
tin, and bismuth, compounded in such de¬ 
finite proportions as to melt at a given 
low temperature. In steam-engines, a plug 
of fusible metal is placed in the skin of the 
boiler, so as to melt and allow the steam to 
escape when a dangerous heat is reached. 

Fusible Porcelain, a silicate of alumina 
and soda obtained from cryolite and sand, 
fused and worked as glass. 

Fusiliers, formerly soldiers armed with a 
fusil or light flint-lock musket closely re¬ 
sembling a carabine. The name is given to 
nine or ten regiments in the British army, 
which differ from other regiments of the 
line chiefly in the busby worn by officers 
and non-commissioned officers. 

Fusing-point, the degree of temperature 
at which a substance melts or liquefies. 
This point is very different for different 
metals. Thus potassium fuses at 136° Fahr., 
bismuth at 504°, lead at 619°, zinc at 680°, 
silver 1832°, gold 2282°. Malleable iron 
requires the highest heat of a smith’s forge 
(2912°); while cerium, platinum, and some 
other metals are infusible in the heat of a 
smith’s forge, but are fusible before the oxy- 
hydrogen blow-pipe. 

Fusion, the conversion of a solid body 
VOL. IV. 97 


into the liquid state by direct heat, as dis¬ 
tinguished from solution, in which the effect 
is produced by means of a liquid. It is diffi¬ 
cult, however, to draw a line between the 
two, for the main difference is in the tem¬ 
perature, and when a flux is employed all 
distinction disappears. The term is specially 
applied to the action of heat on the metals, 
but it is extended to any solid matter; thus 
the passage of ice into water at 32° F. is 
true fusion. There are bodies like carbon, 
lime, magnesia, zirconia, and other metallic 
oxides, which are practically, if not abso¬ 
lutely, infusible. See Fusing-point. 

Fusi-Yama. Fuji-Yama. 

Fust, Johann, a goldsmith of Mainz, 
associated with Gutenberg and Schoffer in 
connection with the origin of printing. He 
probably died of the plague in 1466. See 
Printing. 

Fustian, a cotton or mixed linen and 
cotton fabric with a pile like that of velvet 
but shorter. It includes corduroy, mole¬ 
skin, velveteen, &c. 

Fustic, the wood of the Madura tinctoria, 
a tree of the mulberry order growing in the 
West Indies. It is a large and handsome 
tree, and the timber, though, like most other 
dye-woods, brittle, or at least easily splin¬ 
tered, is hard and strong. It is extensively 
used as an ingredient in the dyeing of yel¬ 
low, and is largely imported for that pur¬ 
pose.— Young Fustic is the wood of the 
Rhus cotlnus or Venice sumach, a South 
European shrub with smooth leaves and a 
remarkable feathery inflorescence. It yields 
a fine orange colour, which, however, is not 
durable M ithout a mordant. 

Fusus, a genus of gasteropodous molluscs 
nearly allied to Murex, wfith a somewhat 
spindle-shaped univalve shell. The genus 
comprises many species. They are distrib¬ 
uted over the whole world, living generally 
on muddy and sandy sea-bottoms. 

Futehpur. See Fatehpur. 

Futhork (fu'thork), the name given to 
the earliest or runic alphabet in use among 
the Teutonic and Gothic nations of northern 
Europe, so called from its first six letters, 
f, u, th, o, r, k. See Runes. 

Futtipur Sikra. See Fatehpur Sikra. 

Futtygurh. See Fategarh. 

Fyne (fin). Loch, an arm of the sea in 
Scotland, in the county of Argyle, running 
northwards from the Firth of Clyde for about 
40 miles. Its depth varies from 12 to 50 
fathoms. It is particularly celebrated for 
its herrings. 

103 








FYRD 


GABOON. 


Fyrd (furd), in Anglo-Saxon England 
the military array or land force of the whole 
nation, comprising all males able to bear 
arms. The array of the fyrd of each shire 
was left to the ealdorman. 

Fyt (fit), John, a Dutch painter and etcher, 
born at Antwerp in 1611, died there 1661. 
His subjects were chiefly game, hunting 
pieces, dogs, fruit, flowers, &c. His pictures 


are common. He published two senes of 
etchings of animals. 

Fyzabad, or Faizabad (fl-za-bad'), a town, 
British India, in what was formerly the king¬ 
dom of Oude, on the Gogra, 78 miles E. 
from Lucknow. It was the scene of one of 
the outbreaks in the Indian rebellion of 
1857. Pop. 38,828, or including canton¬ 
ments 43,927. 



G, the seventh letter in the English alpha¬ 
bet. English g hard is a guttural mute, 
the ‘voiced’ or soft or sonant sound corre¬ 
sponding to the ‘breathed’ or hard or surd 
sound k (or c hard). This sound of g is 
what the letter always has before a (except 
in gaol), o, u, and when initial also before 
€ and i in all words of English origin, and 
when final. The soft sound of g, or that 
which it more commonly has before e, i, and 
y, as in gem, gin, gymnastics, is a palatal 
sound the same as that of j, and did not 
occur in the oldest English or Anglo-Saxon. 

G, in music, (a) the fifth note, and do¬ 
minant of the normal scale of C, called also 
sol; (b) the lowest note of the grave hexa- 
chord; in the Guidonian system gamma ut; 
(c) a name of the treble clef, which is seated 
on the G or second line of the treble staff, 
and which formerly had the form of G. 

Gabbro, the name given by the Italians 
to a rock consisting essentially of diallage 
and white epidote or saussurite. It is used 
for ornamental purposes in building, for 
table-tops, &c. 

Gabbronite, Gabronite, a mineral, a va¬ 
riety of scapolite, occurring in masses, whose 
structure is more or less foliated, or some¬ 
times compact. Its colours are gray, bluish 
or greenish gray, and sometimes red. 

Gabelle', a name originally given in France 
to every kind of indirect tax, as on wine, 
cloth, &c., but at a later period specially 
applied to the tax upon salt, which after 
being frequently imposed as a temporary 
means of raising money, became under 
Charles V. a permanent impost. Under 
Henry II. nine provinces and three counties 
purchased perpetual exemption from the tax, 
but it was only finally suppressed in France 
by the Constituent Assembly in 1790. 
About that time, out of 38,000,000 livres 
raised by farmers-general from this tax, 
7,000^000 at most came into the treasury. 


Gabes. Same as Cabes. 

Gabilla (ga-bel'ya), a finger or parcel of 
tobacco in Cuba. Thirty-six to 40 leaves 
make a gabilla, 4 gahillas 1 hand, 80 hands 
1 bale. 



Ga bion, a large wickerwork basket of 
cylindrical form, but without bottom. In 
a siege, when forming a trench, a row of 
gabions is placed on the outside nearest the 


Part of Trench with Gabions and Fascines. 

fortress, and filled with earth as it is thrown 
from the trench, so as to form a protection 
against the fire of the besieged. Each 
gabion is about 20 inches in diameter and 
33 inches in height, but this height is usu¬ 
ally increased by placing a row of fascines 
on the top after the interior has been filled 
up. 

Gable, the triangular end of a house or 
other building, from the eaves to the top, 
and distinguished from a pediment by this, 
among other things, that it has no cornices. 

Gaboon', The, or M’pongo, an estuary on 
the west coast of Africa, opening from the 
Gulf of Guinea immediately north of the 
equator. Several j ivers discharge themselves 
into it. The Gaboon territory forms part 
of the French Congo territory. The chief 
tribes are the Alpongwa or Gabonese, and 
the Fans, who carrv on an active trade with 

98 
























GABORIAU ■ 

Europeans in ivory, copal, ebony, dyevvoods, 
&c. The vast swamps render the climate 
unhealthy, but inland rise some considerable 
hills with dense jungle-like woods, the abode 
of the gorilla. The chief station is Libreville. 
There are several English trading - posts 
along the estuary (Glass Town, Olemi, &c.), 
and mission stations of several nations. 

Gaboriau, a French novelist, born 

1834, died in Paris 1873. After contribut¬ 
ing to the smaller Parisian journals short 
sketches published under the titles Puses 
d’Amour, Les Comediennes Adorees, &c., he 
achieved a considerable success by his novel 
Dossier No. 113 (1866). He continued to 
work this vein in a series of clever stories 
dealing with crime and its detection: Le 
Crime d’Orcival, L’Affaire Lerouge, Les 
Esclaves de Paris, La Vie Infernale, T^a 
Corde au Cou, L’Argent des Autres, &c. 

Gab'riel (‘hero or man of God’), according 
to Biblical history, the angel who announced 
to Zacharias the birth of John, and to Mary 
the birth of the Saviour. In Jewish myth¬ 
ology he is one of the seven archangels. The 
rabbins say he is the angel of death for the 
Israelites, and according to the Talmud he 
is a prince of fire, who presides over thunder 
and the ripening of fruits. In Mohammedan 
theology he is one of the four angels em¬ 
ployed in writing the divine decrees, and the 
angel of revelation, in which capacity he 
dictated the Koran to Mohammed. 

Gad (‘a troop’), one of the twelve tribes of 
Israel, which took its name from Gad, the 
son of Jacob and Zillah. At the time of the 
exodus the tribe numbered 45,650 men of 
twenty years old and uj)wards; and as being 
a pastoral tribe they were assigned a rich 
district in Gilead between Peuben and Ma- 
nasseh. See Josh. xiii. 24-28. 

Gadames. See Ghadames. 

Gad'ara, an ancient city of Syria, in the 
Decapolis, about 6 miles s.E. of the Sea of 
Galilee. It played an important part in 
the struggles against Antiochus, Alexander 
Jannaus, and Vespasian, and only fell into 
decay after the IMohammedan conquest. 

Gaddi, (1) Gaddo, a Florentine worker 
in mosaic and founder of the modern mosaic 
art, born 1249, died 1312.—(2) Taddeo, an 
artist, son of preceding, born 1300, died 
1360. His works are among the best ex¬ 
amples of 14th-century art, his decorations 
of the Church of Santa Maria Novella at 
Florence being specially noteworthy.—(3) 
Aonolo, son of Taddeo, born 1324, died 
1390. His style was compounded from his 


— GADFLY. 

father and Giotto, and he has been called 
the founder of the Venetian school. 

Gade (gii'de), Niels Wilhelm, one of the 
leading Scandinavian composers,born in 1817 
at Copenhagen, where, in 1841, by his over¬ 
ture entitled Echoes of Ossian, he gained 
the prize of the Musical Union. He was 
supported during his studies abroad by a 
royal stipend, and in 1844 was appointed 
to succeed Mendelssohn in the direction of 
the Gewandhaus concerts at Leipzig. In 
1850 he was appointed musical director to 
the King of Denmark, and in 1876 received 
a life pension. His works, which are Men- 
delssohnian in character, include seven sym¬ 
phonies, several overtures, sonatas, quintets, 
&c.; a lyrical drama—Comala; a religious 
cantata—The Crusaders; an opera—the Ni- 
belungen; &c. 

Ga'des, the ancient name of Cadiz. 

Gadfly, a name commonly applied to 
various insects, a large number of which 
belong to the great Linnaean genus (Estrus, 
while others belong to the genus Tahdnus. 
CE. hovis or ox gadfly (the Hupoderma hovis 
of some naturalists) is about 7 lines in length; 
thorax yellow, with a black band; abdomen 
white; tei’minal segments fulvous; wings 
dusky. This species attacks the horse also, 
the female depositing her eggs in the skin of 
these animals in considerable numbers. In 
a short time the eggs are matured, and pro¬ 
duce a larva or worm, which immediately 
pierces the skin, raising large lumps or 
tumours filled with pus, upon which the 
larva feeds. (E. equi (the Gastrophilus or 
Gaatrus equi of some naturalists) deposits 
its eggs upon such parts of the skin of horses 
as are subject to be much licked by the 
animal, and thus they are conveyed to the 
stomach, where the heat speedily hatches 
the larvae, too well known under the name 
of hotts. (E. ovis (also called Cephalomyia 
ovis) deposits its eggs in the nostrils of 
sheep, where the larva is hatched, and im¬ 
mediately ascends into the frontal sinuses, 
attaching itself very firmly to the lining 
membrane by means of two strong hooks 
situated at its mouth. Other species infest 
the buffalo, camel, stag, &c. Even rhino¬ 
ceroses and elephants are said not to be al¬ 
together exempt from their attacks. The 
characteristics of the genus Tahdnus are two 
enormous eyes, usually of a greenish-yellow 
colour rayed or spotted with purple, antennae 
scarcely longer than the head, the last joint 
with five divisions. These insects suck the 
blood of horned cattle, horses, and some* 







GADTDJE 


GAHNITE. 


times even of men. Cattle exhibit great 
alarm and excitement at the presence of the 
gadfly, and rush wildly about, with head 
stretched forward and tail stuck out, to 
escape from their tormentor. These pests 
are common in the diflferent sections of the 
Utiited )States. 

Gad'idse, a family of malacopterous fishes, 
which includes the cod, ling, haddock, &c. 
See Cod. 

Gad'olinite, a mineral, a silicate of yttrium, 
with a considerable proportion of lime and 
magnesia, of the oxides of iron, cerium, lan¬ 
thanum, glucinum, and sometimes of other 
bases. It is usually found in dull, amor¬ 
phous masses disseminated through granite; 
is black, or very dark green, with a resinous 
lustre. It was named after the mineralogist 
Gadolin, professor at Abo, 1785-1822. 

Gadwair, the common name of Anas 
strepera, a species of duck not so large as 
the mallard, with long pointed wings and a 
vigorous and rapid flight. North America 
as far down as South Carolina is its favourite 
habitat; in Britain and Ireland it is rare. 

Gaedhelic (ga'el-ik). See Gael. 

Gaekwar, or Gaikwar (glk-war'). See 
Baroda. 

Gael (grd), the name of a branch of the 
Celts inhabiting the Highlands of Scotland, 
Ireland, and the Isle of Man. Gadhel or Gael 
is the only name by which those who speak 
the Gaelic language are known to them- 
selves. By way of distinction the High¬ 
landers of Scotland call themselves Gael 
Albinnich (Gaels of Albin) and the Celtic 
population of Ireland call themselves Gael 
Erinnich (Gaels of Erin). 

Gaelic is the name now generally re¬ 
stricted to that dialect of the Celtic lan¬ 
guage which is spoken in the Highlands of 
Scotland, and hence distinguished from 
Manx and Irish, the other two kindred 
dialects, which scholars of the present day 
include under the name (or rather spelling) 
Gaedhelic. The modern Gaelic differs to 
some extent from the Irish in pronuncia¬ 
tion, in grammar, in idioms, and in vocabu¬ 
lary. The litei’ature of the Gaelic language 
is somewhat scant}', and is much less an¬ 
cient and important than the Irish. The 
earliest written specimens of Gaelic are 
scraps contained in the Book of Deer, a 
religious manual belonging to the early 
part of the 12th century. To the 14th and 
15th centuries a considerable number of 
pieces belong. A collection of the older 
poetry, ascribed to Ossian aud others, wa^ 


made in the first half of the 16th century 
by Sir James Macgregor, dean of Lismore 
—hence called ‘The Dean of Lismore’s 
Book.’ Kobert Calder Mackay, or Bobb 
Donn, and Duncan Ban M‘Intyre, of Glen- 
orchy, are the two most noteworthy poets 
among the Scottish Highlanders in modern 
times. They both belong to the 18th cen¬ 
tury. This century also saw the publica¬ 
tion of the Bible in Gaelic, the Irish Bible 
having been previously well known in the 
Highlands. The so-called poems of Ossian 
appeared about the same time, but in Eng¬ 
lish, and it was not till 1818 that the corre¬ 
sponding Gaelic text appeared. A series of 
tales and legends of the Highlands of Scot¬ 
land have been collected and published by 
J. E. Campbell. Various English works have 
been translated into Gaelic, and several 
collections of Gaelic poetry have been pub¬ 
lished in the present century, as well as 
Gaelic periodicals. Gaelic poetry still con¬ 
tinues to be written not only in Scotland 
but even in America. 

Gaeta(ga-a'ta; anciently Camto),a strongly- 
fortified seaport town of S. Italy, province of 
Terra di Lavoro, on the Gulf of Gaeta, the 
.seat of a bishop, 45 miles north-west of 
Naples. It is a place of great antiquity, 
was a favourite resort of the wealthy fami¬ 
lies of Rome, and since the 5th century has 
had a prominent place in the history of Italy, 
and especially in that of the Kingdom of 
Naple.s. Pop. 16,880. 

Gsetulia, the ancient name of an exten¬ 
sive region of Africa, on the southern slope 
of Mount Atlas. It corresponds to the 
modern Biledulgerid, the southern part of 
Marocco, and the northern part of the 
Sahara. It was inhabited by warlike tribes, 
who are supposed to be the ancestors of 
the modern Tuaregs of the Sahara oases. 

Gaff, a spar used in ships to extend the 
upper edge of fore-and-aft sails which are 
not set on stays. The fore-end of the gaff, 
where it embraces the mast, is termed the 
jaio, the outer end the peak. The jaw forms 
a semicircle, and is secured in its position 
by a jaw-rope passing round the mast. 

Gahn (gan), Johann Gottlieb, a Swe¬ 
dish chemist, born in 1745, died in 1818. 
In his chemical work he was associated with 
Bergman, Scheele, and Berzelius. He left an 
account of the blow-pipe and its application. 

Gahnite, a name given to automolite 
after Gahn. It is a native aluminate of 
zinc, crystallizes in octa- and tetra-hedrons, 
is of dark green or black colour, and is ftut 

100 



Oaillac — 

affected by the blow-pipe, or by acids or 
alkalies. 

Gaillac (ga-yak), a town of Southern 
France, department of Tarn, on the right 
bank of the Tarn. It exports a good red 
table-wine, the district abounding in vine¬ 
yards. Pop. 7834. 

Gaillarde (ga-yard; Italian, Gagliarda)^ 
a lively Italian dance, in triple time; also 
called, from its alleged origin, Romanesque. 

Gainsborough, a market town, England, 
county uf Lincoln, 15 miles north-west of 
the town of Lincoln, on the Trent, which 
is navigable by vessels of from 150 to 200 
tons, and is connected with the extensive 
canal navigation established to Manchester, 
Liverpool, Gloucester, Bristol, London, &c. 
Among the chief buildings are the parish 
church, the town-hall, and the old hall or 
manor-house, containing the assembly-rooms 
and mechanics’ institute—a lai’ge quaint 
building, supposed to have been partly built 
by John of Gaunt. There are oil-mills, 
breweries, malt-houses, &c. Gainsborough 
gives name to a pari. div. of the county. 
Pop. 1891, 14,372. 

Gainsborough, Thomas, an English pain¬ 
ter, was born at Sudbury, in Suffolk, in 
1727 . He was trained under the engraver 
Gravelot and the painter Hayman, but met 
with small success till his marriage with 
IVIiss Ihirr, a lady of beauty and fortune, in 
1746. After residing for some time in Ips¬ 
wich and Bath, he went in 1774 to London, 
where he passed the rest of his life. He was 
one of the original thirty-six academicians. 
He rivalled Sir Joshua Keynolds as a por¬ 
trait-painter, and showed no less originality 
in landscape. He died in 1788. 

Gainesville, Cook co., Texas. Has sev¬ 
eral mills and a brisk trade. Pop. 6594. 

Gains, or Caius, a Roman lawyer of the 
time of Adrian and Antoninus Pius, of whose 
life very little is known. Of his numerous 
works, his Institutes are particularly im¬ 
portant ; first, as having been for centuries, 
down to the time of Justinian, one of the 
most common manuals of law; secondly, 
as having been the foundation of the official 
compendium of the law which occupies an 
important place in the reform of the judi¬ 
cial system by Justinian; and thirdly, as the 
only tolerably full, systematic, and well- 
arranged source of the old Roman law. The 
bulk of the work in MS. was discovered in 
1816 by Niebuhr. 

Galactodendron. See Cow-tree. 

Galactometer. See Lactometer. 

101 


- GALATIA. 

Galactose (C6Hi20«^, a variety of sugai* 
produced by boiling milk-sugar or lactose 
(Ci:)H 240 ii) with dilute sulphuric acid. 

Galacz. See Galatz. 

Galago (ga-lii'go), the native name of a 
genus of quadrumanous mammals found in 
Africa. The species, which are nocturnal in 
their habits, have long hind-legs, great eyes, 
and large membranous ears. The great 
galago [G. crassicaudatus) is as large as a 
rabbit. They live in trees, and are sought 
after as food in Africa. 

Galan'ga, or Galangal Root, a dried rhi¬ 
zome brought from China and used in medi¬ 
cine, being an aromatic stimulant of the 
nature of ginger. It is mostly produced by 
Alpinid officinaruin, a flag-like plant about 
4 feet high, with narrow lanceolate leaves 
and simple racemes of white flowers. The 
gi'eater galangal is the rhizome of A. Ga¬ 
la ng a. 

Galap'agos (the Spanish for ‘tortoises’), 
a group of thirteen islands of volcanic origin 
in the North Pacific Ocean, about 600 miles 
west of the coast of Ecuador, to which they 
belong; area, 2950 square miles. The most 
important are Albemaide, 60 miles long by 
15 broad, and rising 4700 feet above the sea; 
Indefatigable, Chatham, C’harles, James, and 
Narborough. Of these some are used by the 
Republic of Ecuador as penal settlements. 
Many of the fauna and flora of the islands 
are peculiar to them, the most remarkable 
being a large lizard and the elephant tor¬ 
toise. 

Galashiels (gal-a-shelz'), a town in Scot¬ 
land, one of the Hawick district of parlia¬ 
mentary burglis, mostly in Selkirk, but 
partly in Roxburgh, on botli sides of the 
Gala, about a mile above its confluence w ith 
the Tweed, 27 miles s.s.e. of Edinburgh. 11 is 
noted for its manufactures of tweeds, plaids, 
shawls, woollen yarns, Ac. The town, which 
is of rather irregular construction, lies in a 
narrow valley, and is about 2 miles long. 
Pop. 16,352. 

Galate'a, in classic mythology, the daugh¬ 
ter of Nereus and Doris, who rejected the 
suit of the Cyclops Polyphemus and gave 
herself to the Sicilian shepherd Acis. The 
monster having surprised them crushed Acis 
beneath a rock. 

Galatia, the ancient name of an exten¬ 
sive region in Asia Minor, so called from its 
Gallic inhabitants, who in the first place 
formed part of the invading hordes of Gauls 
under Brennus in the 3d century n.c. These 
were compelled by Attalus, king of Perga- 







GALATIANS 

tnos, to settle within well-defined limits 
between Paphlagonia, Pontus, Cappadocia, 
Lycaonia, Phrygia, and Bithynia. With the 
Gauls were intermingled a considerable pro¬ 
portion of Greeks; hence the inhabitants 
were often called Gallogrseci, as well as 
Galatians. 

Galatians, Epistle to the, one of the 
most important epistles of St. Paul, written 
probably about 56 a.d., soon after his second 
\isit to Galatia, recorded in Acts xviii. 23. 
It was directed against the spread of Juda- 
istic practices in the Galatian churches and 
especially against the practice of circum¬ 
cision. It has been the subject of numerous 
commentaries by Luther, Winer, Meyer, 
^llicott, Alford, and others. 

Galati'na, San Pietro in, a town of South 
Italy, in the province of Lecce and 16 miles 
west of Otranto. Pop. 8720. 

Galatz, or Galacz, a town and port in 
Itoumania, in Moldavia, on the left bank of 
the Danube, between the confluence of the 
Sereth and Pruth. It consists of an old 
and a new town, the latter on a hill domin¬ 
ating the river and commanding a fine view 
of the Balkans. The harbour, accessible 
to vessels drawing 15 feet, is well frequented, 
and an emporium of trade between Aus¬ 
tria, Russia, and Constantinople. The trade 
was formerly entirely in the hands of the 
Greeks, but now many English and other 
foreign houses have established themselves. 
The chief exports are grain (principally 
maize), wine, planks and deals, tallow, &c. 
The imports are chiefly British manufac¬ 
tures^ sugar, tin plates, iron and steel, coal, 
oil, fruits, tobacco, fish, glass-ware, leather, 
coarse cloth. When made a free port in 
1834 it had only 8000 inhabitants, but the 
population has since grown to 80,000. It 
ceased to be a free port in 1883. 

GaTaxy ( Via Lactea, or Milky Way), in 
astronomy, that long luminous track which 
is seen at night sti’etching across the hea¬ 
vens from horizon to horizon, and which, 
wLen fully traced, is found to encompass the 
heavenly sphere like a girdle. This luminous 
appearance is occasioned by a multitude of 
stars so distant and blended as to be dis¬ 
tinguishable only by the most powerful 
telescopes. At one part of its course it 
divides into two great branches, which re¬ 
main apart for a distance of 150° and then 
reunite; there are also many other smaller 
branches that it gives off. At one point it 
spreads out very widely, exhibiting a fan¬ 
like expanse of interlacing branches nearly 


— GALEID^. 

20 ° broad; this terminates abruptly and 
leaves here a kind of gap. At several points 
are seen dark spots in the midst of some of 
the brightest portions; one of the most easily 
distinguished of these dark spots has long 
been known as the ‘coal-sack.’ According 
to Herschel’s hypothesis, our sun and plan¬ 
etary system form part of the Milky \V' ay. 

Galba, Servius Sulpicius, Roman em¬ 
peror, successor of Nero, born B.c. 3. He 
was made praetor (a.d. 20), and afterwards 
governor of Aquitania, and in a.d. 33 was 
raised to the consulship through the influence 
of Livia Drusilla, the wife of Augustus. 
Caligula appointed him general in Germany, 
and Claudius sent him in a.d. 45 as proconsul 
to Africa, his services there obtaining him 
the honours of a triumph. He then lived 
in retirement till the middle of Nero’s reign, 
when the emperor appointed him governor 
of Hispania Tarraconensis, but soon after 
ordered him to be secretly assassinated. 
Galba revolted; the death of Nero followed 
(a.d. 68), and he himself was chosen emperor 
by the prietorian cohorts in Rome. He went 
directly to Rome, but soon made himself 
unpopular by cruelty and avarice, and he 
was slain in the forum in a.d. 69 at the age 
of seventy-two. 

Gabbanum, Galban, a fetid gum resin 
procured from at least two species of um¬ 
belliferous plants, which are probably Fer¬ 
ula galhanifiua and F. ruhricaulis. It con¬ 
sists of the ‘tears’ of gum resin which exude 
spontaneously from the stem, especially in 
its lower part and about the bases of the 
leaves. It is brought from the Levant, 
Persia, and India, and is administered in¬ 
ternally as a stimulating expectorant. It is 
also used in the arts, as in the manufacture 
of varnish. It is supposed to be yielded by 
other umbellifers, among which are named 
FerulCigo galham'fera, Opoidia galbanijera, 
and Bubon Galbanum. 

Galbuli'nse, the jacamars, a family of tro¬ 
pical American fissirostral birds allied to the 
trogons and kingfishers. 

Gale, a plant of the genus Mgrlca, nat. 
order Myricaceae. Sv eet gale or bog-myrtle 
(717. Gale) is a shrub from 1 to 3 feet high, 
which exhales a rather pleasant aromatic 
odour, and grows on wet heaths abundantly. 
In America the name is applied to an allied 
plant Comptonia asplenifolia. See also Can- 
dleberry. 

Galeidse (ga-le'i-de), the topes, a family 
of small sharks. Two species, the common 
tope {Galeus canis) and the smooth hound 

102 



GALEMYS- 

{Mustelus vulgaris), are abundant in British 
seas. 

Gale'mys, a genus of mammals allied to 
the shrews. Only two species are known, 
the Russian desman or musk-rat [G. mos- 
chata) and the French desman [G.pyrenaica). 
They live in burrows at the side of streams, 
and feed on insects. See Musk-rat. 

Galen, properly Claudius Galenus, a 
Greek physician, born a.d. 130, at Perga- 
mus in Asia Minor. His father, Nicion, an 
architect and mathematician, gave him a 
careful education, and he studied under 
physicians in Smyrna, Corinth, Alexandria, 
&c., afterwards visiting Cilicia, Phoenicia, 
and Palestine. He retui'ued inlOStoPer- 
gamus, where he received a public appoint¬ 
ment, but five years later went to Rome, 
and there acquired great celebrity by his 
cures. Driven thence by envy, he again 
travelled for some time and resumed his 
labours in his native town, but was soon 
after invited to Aquileia by the Emperors 
INIarcus Aurelius and Lucius Yerus (a.d. 
169). He followed IVIarcus Aurelius to 
Rome, and appears to have remained there 
for some years before finally retiring to Per- 
gamus. The closing part of his life, how¬ 
ever, is obscure. One Arabic writer says 
that he died in Sicily, and Suidas states 
that he died at the age of seventy, and ac¬ 
cordingly in the year a.d. 200 or 201; but 
it is not improbable that he lived longer. 
The writings attributed to Galen include 
eighty-three ti’eatises e.cknowledged to be 
genuine, forty-five manifestly spurious; nine¬ 
teen of doubtful genuineness, and fifteen 
commentaries on different works of Hippo¬ 
crates, besides a large number of short pieces 
and fragments, probably in great part spuri¬ 
ous. The most valuable of his works were 
those dealing with anatomy and physiology, 
and he was the first to establish the consul¬ 
tation of the pulse in diagnosis and progno¬ 
sis. Till the middle of the 16th century his 
authority in medicine was supreme. 

Gale'na (Pb S),the sulphide of lead, found 
both in masses and crystallized in cubes, 
but sometimes in truncated octahedra; its 
colour is bluish-gray, like lead, but brighter; 
lustre metallic; texture foliated; fragments 
cubical; soft, but brittle; specific gravity, 
7'22 to 7'759; effervesces with nitric and 
hydrochloric acids. For the most part it 
contains about 86’6 per cent of lead and 
13‘4 of sulphur, generally some silver, and 
also antimony, zinc, iron, and bismuth. Where 
the proportion of silver is high it is known 

103 


- GALICIA. 

as argentiferous galena, and worked with 
a view to the extraction of this metal. Ga¬ 
lena occurs principally in the older or pri¬ 
mary rocks, being found in England mainly 
in the Mountain Limestone (base of the Car¬ 
boniferous formation). In the U. States it 
is very abundant, the deposit of galena in 
which the mines of Illinois are situated being 
the most extensive and important hitherto 
discovered. 

Gale'na, a town of the United States, in 
Illinois, near the borders of Wisconsin, in 
the great lead region, situated on both sides 
of the Galena river, 6 miles above its junc¬ 
tion with the Mississippi. I'he staple is 
lead, after the abundant ore of which (ga¬ 
lena, see above) the town is named. Pop. 
1890,5635. 

Ga'lenists, the name of the body of con- 
ti’oversialists who, appealing to the autho¬ 
rity of Galen, opposed tiie introduction of 
chemical and alchemical methods of treat¬ 
ment into medicine. They adhered to the 
ancient formulas, which prescribed prepara¬ 
tions of lierbs and roots by infusion, decoc¬ 
tion, &c., while the chemists professed to 
extract essences and quintessences by calci¬ 
nation, digestion, fermentation, &c. Neither 
body possessed a monopoly of the truth, 
and modern medicine combines the better 
elements in each method. 

Galeopithe'cus. See Flying-lemur. 

Galeop'sis, the generic name of the hemp- 
nettles, a genus of plants, of the nat. order 
Labiatse, characterized by the equally five¬ 
toothed calyx. They are herbaceous plants 
with square stems, usually clothed wuth 
sharp bristly hairs, nettle-like leaves on long 
stalks, and red, white, or yellow labiate 
flowers. There are about twelve species, 
three of which are natives of Britain. The 
handsomest of these {G. versicolor) is abun¬ 
dant in Scotland, especially in the High¬ 
lands; it has showy yellow flowers, with a 
broad purple spot on the lower lip. 

Galerius, a Roman emperor. See Maxi- 
mianus. 

Galesburg, a city of the United States, 
in Knox county, Illinois. It has railroad 
workshops, iron-foundries, manufactures of 
agricultural implements, &c. Knox Col¬ 
lege and Lombard University are situated 
here. Pop. 1890, 15,264. 

Galicia, Kingdom of, a province of Aus¬ 
tria, bounded by Russia, Bukowina, Hun¬ 
gary, and Moravia; area, 30,312 square 
miles; pop. (Polish in the w'est, Russniak 
in the east) 6,219,660. The great physical 







GALICIA 


features of the country are, in a manner, 
determined by the Carpathians, which form 
a long and irregular curve on the south, and 
send out branches into Galicia. Farther to 
the north the hills subside rapidly, and fi¬ 
nally merge into vast plains. It has several 
considerable rivers, those on the west being 
affluents of the Vistula, those in the east, 
of the Danube and Dniester. The climate 
is severe, particularly in the south, where 
more than one of the Carpathian summits 
rise beyond the snow-line. The summers are 
very warm but comparatively short. The 
soil in general is fertile, and yields abundant 
crops of cereals, hemp, flax, tobacco, &c. 
The domestic animals include great num¬ 
bers of horned cattle, and a fine hardy 
breed of horses. Sheep are in general 
neglected; but goats, swine, and poultry 
abound, and bee-keeping is practised on a 
large scale. Bears and wolves are still found 
in the forests; and all the lesser kinds of 
game are in abundance. The minerals in¬ 
clude marble, alabaster, copper, calamine, 
coal, iron, and rock-salt. Only the last 
two are of much importance. Rock-salt is 
particularly abundant. The most impor¬ 
tant mines have their central locality at 
Wieliczka. Manufactures have not made 
much progress. The spinning and weaving 
of flax and hemp prevail to a considerable 
extent on the confines of Silesia. Distil¬ 
leries exist in every quarter. The Roman 
Catholics and the Greek Catholics are the 
chief religious bodies. The chief educational 
establishments are the U^niversity of Lem¬ 
berg and that of Cracow. The principal 
towns are Lemberg, the capital, and Cracow. 
After being the field of continuous strife 
between Russians, Poles, and Hungarians, 
Galicia continued a Polish dependency from 
1382 until the first partition of Poland, in 
1772, when it was acquired by Austria. 
Galicia is now one of the Cis-Leithan pro¬ 
vinces of the Austrian Empire, and is repre¬ 
sented in the Rcichsrath by 63 deputies, 
while the affairs peculiar to itself are de¬ 
liberated and determined upon by its own 
Landtatj or Diet. Polish is the language of 
official intercourse and of the higher educa¬ 
tional institutions. Pop. 1891, 6,607,816. 

Galicia, one of the old provinces of Spain, 
situated in the N.W., and bounded N. and w. 
by the Atlantic, s. by Portugal, and E. by 
the old provinces of Asturias and Leon. It 
is now divided into the provinces of Coruna, 
Lugo, Orense, and Pontevedra; area, 11,212 
square miles. Its broken coast, which has 


- GALILEE. 

a length of about 240 miles, lies open to the 
Atlantic, and there are a number of fine 
natural harbours, of which Ferrol is one of the 
finest naval ports in l^urope. The surface 
is mountainous, and the proportion of good 
arable land limited; but fruit, particularly 
apples and pears, nuts, walnuts, and chest¬ 
nuts, is abundant; and the culture of the 
vine is common in all the lower districts. 
The higher mountain slopes are generally 
covered with fine forests, which feed large 
herds of swine, and afford haunts to laoars 
and wolves. Both manufactures and trade 
are insignificant. The chief town is Santi¬ 
ago de Compostella. The natives (Gallegos) 
speak an uncouth patois, which other Span¬ 
iards scarcely understand. The peasantry 
are very poor, and many leave for service 
in other parts of Spain. Pop. 1,881,000. 

Gal'ilee, in the time of Jesus Christ, the 
most northern province of Palestine, boun¬ 
ded on the E. by the river .Iordan, on the s. 
by Samaria, on the w. by the Mediterranean 
Sea and Phoenicia, and on the N. by Syria 
and the Mountains of Lebanon. It was in 
some sense the cradle of Christianity, Naza¬ 
reth, Cana, Capernaum, Nain, and other 
places being intimately associated with the 
life of Christ. The inhabitants of this 
country, mostly poor fishermen, on account 
of their ignorance and simplicity of manners 
were despised by the Jews, who, by way of 
contempt, called Christians, at first, Gali¬ 
leans. At pre.sent Galilee is included in 
the vilayet of Syria. 

Gal'ilee, a portico or chapel annexed to 
a church, used for various purposes. In it 
public penitents were stationed, dead bodies 
deposited previously to their interment, and 
religious processions formed; and it was 
only in the galilee that in certain religious 
houses the female relatives of the monks 
were allowed to converse with them, or 
even to attend divine service. The only 
English buildings to which the term galilee 
is applied are attached to the cathedrals of 
Durham, Ely, and Lincoln. 

Galilee, Sea op, also called Sea of Chin- 
nereth or Chinneroth, and the Lake of Gen- 
nesaret or Tiberias, a pear-shaped fresh-water 
lake in Central Palestine, 12^ miles long by 
7 4 broad. It was apparently formed by sub¬ 
sidence attended with volcanic disturbance; 
and is 682 feet below the level of the Medi¬ 
terranean. On the east the coasts are 
nearly 2000 feet high, deeply furrowed by 
ravines but flat along the summit. The 
whole basin is bleak and monotonous, and 

104 



GALTLEi. 


has a scathed volcanic look, the cliffs and 
rocks along the shore being of hard porous 
basalt. At the time of Christ there were 
on its shores nine flourishing cities, of which 
seven are now uninhabited ruins, while 
Magdala and Tiberias are both in a poverty- 
stricken condition. The lake still abounds 
in fish, but the fishery is neglected. 

Galilei (gal-i-la'e), Galileo, a most dis¬ 
tinguished Italian physicist, born 18th Feb. 
1564, at Pisa. His father Vincenzo Galilei, 
a nobleman of Florence, procured him an 
excellent education in literature and the 
arts, and in 1581 he entered the Univer¬ 
sity of Pisa. At nineteen the swinging of 
a lamp in Pisa cathedral led him to inves¬ 
tigate the laws of the oscillation of the 
pendulum, which he subsequently applied 
in the measurement of time; and in 1586 
the works of Archimedes suggested his in¬ 
vention of the hydrostatic balance. He now 
devoted his attention exclusively to mathe¬ 
matics and natural science, and in 1589 was 
made professor of mathematics in the Uni¬ 
versity of Pisa. In 1592 he was appointed 
professor of mathematics in Padua, where he 
continued eighteen years, and his lectures 
acquired European fame. Here he made 
the important discovery that the spaces 
through which a body falls, in equal times, 
increase as the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7. If he 
did not invent he improved the thermo¬ 
meter, and made some interesting observa¬ 
tions on the magnet. To the telescope, which 
in Holland remained not only imperfect 
but useless, he gave a new importance. 
He noted the irregularity of the moon’s 
surface, and taught his scholars to measure 
the height of its mountains by their shadow. 
A particular nebula he resolved into indi¬ 
vidual stars, and conjectured that the Milky 
Way might be resolved in the same manner. 
His most remarkable discovery was that 
of Jupiter’s satellites (1610), and he ob¬ 
served, though imperfectly, the ring of Sat¬ 
urn. He also detected the sun’s spots, 
and inferred, from their regular advance 
from east to west, the rotation of the sun, 
and the inclination of its axis to the plane 
of the ecliptic. In 1610 Cosmo II., grand- 
duke of Tuscany, appointed him grand- 
ducal mathematician and philosopher, and 
with increased leisure he lived sometimes 
in Florence, and sometimes at the country 
seat of his friend Salviata, where he gained 
a decisive victory for the Copernican sys¬ 
tem by the discovery of the varying phases 
of Mercury, Venus, and Mars. In 1611 he 

105 


visited Pome for the first time, where he 
was honourably received; but on his return 
to Florence he became more and more in¬ 
volved in controversy, which gradually took 
a theological turn. The monks preached 
against him, and in 1616 he found himself 
again obliged to proceed to Rome, where 
he is doubtfully said to have pledged him¬ 
self to abstain from promulgating his astro¬ 
nomical views. In 1623 Galileo replied to 
an attack upon him in his Saggiatore, a 
masterpiece of eloquence, which drew upon 
him the fury of the Jesuits. In 1632, with 
the permission of the pope, he published 
a dialogue expounding the Copernican sys¬ 
tem as against the Ptolemaic. A congrega¬ 
tion of cardinals, monks, and mathematicians, 
all sworn enemies of Galileo, examined his 
work, condemned it as highly dangerous, and 
summoned him before the tribunal of the 
Inquisition. The veteran philosopher was 
compelled to go to Rome early in 1633, and 
was condemned to renounce upon his knees 
the truths he had maintained. At the mo¬ 
ment when he arose, he is said (but this is 
doubtful) to have exclaimed, in an under¬ 
tone, stamping his foot, ‘E pur si muove!’ 
(and yet it moves!). Upon this he was 
sentenced to the dungeons of the Inquisi¬ 
tion for an indefinite time, and every week, 
for three years, was to repeat the seven 
penitential psalms of David. After a few 
days’ detention his sentence of imprisonment 
was commuted to banishment to the villa of 
the Grand-duke of Tuscany at Rome, and 
then to the archiepiscopal palace at Sienna. 
He was afterwards allowed to return to his 
residence at Arcetri, near Florence, where 
he employed his last years principally in 
the study of mechanics and projectiles. The 
results are found in two impoi’tant works 
on the laws of motion, the foundation of 
the present system of physics and astron¬ 
omy. At the same time he tried to make 
use of Jupiter’s satellites for the calculation 
of longitudes; and though he brought noth¬ 
ing to perfection in this branch, he was the 
first who reflected systematically on such a 
method of fixing geogra})hical longitudes. 
He was at this time afflicted with a disease 
in his eyes, one of which was wholly blind 
and the other almost useless, when, in 1637, 
he discovered the libration of the moon. Do¬ 
mestic troubles and disease embittered the 
last years of Galileo’s life. He died 8th Jan. 
1642 (the year Newton was born). His 
remains were ultimately deposited in the 
church of Sta. Croce, at Florence. 


GALTNGALE-GALLAS. 


Gal'ingale, a name applied to a kind of 
sedge, the Cyp^rus longus, or to its tubers, 
which contain a bitter principle, and have 
tonic and stomachic properties. 

Gallon, Crawford co., Ohio. Pop. 6326. 

Gal'ipot, or French Turpentine, the 
long, soft stalactitic pieces of resin which 
form down the sides of the Pinus maritima 
by evaporation of part of the volatile oil. 

Gall, in the animal economy. See Gall- 
hladder, Pile. 

Gall, Franz Joseph, the founder of 
phrenology, born in 1758 in Tiefenbrunn, 
in Baden. He studied medicine, and prac¬ 
tised at Vienna as a physician, where he 
made himself known to advantage by his 
Philosophise!! - medicinische Untersuchun- 
gen (1791). After a series of comparisons 
of the skulls both of men and animals he 
was led to assign the particular location 
of twenty organs. For some time he con¬ 
fined himself to lecturing on the subject, 
first in Vienna, and afterwards in his travels 
through Germany. He then accompanied 
Dr. Spurzheim, in 1807, to Paris, where he 
published with his friend, in 1810, the 
Anatomie et Physiologie du Systfeme Ner- 
veux en general, et du Cerveau en particu- 
lier; and in^l812 his own Des Dispositions 
innees de I’Ame et de I’Esprit, ou du Mate- 
rialisme. Spurzheim also published, in 
London, a work upon his own and Gall’s 
discoveries, which met with severe criticism 
but extended their views, and at least gave 
an impulse to the accurate anatomical study 
of the brain. Dr. Gall died in 1828. 

Gall, St. (German, St. 0alien), a north¬ 
eastern frontier canton in Switzerland, abut¬ 
ting on Lake Constance; partly bounded 
by the Ehine, and inclosing the canton of 
Appenzell. Its area is 780 square miles. 
In the south it is one of the loftiest Alpine 
districts of Switzerland, and in other quar¬ 
ters is more or less mountainous. It be¬ 
longs wholly to the basin of the Pihiue, 
in the valley of which the climate is com¬ 
paratively mild, in the mountainous dis¬ 
tricts it is very rigorous. Wood and good 
pasture are found on the mountains; on the 
lower slopes and valleys, vines and orchard 
fruits, and corn, maize, hemp, and flax are 
grown. The manufactures are chiefly cot¬ 
ton and linen goods, particularly fine mus¬ 
lins. The constitution is one of the most 
democratic in Switzerland. German is the 
language spoken. Pop. 210,491. —St. Gall, 
the capital and the see of a bishop, is situ¬ 
ated on the Steinach, 2165 feet above sea- 


level. It contains an old cathedral, now 
completely modernized, and an old abbey 
partly converted into public offices, but con¬ 
taining also the bishop’s residence and epis¬ 
copal library with valuable manuscripts. 
The manufactures consist chiefly of cotton 
goods, more especially embroidered muslins 
and prints; and the town is the entrepot 
both for its own canton and those of Ap¬ 
penzell and Thurgau. It is of ancient 
origin, having grown up around the abbey 
of St. Gall, founded by an Irish monk of 
that name about the beginning of the 7th 
century. This abbey for several centuries 
held one of the highest places in the Bene¬ 
dictine order. Pop. 21,438. 

Gallait (gal-la), Louis, Belgian historical 
painter, born 1812, died 1887. He studied 
at his native town Tournai, Antwerp, and 
Paris, where he acquired a name by his 
portraits as well as his genre and historical 
paintings. Among his earlier pictures of 
note were: Christ Kestoring Sight to a 
Blind Man; The Strolling Musicians; The 
Beggars; Montaigne Visiting Tasso in 
Prison; Abdication of Charles V. Among 
his subsequent pictures are: Temptation of 
St. Antony; The Dead Bodies of Counts 
Egmont and Horn; The Prisoner’s Family; 
The Last Moments of Count Egmont; Alva 
Signing Death-warrants; and lastly (1882), 
The Plague at Tournai, purchased for Brus- • 
sels Museum at the price of 120,000 francs. 

Galland (gal-iin), Antoine, a French 
oriental scholar, born in Picardy in 1646; 
principally known for his translation of the 
Arabian Nights’ Entertainments (1704- 
1717), the first into any European lan¬ 
guage. Among his other writings are a 
Treatise on Medals and Coins; Tableau 
de rEmpire Ottoman; De I’Origine du 
Caf^; Paroles remarquables, Bons Mots et 
Maximes des Orientaux; and the Contes et 
Fables Indiennes de Bidpai et de Lokrnan. 

In 1709 he was appointed professor of 
Arabic at the College Royal at Paris, and 
died in 1715 while engaged in translating 
the Koran. 

Gallas, a numerous and powerful race, 
chiefly inhabiting a territory in East Africa, 
lying to the south of Abyssinia. Their 
colour varies from a deep black to a brownish 
yellow; stature tall; bodies spare, wiry, and 
muscular; nose often straight, or even 
arched; lips moderate; hair often hanging 
over the neck in long twisted plaits. They 
have agreeable countenances, and are brave, 
but ferocious and cruel, cunning and faith- 



GALLATIN, ALBERT-GALLIC ACID. 


less. They leave the plains to their horses, 
sheep, and cows, while they themselves cul¬ 
tivate the mountains. There are, however, 
wandering Gallas mainly occupied in hunt¬ 
ing and slave-dealing. I'lieir language is 
spoken throughout a great part of Africa. 

Gallatin, Albert, statesman, was born 
in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1761. Gradu¬ 
ated at the University of Geneva in 1779. 
He emigrated to America in 1780. In 
1789 was member of Pennsylvania State 
Convention. In 1793 was elected U. S. 
Senator, and in 1794 helped to suppress the 
“ Whiskey Insurrection.” In 1801 was 
appointed Secretary of the Treasury, his 
management of which was eminently suc¬ 
cessful. In 1814 was one of the Commis¬ 
sioners at Ghent who concluded the treaty 
of peace with Great Britain. In 1815 was 
appointed Minister to France. In 1826 
w'as envoy extraordinary to Great Britain. 
He died in 1849. 

Galle, a seaport in Ceylon, coaling sta¬ 
tion. Pop. 1890, 34,500. 

Galleon, formerly a kind of ve.ssels of 
war, used by the Spaniards and Portuguese, 
with from three to four decks. In more 
recent times those vessels were called (jal- 
leons in which the Spaniards transported 
treasure from their American colonies. 

Gallery, in architecture, a long, narrow 
room, the length of which is at least three 
times its width, often built to receive a col¬ 
lection of pictures. Among the most re¬ 
nowned European art-galleries are those of 
the Louvre at Paris, that of Versailles, 
the National Gallery in London, the Pitti 
and Uffizi galleries at Florence, the Dres¬ 
den Gallery, the Real Museo of the Prado 
at Madrid, the Hermitage at St. Peters¬ 
burg, the gallery of Berlin, the gallery of the 
IMuseo Borbonico at Naples, those at Venice, 
Antwerp, Turin, &c. The term gallery is 
also sometimes applied to what is more pro¬ 
perly termed a corridor, likewise to a plat¬ 
form projecting from the walls of a build¬ 
ing supported by piers, pillars, brackets, or 
consoles, and in churches, theatres, and 
similar buildings, to the upper floors going 
round the building next the wall. 

Galley, a low, flat-built vessel with one 
deck, and navigated with sails and oars, 
once commonly used in the Mediterranean. 
The common galleys varied from 100 to 200 
feet in length, those of smaller sizes being 
known respectively as half-galleys and quar¬ 
ter-galleys. They carried as many as twenty 
oars on each side, each oar worked by one 

107 


or more men, and they had commonly two 
masts with lateen sails. Raised structures 
in the stern, and even in the prow, were 
not uncommon. These, however, were more 
fully developed in the kind of galley known 
as the galleass, which carried three masts, 
from 200 to 300 rowers, and sometimes 
twenty guns. France formerly had a num¬ 
ber of gallejfs for service in the Mediter¬ 
ranean, in which convicts were forced to 
labour. The term galley is also applied to 
the ships of the ancient Greeks and Romans, 
especially to their war-ships, which were 
propelled chiefly by oars. 

Galley, in printing. See Gaily. 

Galley-slave, a person condemned to work 
at the oar on board a galley, being chained 
to the deck. This mode of punishment was 
common in France previous to 1748. 

Gall-fly, a name for several hymenopter- 
ous insects of the family Cynipidae, which 
form the morbid products known as galls, 
each species seeming to be addicted to a 
particular plant and a particular part of the 
plant. The tumour or gall is due to the 
morbid action of an irritating fluid deposited 
with the egg of the insect. The large galls 
at the base of oak leaves are produced by 
the Cynips quercus haccdrum, a fly of a 
brown colour, with black antennte, chestnut- 
brown legs, and white wings. The small 
galls on the under stirface of oak leaves are 
due to another species, C. quercus folii, 
those on the stems of oaks to C. termindlis. 
Ihe shrubby oak {Quercus infectoria) of 
Syria is attacked by C. yallcc tinctorice, 
which gives rise to the hard gall or gall-nut 
which is chiefly used in commerce. The 
hairy gall of the rose, called a bedeguar, is 
also the work of a species of Cynipts. The 
larvEe in this, as in the oak gall, do not come 
out till the following spring. See Galls. 

Gallia. See Gaul. 

Gallic Acid (C 7 HoOi), an acid which de¬ 
rives its name from the gall-nut, whence it 
was first procured by Scheele in 1786. It 
exists ready formed in the seeds of the 
mango, has been found besides in many 
other plants, in acorns, colchicum, divi-divi, 
hellebore root, sumach, tea, walnuts, &c., 
and is a product of the decomposition of 
tannic acid. It crystallizes in brilliant 
prisms, generally of a pale-yellow colour. 
It colours the persalts of iron of a deep 
bluish black. It is of extensive use in the 
art of dyeing, as it constitutes one of the 
principal ingredients in all the shades of 
black, and is employed to fix or improve 


I 





GALLICAN CHURCH-GALLIPOLI. 


several other colours. It is well known as 
an ingredient in ink. See Ink. 

Gal'lican Church, a distinctive name ap¬ 
plied to the Roman Catholic Church in 
France. The peculiarity of this church con¬ 
sists (or consisted) not in any diversity of 
doctrine or practice from those generally held 
and observed by Roman Catholics in other 
countries, but in maintaining a greater degree 
of independence of the Papal see, more es¬ 
pecially by denying the validity of many of 
the decretals issued since the time of Char¬ 
lemagne, and refusing to allow the pope to 
interfere with the civil jurisdiction of the 
state and the sovereign rights of the crown. 
The freedom asserted in this respect was 
increasingly recognized by the pragmatic 
sanctions of 1269 and 1438, and was still 
more clearly established by the Quatuor 
ITopositiones Cleri Gallicani (Four Propo¬ 
sitions of the French Clergy), drawn up in 
convocation by the French clergy in 1682. 
These were:—1. The pope in secular matters 
has no power over princes and kings, and 
cannot loose their subjects from allegiance 
to them. 2. He is subject to the decrees 
of a general council. 3. His authority in 
France is regulated by fixed canons and the 
laws and customs of the kingdom and church. 
4. In matters of faith his decision is not un¬ 
alterable {irreformahle). During the revolu¬ 
tion the Gallican Church practically disap¬ 
peared, and though Napoleon extorted from 
Pius VII. a concordat for its re-establish¬ 
ment, no agreement was arrived at as to its 
organization. With the return of the Bour¬ 
bons the bishops deprived by Napoleon were 
restored, and a new concordat concluded in 
1817; but its unpopularity led the govern¬ 
ment to exact from ecclesiastics an expres¬ 
sion of adherence to the articles of 1682. 
The July revolution in 1830 gave full free¬ 
dom to all denominations, and a clause was 
inserted in the Constitutional Charter ex¬ 
pressly declaring that each person professes 
his religion with equal liberty, and obtains 
for his worship the same protection. Lat¬ 
terly, and especially since the Vatican 
Council of 1870, the position of the Gallican 
Church towards the popes has essentially 
changed, and the older Gallicanism may 
now be said to be represented by the Old 
Catholics of France. 

Gallie'nus, P. Licinius, a Roman emperor, 
associated with his father Valerianus until 
the capture of the latter by the Persians in 
260, when Gallienus continued to reign alone. 
His empire was limited by the revolt of most 


of the legions in th e pro vin ces, who chose th eir 
commanders as Csesars, and thus gave rise 
to the period known as the ‘Time of the 
Thirty Tyrants.’ Though given up to plea¬ 
sure, he defeated the Goths in Thrace and 
Postumus in Gaul, and forced Aureolus, 
wtmm the legions of Illyria had proclaimed 
emperor, to take refuge in Milan. While 
making preparations to reduce that town 
he himself was assassinated A.D. 268, 

Gallina'ceous Birds, the order of birds 
now commonly known as Rasores. 

Gall-insects. See Gall-fly. 

GalTinule, a name for aquatic birds be¬ 
longing to the family Rallidse or rails, genera 
GallinUla and Porphyria. They are good 
swimmers, though they are not web-footed, 
but have the toes furnished with a narrow 
membrane. The common gallinule, moor¬ 
hen or water-hen {G. chlorojons), is the only 
British species. It is black, with a red 
frontal shield. 

GalTiot, a Dutch or Flemish vessel for 
cargoes, with very rounded ribs and flattish 
bottom, with a rnizzen-mast placed near the 


Dutch Galliot. 

stern, carrying a square main-sail and main¬ 
top-sail, a forestay to the main-mast (there 
being no foremast), with forestay-sail and 
jibs. 

Gallip'oli (ancient CaZZipoZts), a seaport of 
Southern Italy, in the province of Lecce, on 
a rocky peninsula in the Gulf of Taranto, 
47 miles south-east of Taranto. It is fortified, 
and has a cathedral, a productive tunny 
fishery, and a good harbour, from which 
large quantities of olive-oil are exported. 
Pop. 7578. 

Gallip oli (ancient CaHipolis), a town in 
European Turkey, on a peninsula of the 

108 


























GALLIPOLI OIL-GALT. 


same name at the north-east end of the 
Dardanelles, 12S miles w.s.w. of Constanti¬ 
nople. It was once fortified, but is now in 
a generally dilapidated condition, with no 
edifice of note except the bazaars. It has 
manufactures of cotton, silk, and morocco 
leather, and two harbours, one used as a 
station for the Turkish fleet, and the other 
for trade, chiefly in corn, wine, and oil. It 
was the gate by which the Turks entered 
Europe (1357), and in the Crimean war the 
allied forces landed here (1854). Pop. about 
50,000. 

Gallipoli Oil, a coarse olive-oil used in 
Turkey-red dyeing and for other purposes, 
and prepared from olives grown in Calabria 
and Apulia, the latter being considered the 
best. The oil is conveyed in skins to Gal¬ 
lipoli, where it is clarified and shipped in 
casks. 

Gallium, a rare malleable metal, dis¬ 
covered by spectrum analysis in 1875 by 
De Boisbaudran in the zinc-blende of Pierre- 
fitte in the Pyrenees. It is of a grayish- 
white colour, has a brilliant lustre, and is 
fused by the mere warmth of the hand. In 
its properties it is related to aluniinium. 

Galliwasp, the Celestus occiduus, a species 
of lizard about 1 foot in length, and remark¬ 
ably stout and plmnp. Its general colour is 
brown. It is a native of the West Indies, 
and is particularly common in Jamaica, 
where it is much dreaded, though without 
reason. 

Gall-nuts. See Galls. 

Gallon, a standard measure of capacity, 
containing 277‘27384 cubic inches, being- 
equal to 4 quarts or 8 pints. In England 
formerly three different gallons were in use, 
the old corn-gallon of 268*8 cubic inches, 
the old wine gallon of 231 cubic inches, and 
the old beer-gallon of 282 cubic inches. The 
gallon of 231 cubic inches has been adopted 
as the standard of the U. States. 

Galloon', in commerce, a narrow kind of 
lace used to edge or border cloths. 

Gallotannic Acid. See Tannin. 

Galloway, a district in the south-west of 
Scotland, now regarded as embracing Wig¬ 
townshire and Kirkcudbright. It has given 
name to a breed of horses and one of cattle. 

Galls, gall-nuts or nut-galls, a vegetable 
excrescence produced by the deposit of the 
egg of an insect in the bark or leaves of a 
plant. The galls of commerce are produced 
by a species of Cynips (see Gall-fly) in the 
tender shoots of the Quercm infectoria, a 
species of oak abundant in Asia Minor, 

J09 


Syria, Persia, &c. They are spherical and 
tubercular, and vary in magnitude from the 
size of a pea to that of a hazel-nut. White, 
green, and blue varieties are recogniied, 
the latter kinds being the best. They are 
inodorous, but are strongly astringent from 



Aleppo Gall and the Gall-fly (Cynips gallce tinctorice). 

1, Gall split to show the cell in which the larva exists. 
2, Exterior of the gall, showing the opening by which the 
perfect insect escapes. 

the tannin and gallic acid which they con¬ 
tain, and which are their chief products. 
Gall-nuts are extensively used in dyeing 
and in the manufacture of ink, and they are 
also frequently used in medicine. They are 
chiefly imported from Aleppo, Tripoli, and 
Smyrna. The Chinese galls, or woo-pei-tsze, 
differ from the foregoing in that they are 
really an unusually massive kind of crust or 
cocoon, such as the aphides form on the 
surface of a plant; the tissues of the plant 
are not affected. Since the opening of the 
Japanese ports these have been imported 
in considerable quantities to Britain. 

Galt, Sir Alexander Tilloch, Cana¬ 
dian statesman, was horn in London, Eng¬ 
land, in 1817. Emigratingto Canada when 
a boy, in 1849 he was elected member of 
Parliament, and became active in public 
aflfairs, filling many important offices. He 
is a fluent speaker and an able minister of 
finance, noted for the clearness of his 
monetary statements. 

Gait, John, Scottish novelist, born at 
Irvine in Ayrshire in 1779. He went to 
London in 1804, printed an epic on the 
Battle of Largs, and tried both commerce 
and the legal profession; but failing in 
each, went abroad for some years. On his 
return in 1812 he published his Voyages 
and Travels, his Letters from the Levant, 
a Life of Cardinal Wolsey, and a volume of 
tragedies. He then became a contributor 
to the Monthly Magazine and other periodi¬ 
cals, and wrote a tragedy. The Witness, a 
life of Weft the artist, and a romance on 








GALVANI-GALVANIC BATTERY. 





the Wandering Jew. His Ayrshire Lega¬ 
tees (1820), with its humorous descriptions 
of Scottish middle and low life indicated 
the true scope of 
his faculty, and 
it was followed 
by his Annals 
of the Parish 
(1821), The Pro¬ 
vost (1822), Sir 
Andrew Wylie 
(1822), and The 
Entail (1823). 

These were per¬ 
haps his best 
works, though 
his writings com¬ 
prised about fifty 
novels, twenty dramas, and other works. He 
went out to Canada as superintendent to 
the Canada Company in 1826, founded 
the town of 
Guelph, re¬ 
turned in 
1829, and 
died in 1839. 

His son Sir 
Thomas Til- 
loch, born 
1817, is an 
eminent Can- 
adian states¬ 
man and dip¬ 
lomatist. 

Galvani, Luigi, Italian physician and 
physiologist, born at Bologna 1737, died 
1798. He practised medicine in Bologna, 
and was in 1762 appointed pro¬ 
fessor of anatomy at the uni¬ 
versity. He gained repute as a 
comparative anatomist; but his 
fame rests on his theory of 
animal electricity, enunciated 
in the treatise De Viribus 
Electricitatis in Motu Muscu- 
lari Commentarius, published 
in 1791. Twenty years before 
the publication of this trea¬ 
tise he had been making ex¬ 
periments on the relations of 
animal functions to electricity. 

In 1797 he was deprived of 
his chair for refusing to take 
the oath of allegiance to the 
Cisalpine Republic, but was 
restored to it in less than a 
year. See also the article Galvanism. 

Galvanic Battery, a combination of gal¬ 


vanic cells. In a galvanic cell chemical 
action takes place between a liquid and a 
metal—usually zinc — which is partially 

immersed in it; 
and there is an¬ 
other metal, or 
solid conducting 
substance of 
some kind, also 
partially im¬ 
mersed. The zinc 
and the other 
solid conductor 
are called the 
two j)latcs of the 
cell. The plates 
must not be al¬ 
lowed to touch 
each other in the liquid; but a current 
through an external conductor can be ob¬ 
tained by connecting its ends with the two 

plates. When 
this connec¬ 
tion is made 
there is a 
complete cir¬ 
cuit round 
which the 
current flows, 
its course be¬ 
ing from the 
zinc plate 
through the 
liquid to the 
other plate, and from this latter through the 
external conductor to the zinc plate again. 
There is a continual circulation of positive 
electricity in this direction as 
long as the chemical action 
continues, or, what is the same 
thing, there is a continual cir¬ 
culation of negative electricity 
in the opposite direction. The 
second or inactive plate is usu¬ 
ally either of copper, of pla¬ 
tinum, or still more frequently 
of gas carbon, that is, the car¬ 
bon which is deposited in the 
retorts at gas-works. The 
liquid which acts on the zinc 
is most frequently dilute sul¬ 
phuric acid—1 part of acid to 
6 or 8 of w^ater. In some of the 
best kinds of cell there are two 
liquids—one in contact wuth 
the zinc and the other with 
the inactive plate, with a porous parti¬ 
tion of unglazed earthenware betw’een tlieiq, 

UQ 


Fig. 1.—Simple Galvanic Battery. 


Fig. 2.—Bunsen's Battery. 


Fig. 3.—Daniell's Cell. 











































































































GALVANIC BATTERY- 

Fig. 1 shows a battery of four cells of the 
simplest kind, each containing a plate of 
zinc and a plate of copper immersed (except 
their upper portions) in dilute acid con¬ 
tained in a glass vessel. It will be observed 
that the copper (c) of each cell is connected 
with the zinc (z) of the next. The arrows 
show the direction of the current. Fig. 2 
represents a very common form of battery 
called Bunsen’s. The zinc plate consists of 
a slit cylinder surrounding the porous vessel 
in which the carbon plate stands, the whole 
being contained in a glass jar. The liquid 
in which the zinc is immersed is dilute sul¬ 
phuric acid, and the liquid in contact with 
the carbon is strong nitric acid. Fig. 3 
represents a Daniell’s cell, which differs 
from Bunsen’s in the contents of the porous 
cell. The plate within the porous cell is of 
copper, and the liquid in contact wdth the 
copper is a saturated solution of sulphate of 
copper, crystals of which are seen heaped 
up round the top. These crystals are sup¬ 
ported by a cage of copper wire, and are 
intended for keeping the solution saturated. 

In the simpler forms of galvanic cell, such 
as that represented in fig. 1, there is a 
continual evolution of hydrogen at the in¬ 
active plate, while an equivalent quantity 
of oxygen enters into combination wdth the 
zinc plate, and goes to form sulphate of zinc. 
Some of the evolved hydrogen adheres to 
the copper plate and produces a rapid falling 
off in the electromotive force of the cell. 
This action, w^hich is the principal cause of 
the rapid weakening of the current in bat¬ 
teries composed of such cells, is cdlled polari¬ 
zation. The purpose of the two-fluid ar¬ 
rangement illustrated in figs. 2 and 3, is to 
intercept the hydrogen and prevent it from 
being deposited on the copper or carbon 
plate. In Daniell’s battery, which was the 
first of the kind, the hydrogen is taken up 
by the solution of sulphate of copper, and 
displaces copper, which is deposited on the 
copper plate. In Bunsen’s it is taken up by 
the nitric acid, w’hich is thus gradually con¬ 
verted into nitrous acid. 

It is usual to amalgamate the zinc plates 
of a battery by washing them with acid, 
and then rubbing them with mercury. The 
reason for this operation is, that when or¬ 
dinary commercial zinc is used without 
amalgamation, local currents are formed 
between different portions of the same plate, 
owing to inequalities or impurities. This 
local action, as it is called, eats aw'ay the 
plates without contributing to the current 
' - - 111 


— GALVANIZED IRON. 

in the general circuit. Amalgamation ren- 
dei's the surface uniform and prevents this 
injurious action. 

The strength of the current given by a 
battery depends partly on the electromotive 
force of the battery and partly on its resis¬ 
tance. If two batteries are connected into 
one circuit in such a way that they tend to 
drive currents round it in opposite directions, 
the one which prevails is said to have the 
greater electromotive force. The electro¬ 
motive force is proportional to the number 
of cells, and is independent of their size. 
As regards resistance, the current will be 
strongest when the resistance is least, that 
is when the plates are very large and very 
near together. 

Whenever chemical action takes place, 
heat is produced; but in the ordinary use 
of a galvanic battery only a portion of this 
heat is produced in the cells themselves; 
the rest of it is produced in the external 
conductor. When we heat a wire by send¬ 
ing the current of a battery through it, the 
heat generated in the wire is a portion of 
the heat due to the chemical action in the 
cells. In cells of high electromotive force 
the heat due to the chemical action is greater 
(for the same quantity of zinc dissolved) 
than in cells of low electromotive force. It 
is much higher for a Bunsen than for a 
Daniell cell. 

Galvanism, the production of electricity 
by means of the galvanic battery (which 
see). The name is derived from Galvani, 
professor of anatomy at Bologna, who ob¬ 
served that the limbs of a dead frog could 
be caused to move by the contact of metals. 
His experiments attracted the attention of 
Volta, professor of natural philosophy at 
Pavia, who shortly afterwards invented the 
galvanic or voltaic battery. 

Galvanized Iron, a name loosely given 
to sheets of iron coated with zinc by a non- 
galvanic process, the iron being first cleansed 
by friction and the action of dilute sul¬ 
phuric acid, and then plunged into a bath 
composed of melted zinc and other sub¬ 
stances, as sal-ammoniac, or mercury and 
potassium; more properly the name is given 
to sheets of iron coated first with tin by a 
galvanic process, and then with zinc by im¬ 
mersion in a bath containing fluid zinc 
covered with sal-ammoniac mixed with 
earthy matter. So long as the coating is 
entire, and so long as it is not exposed to 
corrosive substances, galvanized iron is very 
durable, 





GALVANOMETER. 





Galvanometer, an instrument for measur¬ 
ing an electric current by the deflection of a 
magnetic n«edle. The current flows through 
a wire coiled usually into the form of a circle, 
which is placed vertically in the magnetic 
meridian and surrounds the 
needle. When no current is 
passing the needle points 
north and south, and the 
galvanometer should be so 
placed that the needle when 
so pointing lies in the plane 
of the coil. When a cur¬ 
rent passes through the coil, 
it exerts a force upon the 
needle tending to set it at 
right angles to the plane of 
the coil—that is, to set it 
east and west. The action of 
the earth on the other hand 
tends to set it north and 
south, and it will actually 
take an intermediate 
position which varies 
v.ith the strength of 
the current. This posi¬ 
tion is read off on a 
graduated circle (the 
upper of the two gra¬ 
duated and horizontal 
circles in fig. 2), usually 
by means of a long light pointer (shown in 
the figure) which is attached to the needle 
at right angles. In some galvanometers, 
as in that represented in figure 2, the coil 
can be turned till it overtakes the needle. 
The lower graduated circle is for the purpose 
of measuring the amount of this rotation. 

For mea¬ 
suring very 
feeble cur¬ 
rents, it is 
more usual 


Fig. 1.—Astatic Galvanometer. 


pointing opposite ways. The directive actions 
of the earth on the two needles are opposite, 
and hence the resultant directive action of 
the earth on the tw'o combined is very small. 
The coil of the galvanometer, on the other 
hand, is so placed that the 
current tends to deflect both 
needles the same way. The 
coil, which is shown in sec¬ 
tion in fig. 3, is approximately 
rectangular, its longest dimen¬ 
sion being horizontal. One 
of the needles a'h' is just 
above, and the other a 6 is 
below the upper part of the 
coil. The current in this part 
of the coil would urge them 
opposite ways if their poles 
were similarly directed, but 
as their poles are oppositely 
directed it urges them the same 
way. The current in the 
lower part and end.s 
of the coil assists in 
deflecting the lower 
needle, and is too dis¬ 
tant from the upper 
needle to have much 
effect upon it. The 
coil is thus placed in 
a position of great ad¬ 
vantage as compared with the earth, and the 
deflection is proportionately large. 

Much greater sensitiveness can be ob¬ 
tained by the use of the mirror-galvano¬ 
meter, fig. 4. The round box in the centre 
contains a 
, coil of some 
hundreds of 
convolutions, 
with a very 
small needle 
fastened to 







Fig. 2.—Sine Galvanometer. 


Fig. 3. 


Fig. 4.—Mirror Galvanometer. 


to employ the ‘astatic’ galvanometer, repre¬ 
sented in fig. 1. It has two needles, a'h', 
a h (fig. 3), as nearly equal as possible, fas¬ 
tened to one upright stem, with their poles 


a little glass mirror suspended in its centre 
by a silk fibre. The mirror, with the needle 
fastened to its back, is shown at M in fig. 5, 
Light from a lamp l comes through the bole 

11 % 

























































GALVANOPLASTY 


GAMA. 


s and falls upon the mirror, which, being 
slightly concave, reflects it to a focus on 
the scale a A, where a bright image of the 
flame is accordingly seen. The smallest an¬ 
gular movement of the mirror causes a verv 



M 


Fig. 5. 


visible movement of the bright image on 
the scale. The curved bar M in fig. 4 is 
a magnet (called the controlliiuj magnet), 
which can be raised or lowered, and turned 
round. One use of it is to bring the needle 
into the plane of the coil when the coil is 
not standing north and south. It is better, 
however, to keep the coil north and south, 
and then the magnet M can be used to annul 
the earth’s magnetism, thus conferring the 
same advantage which is obtained by the use 
of two needles in the astatic galvanometer. 

For the general principle which governs 
the deflection of a needle by a current, see 
Electromagnetism. 

Galvanoplasty. Same as Elcctrometal- 
lurgif. 

Gal'veston, a city and seaport of Texas, 
United States, at the north-east extremity 
of Galveston Island, at the mouth of Gal¬ 
veston Bay, about 290 miles west by south 
from New Orleans. It is one of the most 
flourishing ports in the Gulf of Mexico. 
Large quantities of cotton are shipped, the 
export to Great Britain alone being over 
300,000 bales annually. The chief build¬ 
ings are the custom and market house.s, the 
town-hall, a number of churches, including 
a Gothic Episcopal Church and Iloman 
Catholic cathedral, and the Roman Catholic 
University of St. Mary. There are nine 
miles of street railroad, and a canal connects 
the port with the Brazos River. Pop. 29,064. 

Gal'way, a seaport of Western Ireland, 
prov. of Connaught, capital of county of 
same name, at the mouth of the Corrib, in 
Galway Bay, 117 miles west of Dublin. It 
consists in its older parts of narrow, irregular 
streets with antique houses, crowded with 
a pauper population ; in the more modern 
VOL. iV. 113 


parts it is spacious and well-built. Besides 
numerous churches and chapels it has three 
monasteries and five nunneries. The town- 
house and county-hall and the Queen’s Col¬ 
lege are amongst its best buildings. The 

manufactures are insig¬ 
nificant, and the trade, 
though once important, 
is no longer worthy of 
its excellent harbour. 
The chief exports are 
agricultural produce 
and marble. There are 
mills for sawing and 
polishing marble, a 
brewery, distillery, &c. 
Galway returns one 
member to parliament. 
Pop. 16,942.—The county, which is washed 
by the Atlantic, has an area of 1,502,362 
acres, of which one-eighth is under crops. 
In the north-west, or district of Connemara, 
it is rugged and mountainous; in the east, 
level but extensively covered with bog; and 
in the south, fertile and tolerably well culti¬ 
vated, producing wheat, barley, and oats. 
Lough Corrib, which lies wholly within it, 
dividing the county into the E. and w. dis¬ 
tricts, is the third largest lake in Ireland. 
The minerals include lead, limestone, marble, 
and beautiful serpentine. The fisheries are 
valuable, but much neglected. The princi¬ 
pal manufactures are coarse woollens and 
linens. The county returns four members 
to parliament. Pop, 1891, 214,256. 

Galway Bay, a large bay on the west 
coast of Ireland, between county Galway 
on the north and county Clare on the south, 
about 30 miles in length and from 20 to 7 
miles in breadth. Across its entrance lie 
the Aran Islands, and there are numerous 
small islands in the bay itself. 

Gama, Dom Vasco da, the first navigator 
who made the voyage to the East Indies by 
the Cape of Good Hope, was born in 1450 at 
Sines, Portugal, of a noble family. The voy¬ 
age had been projected under John II., and 
his successor, Emmanuel the Fortunate, 
having fitted out four vessels, intrusted 
Gama with the chief command. He sailed 
from Lisbon on July 8th, 1497, and doubling 
the Cape, visited Mozambique, Mombaza, 
Melinda, and Calicut, returning to Lisbon 
in 1499. For this exploit he was named 
Admiral of the Indies and received the title 
of Dom, with an annual pension and exten¬ 
sive privileges in Indian commerce. In the 
year 1502 he was placed at the head of a 











GAMA-GR ASS-GAMBOGE. 


powerful fleet, with which he provided for 
the security of future voyagers by founding 
establishments at Mozambique and Sofala. 
He also inflicted signal repi’isals on the town 
of Calicut, where the Portuguese residents 
had been massacred, and established the 
first Portuguese factory in the Indies. He 
re-entered Lisbon in 1503, and passed the 
next twenty years in obscurity. In 1524 
he was appointed Viceroy of India by King 
John III., but his administration lasted only 
three months, his death taking place at Goa 
in the December of that year. 

Gama-grass. See Buffalo-grass. 

Gamaliel, the name of two persons men¬ 
tioned in Bible history, of whom the first, 
Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur (Numbers i. 
10; ii. 20; vii. 54, 59; x. 23), was prince or 
head of the tribe of Manasseh. I'he other 
and better known Gamaliel is mentioned 
twice in the Acts of the Apostles, as a 
learned doctor of the law, of the sect of the 
Pharisees. From Acts xxii. 3 we learn that 
he was the preceptor of St. Paul; the other 
reference (Acts v. 34) records his famous 
advice to the Sanhedrim as to their treat¬ 
ment of the apostles. According to tradi¬ 
tion Gamaliel became a Christian, and was 
baptized by St. Peter and St. Paul. 

Gam'beson. See Acton. 

Gambet'ta, Li&on Michel, a French orator 
and statesman, born in 1838 at Cahors, of a 
family of Genoese extraction. He was edu¬ 
cated for the church, but finally decided in 
favour of the law, and repairing to Paris 
became a member of the metropolitan bar 
in 1859. In November 1868 he gained the 
leadership of the republican party by his 
defence of Delescluze, a noted republican. 
In 1869, having been elected by both Paris 
and Marseilles, he chose to represent the 
southern city; and in the Chamber of De¬ 
puties showed himself an irreconcilable 
opponent of the empire and its measures, 
especially of the policy which led to the 
war with Prussia. On the downfall of the 
empire, after the surrender of Sedan in 1870, 
a government for the national defence was 
formed, in which Gambetta was nominated 
minister of the interior. The Germans hav¬ 
ing encircled Paris, he left that city in a 
balloon, and set up his headquarters at 
Tours, from which, with all the powers of 
a dictator, he for a short time organized a 
fierce but vain resistance against the in¬ 
vaders. After the close of the war he 
held office in several short-lived ministries, 
and in November, 1881, accepted the pre¬ 


miership. The sweeping changes proposed 
by him and his colleagues speedily brought 
a majority against him, and after a six weeks’ 
tenure of office he had to resign. The acci¬ 
dental discharge of a pistol caused his death 
at Paris in December, 1882. 

Gambia, a British colony in West Africa, 
at the mouth of the river Gambia; area, 
69 sq. miles. The climate is very unhealthy 
in the rainy season, and there is little fer¬ 
tile land in the colony, but a considerable 
trade is done in ground-nuts, hides, bees’- 
wax, rice, cotton, maize, ivory, ginger, gum- 
arabic, palm-oil, &c. Pop. 14,150. 

Gambia, a river of West Africa, rising in 
a mountainous district in Futa Jallon and 
flowing N.w. and w. to the Atlantic; length 
about 1400 miles. It is navigable for 600 
miles during seven months of the year for 
vessels of 150 tons, but from June to No¬ 
vember the river becomes a torrent, rising 
from 20 to 50 feet and leaving a rich alluvial 
deposit on its shores. 

Gambier Islands, a group of small coral 
islands in the South Pacific, about lat. 23° 
8 ' s. and Ion. 134° 55' w.; belonging to 
France. The vegetation is luxuriant and 
there are numerous birds but no indigenous 
quadrupeds. A French mission station was 
formed on the largest island, Mangareva, in 
1834. Pop. about 2300. 

Gambir, an astringent, earth 3 ^-looking 
substance chiefly employed in tanning and 
dyeing, and obtained from the East Indian 
trees Unearia{Naucl€a)gambiraxiA U. acida, 
order Cinchonaceie. It is mainly imported 
from Singapore. Also called Terra Japonica 
and Pale Catechu. 

Gambling. See Gaming. 

Gamboge (from Camboja or Cambodia), a 
concrete, vegetable, inspissated juice or sap, 
or gum-resin, yielded by several speeies of 



Gamboge Plant {Garcinia Hanburii). 


trees. The gamboge of European commerce 
appears to be mainly derived from Hebra- 
dendron garnbogoides (or Garcinia Morelia), 
a dioecious tree with handsome laurel-like 

XI4 



GAME LAWS 


GAMING. 


foliage and small yellow flowers, found in 
Cambodia, Siam, and in the southern parts 
of Cochin-China. It is yellow, and contained 
chiefly in the middle layer of the bark of 
the tree; it is obtained by incision, and 
issues in the form of a yellowish fluid, Avhich, 
after passing through a viscid state, hardens 
into the gamboge of commerce. It consists 
of a mixture of resin with 15 to 20 per cent 
of gum. Gamboge has drastic purgative 
properties, but is seldom administered ex¬ 
cept in combination with other substances. 
In doses of a drachm or even less it produces 
death. Other species of Garcinia yield a 
similar drug, which is collected for local use, 
but not for exportation. The so-called 
American gamboge is the juice of Visima 
guianensis. 

Game Laws, laws relating to the killing 
of certain wild animals pursued for sport, 
and called game. Formerly in Britain cer¬ 
tain qualifications of rank or property were 
needed to constitute the right to kill game; 
but by the Game Act of Will. IV. the ne¬ 
cessity for any qualification except the pos¬ 
session of a game certificate was abolished, 
and the right given to any one to kill game 
on his own land, or on that of another with 
his permission. The animals designated as 
game by this act are hares, pheasants, par¬ 
tridges, grouse, heath-game, or moor-game, 
black-game, and bustards. These animals, 
however, with the exception of hares, are 
not allowed to be killed during a certain 
season of the year called the close season, 
which is for partridges from 1st Februai'y 
to 1st September, for pheasants from 1st 
February to 1st October, for black-game from 
10th December to 20th August. Also any 
person killing game on Sunday or Chi'istmas- 
day is liable to a penalty of £5. A game 
certificate is also necessary to enable a person 
to kill deer, woodcocks, snipes, quails, land¬ 
rails, and rabbits. Whoever trespasses by 
day in pursuit of game, or any of the above- 
mentioned animals, is liable to the fine of 
£2, and when five or more go together each 
^is liable to the penalty of £5. Night poach¬ 
ing is a graver offence; any person found 
guilty of trespassing in pursuit of game be¬ 
tween the first hour after sunset and the 
last before sunrise, is for the first offence 
liable to imprisonment with hard labour for 
three months and to find security for a year, 
a third offence involving liability to penal 
servitude. By the act of 1860 the duties 
on certificates for killing or dealing in game 
are declared to be excise duties, and are re¬ 

115 


gulated as follows:—For a license in Great 
Britain, or certificate in Ireland, to each 
person using a dog, gun, net, or other engine 
for taking or killing any game whatever, if 
taken after 5th April and before 1st Novem¬ 
ber, to expire on 5th April in the following 
year, £3; if to expire on 31st October of the 
same year, £2; from 1st November to 5th 
April, £2; license to servant, if person au¬ 
thorized to kill game, £2; license to deal in 
game in England, Scotland, or Ireland, £2. 
A duty of 10s. is imposed for a license to 
make use of a gun. By an act of 1880 
every occupier of land has a right, as in¬ 
separable from and incident to the occupa¬ 
tion of the land, to kill and take ground- 
game (hares and rabbits) thereon, concur¬ 
rently with any other duly authorized per¬ 
son, all agreements in contravention of this 
right being declared void. Game laws of 
greater or less strictness are in force in 
many other countries. In Canada and the 
U. States the chief restrictions are in regard 
to killing wild animals during the breeding 
season. 

Games, a name of certain sports or amuse¬ 
ments carried on under regular rules and me¬ 
thods, as with cards or dice, billiards, tennis, 
&c. Among the ancients there were public 
games or sports, exhibited on solemn occa¬ 
sions, in which various kinds of contests were 
introduced. The Grecian games were national 
festivals attended by spectators and com¬ 
petitors from all parts of Greece, the chief 
Ijeing the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and 
Isthmian. They consisted of chariot races, 
running, wrestling, and boxing matches, &c., 
and to be victorious in one of these contests 
was esteemed one of the highest honours of 
a Greek citizen. The Roman games (ludl) 
were held chiefly at the festivals of the gods. 
They might, however, be exhibited by private 
persons to please the people, as the combats 
of gladiators, theatrical representations, com¬ 
bats of wild beasts in the amphitheatre, &c. 
See also such articles as Billiards, Chess, 
Cricket, Football, &c. 

Gaming, or Gambling, the practice of 
indulging in games involving some element 
of chance or hazard with a view to pecuniary 
gain. In many countries such games, and 
the collateral practices of betting on events, 
taking shares in lotteries, &c., are legally 
prohibited or restricted as frequently asso¬ 
ciated with fraud and as themselves de¬ 
moralizing. At other times governments, 
tempted by the prospect of gain, have openly 
encouraged gambling by licensing gaming- 








GAMING 


GANESA. 


houses, or instituting lotteries under their 
own authority. (See Lottery.) In France 
public gaming-tables were suppressed from 
1st January, 1838, but lotteries are still 
sometimes cari'ied on. Previous to the for¬ 
mation of the German Empire gambling 
was encouraged in both of the ways referred 
to in several of the principalities of Germany. 
Baden-Baden, in the Grand-duchy of Baden, 
and Homburg, in Hesse-Homburg, were the 
two most famous resorts in Europe of the 
frequenters of gaming-tables. After the 
formation of the empire gaming was sup¬ 
pressed in these places (31 st December, 1872), 
and since that time the Italian principality 
of Monaco has become the last public resort 
of this species of gambling. 

In Great Britain gaming has been the 
subject of numerous enactments. Henry 
VIII. made proclamation against certain 
games, including dice, cards, and bowls, and 
prohibited the keeping of any common house 
for unlawful games under penalties of 40s. 
per day for keeping the house, and 6s. 8d. 
per time for playing in it. By an act of 
Charles II. (1663) any person fraudulently 
winning money by gaming is to forfeit treble 
the amount, and any person losing more 
than £100 at cards, &c., on credit at one sit¬ 
ting is not bound to pay, and the winner 
forfeits treble the amount. Under Anne 
all notes, bills, bonds, &c., given for money 
won by gaming were decreed void, and any 
person paying a loss of more than £10 might 
recover it within three months as a common 
debt; or if the loser did not sue, any other 
person might do so. In the reign of VVilliam 
IV. such notes were declared void between 
the parties, but not in the hands of pur¬ 
chasers or endorsers. Gamblers havintr no 
ostensible means of livincf miorht be com- 

o o 

mitted to prison. By acts of George II. 
keepers of public-houses were punishable for 
permitting gaming, and the games of faro, 
basset, hazard, roulette, and all other games 
with dice,except backgammon, are prohibited 
under penalties of £200 for the keeper of 
the gaming-house, and £50 a time for the 
players. The act 8 and 9 Viet. cap. cix., 
while repealing some of the previous act.s, 
inflicts the penalty of £100 (afterwards in¬ 
creased to a maximum penalty of £500) in 
addition to the penalties of the act of Henry 
VIII. on any person conducting a common 
gaming-house, with the alternative of six 
mouths’ imprisonment. Penalties are also 
inflicted for keeping billiard or bagatelle 
tables without a license. All contracts, by 


way of gaming or wagering, are made void, 
and any person fraudulently winning money 
or valuables by gaming shall be deemed 
guilty of obtaining it by false pretences. 
No suit-at-law can be brought to recover a 
deposit from a stakeholder; but this does 
not apply to any prize at any law'ful sport. 
In this country statutes have been ])assed in 
most, if not all, of the States, forbidding 
gambling for money at certain games, and 
prohibiting tlie recovery of money lo.st at 
such games. Gambling, however, may be 
said to be almost universally practised in 
most of our great cities. 

Gam'ut, or Gammut, in music, the entire 
series of musical tones in the natural order 
of ascent or descent. With the musicians 
of the 11th century A represented the 
lowest note in their instruments, and a lower 
note having been introduced, the Greek 
gamma (P) was taken to represent it. From 
its prominent place as first note of the scale 
its name was taken to represent the whole. 

Gandak', Gunduck, a river of Northern 
Hindustan, rising in the Himalayas and 
entering the Ganges; length, 400 miles. 

Gandamak', a place in N.E. Afghanistan, 
wdiere a ti'eaty with Britain was signed in 
1879. See AfyhanistaJi. 

Gandia, a town and port of Spain, in the 
province and 34 
miles south by 
east of Valencia, 
on the Alcoy. 

It is walled and 
well built, with 
a handsome Go¬ 
thic church and 
a fine palace of 
the dukes of 
Gandia. Pop. 

7604. 

Gando, a king¬ 
dom of the Wes- 
tern Soudan,in¬ 
tersected by the 
Niger, and inha¬ 
bited chiefly by 
Fellatahs, with a 
capital of same 
name. It is most 
fertile, and has Ganesa. 

a population of 

perhaps 5,000,000. Alohammedanism is the 
prevalent religion. The ruler is a sultan 
subordinate to that of Sokoto. 

Ganesa (ga-na'sal, an Indian god, the son 
of Siva and Parvati, represented by a figure 

1X6 

















GANGA-GANGRENE. 


half man half elephant, having an elephant’s 
head. He is the god of prudence and 
good luck, and is invoked at the beginning 
of all enterprises. There are not many 
temples dedicated to him, and he has no 
public festivals, but his image stands in 
almost every house. 

Ganga, a name of the sand-grouse {Pte- 
r^cles arenarias). 

Ganga, in Hindu mythology, the per¬ 
sonified goddess of the river Ganges. 

Ganges (gan'jez), a river of Hindustan, 
one of the greatest rivers of Asia, rising in 
the Himalaya Mountains, in Garhwal state, 
and formed by the junction of two head 
streams, the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda, 
which unite at Heoprag, 10 miles below 
Srinagar, 1500 feet above sea level. The 
Bhagirathi, as being a sacred stream, is 
usually considered the source of the Ganges, 
rising at the height of 13,800 feet, but the 
Alaknanda flows further and brings a larger 
volume of water to the junction. At Hard- 
war, about 30 miles below Deoprag, the 
river fairly enters the great valley of Hin¬ 
dustan, and flows in a south-east direction 
till it discharges itself by numerous mouths 
into the Bay of Bengal, after a course of 
about 1700 miles. During its course it is 
joined by eleven large rivers, the chief 
being the Jumna, Son, Ramganga, Gumti, 
Gogra, Gandak, and Kusi. In the rainy 
season the flat country of Bengal is over¬ 
flowed to the extent of 100 miles in breadth, 
the water beginning to recede after the 
middle of August. The Ganges delta has 
the Hugli on the west, the Meghna on the 
east, and commences about 200 miles, or 
300 by the course of the river, from the 
sea. Along the sea it forms an uninhabited 
swampy waste, called Sunderbunds, or Sun- 
darbans, and the whole coast of the delta 
is a mass of shifting mud banks. The 
westernmost branch, the Hugli, is the only 
branch commonly navigated by ships. The 
IMeohna, or main branch, on the east is 
joined by a branch of the Brahmaputra. 
Some of the principal cities on the Ganges 
and its branches, ascending the stream, are 
Calcutta, Murshedabad, Bahar, Patna, Be¬ 
nares, Allahabad, Cawnpore, and Farucka- 
bad. fl'he Ganges is na\ igable for boats of 
a large size nearly 1500 miles from its 
mouths, and it forms a great channel for 
traffic. It is an imperative duty of the 
Hindus to bathe in the Ganges, or at least to 
wash themselves with its waters, and to dis¬ 
tribute alms, on certain days. The Hindus 

117 


believe that whoever dies on its banks, and 
drinks of its waters before death, is exempted 
from the necessity of returning into this 
world and commencing a new life. The sick 
are therefore carried to the bank of the 
Ganges, and its water is a considerable 
article of commerce in the remoter parts 
of India. 

Ganges Canal, Upper, a lateral canal 
in Northern India (N. W. Provinces), con¬ 
structed for purposes of irrigation and sup¬ 
plementary navigation, extending on the 
right of the Ganges from Hardwar to Cawn¬ 
pore. The trunk of the canal measures 445 
miles,and the total cost of the works has been 
about £2,800,000.—The Lower Ganges 
Canal is a sort of continuation of the Upper, 
intended for irrigation purposes. 

Gangi (gan'je), a town of Italy, prov. 
Palermo, overlooked by an old castle. Pop. 
11,935. 

Ganglion, in anat. an enlargement occur¬ 
ring somewhere in the course of a nerve, 
and containing nerve cells in addition to 
nerve filaments. There are two systems 
of nerves which have ganglia upon them. 



Ganglion. 

Part of the nervous system of the larva of a beetle 
{CulosOma si/cophanta). a a, Ganglia. 

First, those of common sensation, w^hose 
ganglia are near to the origin of the nerve 
in the spinal cord. Secondly, the great 
sympathetic nerve, which has ganglia on 
various parts of it. In the invertebrates 
ganglia are centres of nervous force, and are 
distributed through the body in pairs, one 
for each ring of the body, connected by fibres 
as in the figure. The cerebral ganglia of 
vertebrates are the brain itself, the masses 
of gray matter at the base of the brain, as 
the optic thalamus, &c. 

Gangpur', a native state of Bengal, in 
Chota Nagpur, consisting mainly of hills, 
forest, and jungle; area, 2484 sq. miles; 
pop. 107,965. 

Gangrene (gang'gren), the death of some 
part of a living body, wherein the tissues 
begin to be in a state of mortification, there 
being also complete insensibility. A gan¬ 
grened part must be removed either by 
amputation or by natural process, but if a 
vital part is so affected death will ensue. 












GANGliE-GANTUNG PASS. 


Gangue (gang), a mineral substance sur¬ 
rounding a metallic ore in a vein. 

Gangway, a narrow platform or bridge 
of planks along the upper part of a ship’s 
side for communication fore and aft; also a 
sort of platform by which persons enter and 
leave a vessel.—In the House of Commons 
the gangway is a passage across the house, 
which separates the ministry and opposition 
with their respective adherents, who sit on 
seats running along the sides of the house, 
from the neutral or independent members, 
who occupy seats running across. Hence, the 
phrase to sit below the gangway, as applied 
to a member, implies that he holds himself 
as bound to neither party. 

Ganja. Same as Hashish. 

Ganjam, a decayed town of India, in the 
Madras Presidency, formerly capital in the 
district of same name, near the coast of the 
Bay of Bengal. It was at one time a flour¬ 
ishing place; but the town has declined since 
the epidemic of 1815, when Berhampur be¬ 
came the headquarters. The principal arm 
of the Ganjam River, which enters the sea 
to the south of the town, is about one-third 
of a mile broad.—The district, one of the 
five Circars, is one of the most productive 
under the Madras Presidency, yielding rice, 
cotton, sugar, rum, and pulse, &c. Area, 
8313 square miles; pop. 1,749,604. 

Gannet, the solan goose, a bird of the 
genus Sula {S. Bassdna), family Pelecanidse. 
It is about 3 feet in length, and 6 in breadth 
of wings from tip to tip; the whole plumage, 
a dirty white, inclining to gray; the eyes, a 
pale yellow, surrounded with a naked skin of 
a fine blue colour; the bill straight, 6 inches 
long, and furnished beneath with a kind of 



Gannet or Solan Goose (Sula Bassana). 

pouch. It is found from the Arctic Sea to 
the Gulf of Mexico; breeds in immense 
numbers on the rocky islands near the 
coast of Labrador. The male and female 


are nearly alike. The food of the gannet 
consists of salt-water fish, the herring and 
pilchard being the staple. It takes its 
prey by darting down on it from a con¬ 
siderable height. It makes its nests, which 
are composed chiefly ot turf and sea¬ 
weed, in the cavernstand fissures of rocks, 
or on their ledges. The female lays only 
one egg, though, if it be removed, she will 
deposit another. The young, which are much 
darker than the old birds, remain in the nest 
until nearly their full size, becoming ex¬ 
tremely fat. In St. Kilda they form the 
principal food of the inhabitants, being taken 
by men lowered from the top of the cliffs. 

Gan'oids {Ganoidei), the second order of 
fishes according to Agassiz. The families 



Scales of Ganoid Fishes. 


1, Lepidosteus. 2, Cheiracanthus. 3, Palaeoniscus. 
4, Cephalaspis. 5, Dipterus. 6, Acipeuser. 


of this order are chiefly characterized by 
angular, rhomboidal, polygonal, or circular 
scales composed of horny or bony plates 
covered with a thick plate of glossy enamel¬ 
like substance. The ganoids were most 
numerous in Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic 
times, but are now represented by seven 
genera:— Lepidosteus, the bony pikes or gar- 
pikes of the N. American fresh-water lakes; 
Folypterus, represented by a single species 
occurring in rivers of tropical Africa; Cala- 
moichthys, a similar genus found in Old 
Calabar; Amia, the fresh-water mud-fish of 
N. America; Acipenser, represented by the 
sturgeon; Scaphirhynchus, best known by 
the so-called shovel-nosed sturgeon of the 
Mississippi basin; and the genus Polyodon, 
or Spatularia, the paddle-fishes of the Mis¬ 
sissippi and great rivers of China. Of the 
extinct ganoids the most remarkable are the 
placoderms of the Silurian and Devonian 
period, comprising the earliest known re¬ 
mains of fishes. The Palaeozoic ganoids have 
all heterocercal tails, forms with diphycereal 
tails not appearing tilt the secondary period. 

Gantung Pass, a wild pass in the Wes¬ 
tern Himalayas between Bussahir in the 
Punjab and Tibet. It is covered with per¬ 
petual snow, and is 18,295 feet in height. 

118 























GANYMEDE 

Gan'ymede (-med), in Grecian mythology, 
great-grandson of Dardanus, the founder of 
Troy, and son of Tros and of Callirrhoe, 
daughter of Scamander. Zeus sent his eagle 
to carry him off from Mount Ida to Olym¬ 
pus, where he held the office of cup-bearer 
to the immortals in succession to Hebe. 

Gaol, or Jail, a prison or place of legal 
confinement. See Prison. 

Gaol delivery, in law, a commission to 
the judges on assize to try and deliver every 
prisoner in gaol on their arrival at the 
assize town. 

Gap, a town of South-eastern France, 
department of Hautes-Alpes, It is the seat 
of a bishop, and has a trade in wool, fruit, 
corn, and cattle. Pop. 7285. 

Gaper-shell, a lamellibranchiate mollusc, 
the Mya arenaria, common on the British 
coasts. It has an oblong shell and burrows 
in sand and mud, where it is sought after 
for bait. 

Gapes, a disease of fowls and other Ra- 
sorial birds, arising from the presence in 
the windpipe of small parasitic worms 
{Fasciola trachedlis) which cause the bird 
to continually open its beak. They may be 
dislodged with an oiled feather, or by mix¬ 
ing a little epsom salts with the food. 

Gar'ancin, Gaeancine, the product ob¬ 
tained by treating pulverized madder, pre¬ 
viously exhausted with water, with concen¬ 
trated sulphuric acid at 100° Cent. (212° 
Fahr.), and again washing with water. The 
residue thus obtained is found to yield better 
results in dyeing than madder itself, 

Garay (ga'rl), Janos, Hungarian poet, 
born in 1812; studied at Pesth, where he 
held a minor post in the public library. 
His heroic poem, Csat.ir (1834), was suc¬ 
ceeded by a number of dramas, mostly his¬ 
torical, the chief being Arbocz (1837), Ors- 
ziigy Ilona (1837), and Batory Erzs^bet 
(1840). His cycle of historic ballads, show¬ 
ing Uhland’s influence, was published in 
1847, under the title Arpadok, and his lyric 
poems, Balatoni Kagylok (Shells from Lake 
Balaton), in 1843. His last work was a 
historical epic, Szent Laszld (St. Ladislaus), 
published 1850. He died blind in 1853. 

Garbler, formerly an officer of the city 
of London, vested with power to enter any 
shop, warehouse, &c., to examine drugs and 
spices, and garble {i.e. sift out the coarse 
parts, dirt, &;c.) and malce clean the same, 
or see that it were done, 

Garcilaso de la Vega (gar-the-la'so; pro¬ 
perly Garcias Laso de la Vega), called the 

119 


GARD. 

prince of Spanish poets, born at Toledo ia 
1500 or 1503. He went in his youth to the 
Spanish court, and in 1529 distinguished 
himself in the Spanish corps serving against 
the Turks in Austria. An intrigue with a 
lady of the court led to his imprisonment on 
an island in the Danube, where several of his 
poems were composed. In 1529 he was en¬ 
gaged in the expedition against Soliman, and 
in 1535 in that against Tunis. He was made 
commander of thirty companies of infantry 
in 1536, and accompanied the imperial army 
against Marseilles, but was mortally woun¬ 
ded in attempting to scale a tower near 
Fr^jus. He died at Nice in that year, and 
was buried at Toledo. His name is associ¬ 
ated with that of his contemporary Boscan 
in the impetus given to Spanish literature 
by the imitation of the Italian poetic style 
as exemplified in Petrarch, Ariosto, and 
Sannazaro. His works, which consist of 
eclogues, epistles, odes, songs, sonnets, &c., 
are graceful and musical. 

Gaxcilaso de la Vega, or Gaecias Laso 
DE LA Vega, historian of Peru, surnamed 
the Inca, son of Garcilaso de la Vega, one 
of the conquerors of Peru, and a princess of 
the race of the Incas; born at Cuzco, Peru, 
in 1530 or 1540. Having fallen under the 
groundless suspicion of the Spanish govern¬ 
ment he was sent home in 1560, and died in 
1616 or 1620. His great work on the history 
of Peru is in two parts: the first entitled Los 
Comentarios Reales que tratan del Origen 
de los Incas, &c. (Lisbon, 1609); the second, 
the Historia general del Peru (Cordova, 
1616). He wrote also Historia de la Flor¬ 
ida (Lisbon, 1609). 

Garcinia, the genus of plants to which 
the mangosteen and gamboge belong, natural 
order Guttiferae. 

Gard (gar), a department of Southern 
France, abutting on the Gulf of Lyons; 
area, 2256 sq. miles. The north and west 
are occupied by the Cevennes and their 
branches, sloping gradually into a fertile 
plain, the coast-line of which is so low as 
to form extensive swamps and salines. The 
drainage belongs partly to the Garonne, 
but chiefly to the Rhone, which forms the 
east boundary. Within the department the 
chief river is the Gard. The rich lower 
districts produce a large quantity of wine, 
and are noted for silk-culture. Large quan¬ 
tities of salt are made; and lead, coal, iron, 
&c., are worked. There are silk, woollen, 
and cotton manufactures. Nlmes is the 
capital. Pop. 1891, 419,388. 






CARD 


GARDINER. 


Gard, Pont du, a fine Roman aqueduct, 
in Gard, 10 miles from Nimes, joining two 
mountains and passing over the Garden. 
It has three tiers of arches, and is 160 ft. 
high. See Aqueduct. 

Garda, or Bena'co, Lake (Ital. Lago di 
Garda; the Bendcus Lacus of the Romans), 
the largest lake in Italy, belonging to the 
Alpine region, 33 miles long north to south, 
3 to 11 miles broad, greatest depth 902 ft., 
213 ft. above sea-level. The Sarca, almost 
its only affluent, enters at its north end, and 
it is drained by the Mincio, which issues 
from its south-east end, near Peschiera. It 
is well stocked with fish. Steamboats ply 
on it, and its shores are covered with villas. 

Gardaya (gar-da'ya), or Ghardaya, a 
town of Algeria, in the Sahara, surrounded 
by a wall flanked with towers and entered 
by ten gates. Pop. 15,000. See Beni-Mzdh. 

Garde Ecossaise (gard a-kos-az), the 
Scotch guard in the service of the kings of 
France, first instituted on a regular footing 
by Charles VII., who in 1453 selected a 
hundred Scotch archers to form a special 
body-guard in recognition of the service of 
the Scotch soldiery in the Hundred Years’ 
war. There was also another company of 
a hundred Scots placed at the head of a 
regular army of fifteen companies of 100 
lances each, which was organized. This body 
was commanded by Scotchmen of the high¬ 
est rank. James VI., and his sous Henry 
and Charles, and James II. when Duke of 
York, held in succession the rank of captain 
in it. 

Gardelegen (gar'de-la-gen), a town of 
Prussia, gov. of Magdeburg. Pop. 7258. 

Garde Nationale (na-syo-nal), a guard of 
armed citizens instituted at Paris, July 13, 
1789, for the purpose of preserving order and 
protecting liberty. At first it numbered 
48,000 men, but was increased to 300,000 
when it was organized throughout the whole 
country. Acting as a royalist and reactionary 
force it was crushed by Napoleon in 1795. 
It was reorganized by the Directory and by 
Napoleon, and again under the Bourbons, 
to whom, however, it was a source of such 
disquietude that it was dissolved by a royal 
ordinance in 1827. Under Louis Philippe 
it was resuscitated in its old form, and con¬ 
tributed to his overthrow. In 1851 the 
national guard was again reorganized, but 
in 1855 it was dissolved. In 1870 the 
national guard of Paris was again formed 
for the defence of the city against the 
Prussians. The resistance of a section of 


the guard to the decree of disarmament 
issued under M. Thiers led to the com¬ 
munal war, at the close of which the guard 
was declared dissolved by the National As¬ 
sembly (1871). 

Garde Nationale Mobile, a body consti¬ 
tuted by Napoleon III. in 1868, on the sug¬ 
gestion of Marshal Niel, to form bases of 
regiments to supplement the regular army. 
It was called into action in 1870-71, but was 
too ill organized to be efficient. 

Garde'nia, a genus of trees and shrubs, nat. 
order Cinchonaceae, natives of tropical Asia 
and Africa, bearing beautiful white or yel¬ 
lowish flowers of great fragrance. The 
genus was named after Dr. Garden, of 
Charleston, S. C. 

Gardening. See Horticulture. 

Garden-spider, also called Diadem or 
Cross-spider, the Epeira diadema, a com¬ 
mon British sj^ider the dorsal surface of 
which is marked with a triple yellow cross. 
It forms a beautiful geometric web. 

Gar den- warbler [Sylvia or Curruca hor- 
tensis), a migratory song-bird visiting Britain 
from the end of April to September, and 
ranking next to the blackcap as a songster. 
It is rather less than 6 inches long, the 
head, back, neck, wings, and tail being a 
greenish brown, the whole under surface of 
the body a dull brownish white. 

Gardes Suisses (gard swes), a body of 
guards under the French kings. Swiss com¬ 
panies served in France from the time of 
Louis XI., but the institution of the Swiss 
guards as a complete regiment dates from 
1616. Both the officers and men were Swiss, 
and the companies mounted guard according 
to the rank of the cantons of their captains. 
The Swiss guards followed in order of prece¬ 
dence after the French guards, enjoyed 
liberty of worship, and were exempted from 
service in Germany, Italy, and Spain. Their 
attachment to the king made them obnoxious 
to the people during the revolution, and dur¬ 
ing the defence of the Louvre in August, 
1792, they were massacred without mercy. 

Gardiner, Stephen, an English prelate, 
believed to have been a natural son of 
Lionel, bishop of Salisbury, and brother of 
Elizabeth Woodville, queen of Edward IV. 
He was born in 1483 at Bury St. Edmunds, 
and in 1520 took the degrees of D.D. and 
LL. D. at Cambridge, where he. became 
Master of Trinity Hall. He passed at this 
time by the name of Dr. Stephens. Having 
become secretary to Wolsey and a favourite 
with the king, he was despatched to Rome 

120 



GARDINER-GARGANTUA. 


in 1528 to forward Henry VIII.’s divorce, 
and on his return was appointed secretary of 
state, and in succession archdeacon of Nor- 



Bishop Gardiner. 

■wich and Leicester, and Bishop of Win¬ 
chester. He also went on various embassies 
to France and Germany. He supported the 
king in renouncing the authority of the 
pope, but opposed the doctrines of the Re¬ 
formation, and took an active part in the 
passing of the six articles and in the prose¬ 
cution of Protestants. He was successful 
in contx'iving the fall of his opponent Crom¬ 
well, but failed to injure Catherine Parr, 
and fell into disfavour. During the reign 
of Edward he was imprisoned in the Fleet, 
deprived of his bishopric, and afterwards 
imprisoned in the Tower from 1548-53, but 
Mary restored him to his bishopric, and 
appointed him lord chancellor. He offici¬ 
ated at her coronation and marriage, and 
became one of her chief advisers. He took 
an active part in the persecutions at the, 
beginning of the reign, but was outdone in 
ferocity by Bonnar. He died in 1555. 

Gardiner, Kennebec co., Maine. It has 
saw-mills, paixer-mills, and is headquarters 
of a great ice business. Pop. 1890, 5491. 

Gardner, Worcester co.. Mass. It con¬ 
tains a number of chair factories, its prin¬ 
cipal industry. Pop. 1890, 8424. 

Garfield, James Abram, an American 
general and statesman, the twentieth Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, born in Ohio, 
where he worked on a farm till his four¬ 
teenth year. He acquired a good education, 
however, studied law, and in 1859 was 
elected to the Ohio state senate. In 1861 
he entered the army, was appointed colonel, 

121 


became chief of staff to Rosecranz, and 
major-general of volunteers. He resigned 
his command to enter congress in 1863. 
He sat in nine congresses for the same con- 
stituency, serving on important commit¬ 
tees, and winning ground no less by strong 
intelligence than uncompromising honesty. 
In 1880 he was elected to the senate, and 
in the same year elected President of the 
United States. Many reforms seemed about 
to be inaugurated, when he was shot by a 
disappointed office-seeker named Guiteau 
in the railway station at Washington. 
He lingered eighty days, dying at Long 
Branch, Sept. 19, 1881. 

Gar-fish, Sea-pike, or Gar-pike {Bel6ne 
vulgaris), a fish, known also as the sea- 
needle, making its appearance a short time 
before the mackerel in their annual visit 
for spawning. It is long and slender, 
sometimes 2 or 3 feet in length; the head 
projects forward into a very long, sharp 
snout; the sides and belly are of a bright 
silvery colour, and the back green, marked 
with a dark purple line. The name Gar¬ 
fish or Gar-pike is also given to other species 
of Belune, and to a ganoid fish of the genus 



Common Garfish (Belona vulgaris). 

Lepidosteus, found in the fresh waters of 
America. See Bony-pike. 

Gar'ganey (J ms querquedula), a species 
of duck, called also ‘summer teal,’ from visit¬ 
ing Britain in summer and being closely 
akin to the teal. It is widely spread through 
the eastern hemisphere. 

Garga'no (Latin, Gargdnus), a group of 
pine-clad mountains in South Italy, pro¬ 
vince of Foggia, forming the spur of the 
boot in the Italian peninsula projecting into 
the Adriatic. The loftiest summit is Calvo, 
5450 feet. 

Gargan'tua, the hero of Rabelais’s satire, 
so named from his father exclaiming ‘ Que 
grand tu as/’ ‘ How large (a gullet) thou 
hast! ’ on hearing him cry out, immediately 
on his birth, ‘ Drink, drink! ’ so lustily as 
to be heard over several districts. It re¬ 
quired 900 ells of linen for the body of his 
shirt, and 200 more for the gussets, 1100 
cow hides for the soles of his shoes, and be 
picked his teeth with an elephant’s tusk. 





GAUGARA — 

Gar'gara (Turkish, A^ascZa/;A), the highest 
mountain of the ridge of Ida, in Asia Minor, 
near the Gulf of Adramyti, on the north. 

Gargle, a liquid application to the throat. 
In usiiiff a gargle the head should be thrown 
well back so as to keep the liquid in con¬ 
tact with the throat, and by expelling the 
air from the lungs through the liquid the 
passage may be thoroughly washed. Care 
should be taken not to swallow the gargle. 

Gar'goyle, in Gothic architecture, a pro¬ 
jecting spout, for throwing the water from 



Gargoyle, Stony-Stratford. 


the gutter of a building, usually of some 
grotesque form, such as the head or figure 
of an animal or monster. 

Garhmukhtesar. See GurmuHeswar. 

Garhwal (gar-hwak), or Gurhwal, a dis¬ 
trict in the North-west Provinces, India, 
bounded on the north by Tibet, east by 
Kumitun, south by Bijnaur district, and 
west by the Garhwal state; area, 5500 sq. 
miles; pop. 345,629. There are good roads, 
and a considerable trade with Tibet. 

Garhwal, or Tehei, a native Indian state 
under British protection, west of the district 
of the same name (see above); area, 9180 
sq. miles; pop. 199,836. Chief town, Tehri; 
chief river, the Alaknanda and other head¬ 
waters of the Ganges. A large part is 
covered with forests, which include valuable 
deodar tracts, leased to the British govern¬ 
ment in 1864. 

Garibal'di, Giuseppe, Italian patriot and 
hero, was born at Nice, 1807, his father 
being a poor fi.sherman. He got little edu¬ 
cation, and for a number of years was a 
sailor on various trading vessels. In 1834 
he became a member of the ‘Young Italy’ 
party, and being condemned to death for his 
share in the schemes of Mazzini, escaped to 
Marseilles, took service in the fieet of the 


GARIBALDI. 

Bey of Tunis, and finally went to South 
America. In the service of the Republic 
of Rio Grande against the Brazilians he 
became known as a brilliant leader, and 
with his famous Italian legion he subse¬ 
quently gave the Monte Videans such effec¬ 
tive aid against Buenos Ayres as to earn 
the title of ‘hero of Monte Video.’ In 
1848 he returned to Italy, raised a band of 
volunteers, and harassed the Austrians un¬ 
til the cessation of hostilities and re-esta¬ 
blishment of Austrian supremacy in Lom¬ 
bardy. He then retired to Switzerland, but 
in the spring of 1849 proceeded to Rome to 
support Mazzini’s republic. He was ap¬ 
pointed to command the forces, but the odds 
were overwhelming, and after a desperate 
defence of thirty days Garibaldi escaped 
from Rome with 4000 of his followers. In 
the course of his flight his wife Anita died 
from fatigue and privations. He reached 
the United States, and was for some years 
in command of a merchant vessel. He then 
purchased a part of the small island of Cap- 
rera, off the north coast of Sardinia, and 
made this his home for the rest of his life. 
Latterly the subscriptions of his admirers 
enabled him to become owner of the whole 
island. In the war of 1859, in which Sar¬ 
dinia recovered Lombardy, Garibaldi and 
his Chasseurs of the Alps did splendid ser¬ 
vice ; and on the revolt of the Sicilians in 1860 
he crossed to the island, wrested it after a 
fierce struggle from the King of Naples, re¬ 
crossed to the mainland and occupied Naples, 
where he was proclaimed Dictator of the 
Two Sicilies. It was now feared that Gari¬ 
baldi might prove untrue to his motto— 
Italy and Victor Emmanuel—but he readily 
acquiesced in the annexation of the Two 
Sicilies to Italy, and declining all honours 
retired to his island farm. In 1862 he 
endeavoured to force the Roman question 
to a solution, and entered Calabria with a 
small following, but was taken prisoner at 
Aspromonte by the royal troops. He was 
soon released, however, and returned to Ca- 
prera. In 1864 he received an enthusias¬ 
tic welcome in Britain. In 1866 he com¬ 
manded a volunteer force against the Aus¬ 
trians in the Italian Tyrol, but failed to 
accomplish anything of consequence. Next 
year he attempted the liberation of Rome, 
but near Mentana was defeated by the 
French and pontifical troops, and was again 
imprisoned by the Italian government, but 
soon pardoned and released. In 1870 he 
gave his services to the French republican 

122 




GARIEP — 

government against the Germans, and with 
his 20,000 men rendered valuable assistance 
in the south-east. At the end of the war 
he was elected a member of the French as¬ 
sembly, but speedily resigned his seat and 
returned to Caprera. Kome now became 



the capital of united Italy, and here in 
January, 1875, Garibaldi took his seat in 
the Italian parliament. The latter part of 
his life was spent quietly at Caprera. After 
1870 he wrote two or three novels—very 
mediocre productions. He died somewhat 
suddenly June 2, 1882. His autobiography 
has been published in English. 

Gaxiep (ga-rep'). See Orange River. 

. Garigliano (ga-ril-ya-no), a river of S. 
Italy, formed by the junction of the Liri 
and Sacco near Pontecorvo. After a course 
of 40 miles it falls into the Gulf of Gaeta; 
but if the Liri is regarded as the same 
stream, its length is more than double. 

Garlic {Allium sativum), a hardy, per¬ 
ennial allied to the onion, indigenous to 
the south of Europe, and forming a favour¬ 
ite condiment amongst several nations. 
The leaves are grass-like, and differ from 
those of the common onion in not being 
fistulous; the stem is about 2 feet high; the 
flowers are white; and the root is a com¬ 
pound bulb, consisting of several smaller 
bulbs, commonly denominated cloves, envel¬ 
oped by a common membrane. It has a 
strong, penetrating odour, and a pungent 
acrid taste. Used as a medicine it is 
stimulant, tonic, and promotes digestion; it 
has also diuretic and sudorific qualities, and 
is a good expectorant.— Oil of garlic is a 
sulphide of allyl, (C 3 H 5 ) 2 S, a colourless, 

123 


GARONNE. 

strongly-smelling oil, exceedingly irritant to 
the palate and the skin. It is contained also 
in the onion, leek, asafoetida, &c. 

Garnet, a beautiful mineral, or group of 
minerals, classed among the gems, and oc¬ 
curring generally in mica-slate, hornblende- 
slate, gneiss, and granite, usually as more 
or less regular crystals of from twelve to 
sixty or even eighty-four sides. The pre¬ 
vailing colour is red of various shades, but 
often brown, and sometimes green, yellow, 
or black. They vary considerably in com¬ 
position, but admit of classification into three 
principal groups according to their chief 
sesquioxide basic components, viz. alumina, 
iron, and chrome garnets. Among the va¬ 
rieties are common garnet, pyrope, alaman- 
dine, precious or oriental garnet, allochroite, 
melanite or black garnet, &c. By jewellers 
garnets are classed as Syrian, Bohemian, or 
Cinghalese, rather, however, from their rela¬ 
tive value and fineness than as necessarily 
implying that they came from these places. 
The first, named after Syrian, in Pegu, long 
the chief mart for garnets, are the most 
esteemed, being a violet-purple unmixed 
with black and taking an orange tint by 
artificial light. The Bohemian garnet is 
usually a dull poppy red with hyacinth 
orange tint when held between the eye and 
the light; the pyrope is a full crimson form 
of this class. Coarse garnets reduced to 
powder are sometimes used in place of emery 
for polishing metals. 

Garof'alo, Benvenuto (properly Benve¬ 
nuto Tisio da Garofalo), an Italian historical 
painter, born at Ferrara in 1481. He painted 
at Cremona and at Rome, where he became 
intimate with Raphael, and then returned 
to Ferrara, where he died blind in 1559. 
His works show the influence of the Lom¬ 
bard school and still more of Raphael, though 
it is denied that he was an imitator of the 
latter. Examples of his work are to be 
found in Ferrara, Florence, Rome, and Lon¬ 
don, and most of the leading galleries. 

Garo Hills, a district of India, forming 
the south-western corner of Assam; area, 
3146 sq. miles. It is a mountainous and 
forest region intersected by tributaries of the 
Brahmaputra. The native Garos are a ro¬ 
bust and active race. Among them the wife 
is regarded as the head of the family, and 
property descends through females. Pop. 
110,000. 

Garonne' (Lat. Garumna), a river of S. W. 
France, rising in the vale of Aran, in the 
Spanish Pyrenees; length, about 350 miles. 





GARONNE-GARROT. 


It enters France and flows north-west to 
the Atlantic, through Haute-Garonne, Tarn- 
et-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, and Gironde. 
Below Toulouse it receives, on the left, the 
Save, Ratz, Gers, Baise, &c.; on the right, 
the Tarn, the Lot, and the Dordogne, on 
joining which, it changes its name to the 
Gironde. It is navigable on the descent 
from St. Martory, and both ways from Tou¬ 
louse. The Canal du Midi, joining it at 
Toulouse, forms a communication between 
the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at Nar- 
bonne, and the Canal Lateral, from Tou¬ 
louse to Castets-en-Dorthe (Gironde), sup¬ 
plements its direct navigation. 

Gajonne, Haute, a department, south of 
France, one of the five separated by the 
Pyrenees from Spain. It is traversed from 
south to north by the higher reaches of the 
Garonne and for about 26 miles by the 
Canal du Midi. The valleys and the lower 
northern districts are often of great fertility, 
and cereals and wine are largely exported. 
Hemp, flax, oranges, and tobacco are also 
much grown. The principal mines are lead, 
copper, coal, antimony, iron, and zinc, and 
a fine marble is quarried. There is a large 
transit trade with Spain. Capital of de¬ 
partment, Toulouse. Area, 2529 sq. miles. 
Pop. 1891, 472,383. 

Garrick, David, actor, born at Hereford, 
Feb. 20,1716. His grandfather was a French 
refugee, his father a captain in the army. 
He was educated at Lichfield grammar- 
school, spent a short time at Lisbon with 
an uncle, and returning to Lichfield was 
placed under Samuel Johnson, who was in¬ 
duced to accompany him to the metropolis 
(1736). Garrick then began to study for 
the law, but on the death of his father 
joined his brother Peter in the wine trade. 
He had, however, as a child a strong pas¬ 
sion for acting, and in 1741 he joined Gif- 
fard’s company at Ipswich under the name 
of Lyddal. At Giffard’s theatre in Good¬ 
man’s-fields he achieved a great success as 
Richard III., and in 1742 was not less suc¬ 
cessful at Drury Lane. In 1745 he be¬ 
came joint manager with Mr. Sheridan of a 
theatre in Dublin, and after a season at 
Covent Garden (1746) purchased Drury Lane 
in conjunction with Mr. Lacy, opening it 
15th September, 1747, with the Merchant 
of Venice, to which Dr. Johnson furnished 
a prologue. From this period may be dated 
a comparative revival of Shakspere, and a 
reform both in the conduct and license of 
the drama. In 1763 he visited the Conti¬ 


nent for a year and a half. He had already 
written his farces of The Lying Valet, Lethe, 
and Miss in her Teens; and in 1766 he 
composed, jointly with Colman, the excel¬ 
lent comedy of The Clandestine Marriage. 
After the death of Lacy, in 1773, the sole 
management of the theatre devolved upon 
Garrick, until 1776, when he sold his moiety 
of the theatre for £37,000, performed his 
last part, Don Felix in The Wonder, for the 
benefit of the theatrical fund, and bade an 
impressive farewell to the stage. He died 
January 20,1779, and was buried with great 
pomp in Westminster Abbey. Besides the 
pieces mentioned he wrote some epigrams, 
a number of prologues and epilogues, and a 
few dramatic interludes. As a man Garrick 
was highly respected, the chief defect of 
his character being vanity. As an actor he 
has probably never been excelled, and he 
was almost equally great both in tragedy 
and in comedy. He left a large fortune. 

Gar'rison, a body of troops stationed in a 
fortified place (fort, town, or castle) to de¬ 
fend it or keep the inhabitants in subjec¬ 
tion. 

Gar'rison, William Lloyd, American 
journalist and founder of the anti-slavery 
movement in the United States, born 1805. 
He was apprenticed to a shoemaker, but 
eventually became a compositor on the 
Newbury port Herald. In 1827 he became 
editor of the National Philanthropist, the 
first American temperance journal, and 
afterwards of a journal in support of the 
election of John Quincy Adams. With 
Mr. Lundy, a Quaker, he then started the 
paper called the Genius of Universal Eman¬ 
cipation (1829), his denunciations of slave- 
traders leading to his imprisonment for 
libel. On his release he commenced lectur¬ 
ing in Boston, started the Liberator (1831), 
published weeldy with the aid of one assis¬ 
tant and a negro boy. In 1832 appeared his 
Thoughts on African Colonization, and in the 
same year he established the American Anti- 
Slavery Society. He subsequently visited 
England, where he w'as welcomed by Wilber- 
force. Brougham, Buxton, and others. In 
1835 he was saved with difficulty from a 
Boston mob; but his principles made steady 
progress until 1865, when the Anti-Slavery 
Society was dissolved with its work accom¬ 
plished. He died at New York, 1879. A 
volume of sonnets (1843) and one of selec¬ 
tions (1852) bear his name. 

Garrot, the common name given to the 
ducks of tlie genus CLangiUa, of the oceanic 

124 


GAREOTE-GARTER KING OF ARMS. 


section of the duck family, having the bill 
shorter than the head, widely distributed 
over the temperate regions of Europe and 
America. The golden-eyed garrot {C. chry- 
sophthcilmus) is a common species in Britain, 
its general colour being white beneath, with 
head and sides of neck rich green, back and 
tail bluish or grayish-black, and the bill 
bluish-black. It has a round white spot 
before each eye, and two white bands on 
the wing; the female is ashy, with rufous 
head; length of male about 19 inches. The 
harlequin garrot {Clangida histrionica) is 
also a winter visitant in Great Britain. 

Garrote (gar-ro'tiU, a mode of punishment 
in Spain by strangulation, the victim being 
placed on a stool with a post or stake (Span¬ 
ish, (jarrote) behind, to which is affixed an 
iron collar with a screw; this collar is made 
to clasp the neck of the criminal, and drawn 
tighter by means of the screw till life be¬ 
comes extinct. This word, with the French 
spelling and pronunciation garrotte, has be¬ 
come naturalized in Great Britain as a term 
for a species of robbery effected by throttling 
tne victim and stripping him while insen¬ 
sible. 

Gaxrow Hills. See Garo Hills. 

Gar'rulus, a genus of insessorial birds of 
the crow family, containing the jays, 

Garrya, a genus of opposite-leaved ever¬ 
green shrubs, natives of California, Mexico, 
Cuba, and Jamaica. G. elliptica is a hand¬ 
some garden plant wdth long drooping neck¬ 
lace-like catkins of pale yellow flowers. 

Garter, Order of the, the highest and 
most ancient order of knighthood in Great 
Britain. The origin of the order, though 
sometimes assigned to Richard I,, is gene¬ 
rally attributed to Edward III., the legend 
being that the Countess of Salisbury hav¬ 
ing dropped her garter while dancing, the 
king restored it, after putting it round 
his own leg, with the words, which be¬ 
came the motto of the order, ^ Jloni soil 
qui mal y pense '—Shame be to him who 
thinks evil of it. The date of the founda¬ 
tion or restoration by Edward III. of the 
order, as given by Froissart, is 1344, while 
other authorities, founding on the statutes 
of the order, assign it to 1350. The statutes 
of the order have been repeatedly revised, 
more particularly in the reigns of Henry 

V. , Henry VIII., Edward VL, and George 
III.—the last in 1805, Ladies are said to 
have been admitted up till the reign of 
Edward IV. Until the reign of Edward 

VI. the common title of the order was the 

125 


Order of St. George, and it still bears this 
title, as well as that of the Garter. The 
original number of knights was twenty -six, 
including the sovereign, who was its per¬ 
manent head; and this number is still re¬ 
tained, except that by a statute passed in 
1786 princesof the 
blood are admit¬ 
ted as supernu¬ 
merary members. 

The peculiar em¬ 
blem of the order, 
the garter (5), a 
dark-blue ribbon 
edged with gold, 
bearing the motto 
and with a gold 
buckle and pen¬ 
dant, is worn on 
the left leg below 
the knee. The 
mantle is of blue 
velvet, lined with 
white taffeta, the 
surcoat and hood 
of crimson velvet, 
the hat of black 
velvet, with plume 
of white ostrich 
feathers, having in 
the centre a tuft of black heron’s feathers. 
The collar of gold(3), which consists of twenty- 
six pieces, each in the form of a garter, has 
the badge of the order, called the George (4), 
pendent from it. This consists of a figure of 
St. George on horseback fighting the dragon. 
The lesser George (2 j is worn on a broad blue 
ribbon over the left shoulder. The star (1), 
formerly only a cross, is of silver, and con¬ 
sists of eight points, with the cross of St. 
George in the centre, encircled by the gar¬ 
ter. A star is worn by the knights on the 
left side when not in the dress of the order. 
The officers of the order are the prelate, 
the Bishop of Winchester; the chancellor, 
the Bishop of Oxford; the registrar. Dean 
of Windsor; the garter king of arms, and 
the usher of the black rod. There are a 
dean and twelve canons, and each knight 
has a knight-pensioner. 

Garter-fish. See Scahhard-fish. 

Garter King of Arms, the head of the 
heraldic establishment in England, consist¬ 
ing of three kings of arms—Garter, Claren- 
cieux, and Norroy, and the herald of the 
military order of the Garter. The office of 
garter king of arms was instituted by Henry 
V. in 1417. The duties of the garter king 



Insignia of the Garter. 




GARTH 


GAS. 


of arms are principally to grant heraldic 
supporters, to arrange royal funerals, and to 
present the order of the Garter to foreign 
princes. 

Gaxth, Sir Samuel, a physician and poet, 
born not later than 1670; educated at Peter- 
house, Cambridge ; made a fellow of the 
College of Physicians, 1692. A division 
among the medical profession on the estab¬ 
lishment of a dispensary for the metrooo- 
litan poor was the occasion of his successful 
mock-heroic poem. The Dispensary (1699). 
He became the chief Whig physician, as 
RadclifFe was chief physician with the 
Tories, and on the accession of George I. 
was knighted, and appointed physician in 
ordinary to the king, and physician-general 
to the army. He died in 1719. Of his 
other works, Claremont, a moral epistle in 
verse (1715) was the chief. 

Garvie, Garvie Herring, the name in 
Scotland for the sprat, llarenyula (Clupea) 
sprattus. 

Gas, an elastic aeriform fluid, a term 
originally synonymous with air, but after¬ 
wards restricted to such bodies as were 
supposed to be incapable of being reduced 
to a liquid or solid state. Under this 
supposition gas was ‘a term applied to all 
permanently elastic fluids or airs differing 
from common air,’ After the liquefaction 
of gases by Faraday, the old distinction be¬ 
tween gas and vapour, viz. that the latter 
could be reduced to a liquid or solid condi¬ 
tion by reduction of temperature and in¬ 
crease of pressure, while a gas could not be 
so altered, was no longer tenable, so that the 
term has resumed nearly its original signi¬ 
fication, and designates any substance in an 
elastic aeriform state. Gases are distin¬ 
guished from liquids by the name of elastic 
fluids; while liquids are termed non-elastic, 
because they have, comparatively, no elas¬ 
ticity. But the most prominent distinction 
is the following;— Liquids are compressible 
to a certain degree, and expand into their 
former state when the pressure is removed; 
and in so far they are elastic, but gases ap¬ 
pear to be in a continued state of compres¬ 
sion, for when left unconfined they expand 
in every direction to an extent which has 
not hitherto been determined. In respect 
of this indefinite expansiveness, all gaseous 
bodies obey more or less strictly two laws, 
commonly called the ‘gaseous laws.’ The 
first, known as the law of Boyle and Mari- 
otte, given first by Robert Boyle in 1662, 
and then by Mariotte in 1676, is that— 


The volume of a given mass of gas varies 
inversely with the pressure to which the gas 
is subjected; or, in other words, the density 
of a given mass of gas is in direct propor¬ 
tion to the pressure that the gas is sub¬ 
jected to. The second of the gaseous laws 
is commonly called the law of Dalton and 
Gay-Lussac. It is, however, properly called 
Charles’ law. Dalton published it in 1801; 
but Gay-Lussac, who stated it in 1802, 
gives the credit of having discovered it, 
fifteen years previously, to Citizen Charles. 
The law may be stated as follows:—The 
volume of a gas maintained under constant 
pressure increases for equal increments of 
temperature by a constant fraction of its 
original volume; and this fraction is the 
same whatever is the nature of the gas. A 
mass of gas, whose volume is 1000 at 0° C., 
becomes, at 100° C,, 1366'5, the pressure 
remaining constant. In virtue of these laws 
a gas may now be defined to be a substance 
possessing the condition of perfect fluid elas¬ 
ticity, and presenting under a constant pres¬ 
sure a uniform state of expansion for equal 
increments of temperature—a property dis¬ 
tinguishing it from vapour. There is, how¬ 
ever, no known gas that obeys these two 
laws perfectly: thus, of the six gases whose 
liquefaction has been attended with most 
difficulty (oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, car¬ 
bonic oxide, nitric oxide, and light carbu- 
retted hydrogen), all except hydrogen are 
more compressible than they should be theo¬ 
retically, while hydrogen deviates slightly 
in the opposite direction, being less com¬ 
pressible than Boyle’s law would indicate. 
The other gases exhibit even greater devia¬ 
tions from Boyle’s law, and the amount of 
the deviation rapidly increases as the gas is 
brought nearer and nearer to liquefaction. 
The law of Dalton or Charles which gives 
for equal elevations of tempei-ature equal 
increments of volume is also deviated from 
by every gas, and more and more so as the 
point of liquefaction is approached. 

The liquefaction of gases is effected by 
the application of cold or pressure, or both 
combined. For any given pressure there 
is a particular temperature at which the 
gas liquefies. At a certain point, however, 
called by Andrews the critical point of 
temperature, the distinction between liquid 
and gas appears completely lost. At and 
above this temperature no pressure that can 
be applied will convert the fluid into the 
form of a liquid even though the volume is 
diminished by pressure so much as to make 

126 



GAS. 


the density of the fluid greater than that of 
the liquid obtained at lower temperatures. 
By 1878 all gases had been liquefied. 

The power of motion inherent in all parts 
of aeriform matter is accounted for by the 
kinetic theory of gases, according to which 
a gas consists of an enormous number of 
molecules moving about with very great 
velocity. Great as is their number, how¬ 
ever, the molecules are sparsely distributed 
through space, in comparison with their 
distribution when the substance is in the 
solid or liquid condition. A molecule of 
a gas flying about moves on in a straight 
line till it meets another molecule, or till it 
impinges on a side of the containing vessel. 
Meeting another molecule the two turn 
each other aside, just as two billiard balls 
when they come into collision are both de¬ 
flected from their previous paths. Passing 
thence each flies on in a straight line till it 
meets a fresh molecule, and each is again 
deflected. When the molecules impinge on 
the side of the vessel that contains the gas 
they rebound as a billiard ball does from 
the cushion of the billiard table; and the 
perpetual shower of molecules that strike 
and rebound from the sides gives rise to 
the phenomenon of gaseous pressure, just 
as an umbrella held out in a hail-storrn is 
pressed downwards owing to the numerous 
impulsive blows that act upon it. When 
the temperature of a gas is raised the 
energy of the molecules is increased. They 
strike with greater velocity, and the num¬ 
ber of blows on the side of the vessel is also 
increased. The pressure is therefore greater; 
and the law of Dalton or Charles is easily 
shown to be a consequence of the kinetic 
theory. Boyle’s law also follows very sim¬ 
ply from it; for if w'e diminish the volume 
of the containing vessel to one-half, one- 
third, or to any other fraction of its original 
volume, we increase the number of mole¬ 
cules in a given space, a cubic inch for in¬ 
stance, in the same ratio. Consequently, 
the number of impacts on a square inch of 
the surface of the containing vessel will 
also be increased in the same ratio, and the 
pressure will thus be increased in that ratio 
too. It is estimated that in a cubic centi¬ 
metre of gas at standard temperature and 
pressure there are nineteen million million 
million molecules. 

Gas, Lighting by, as ordinarily under¬ 
stood, the application of carburetted and 
bicarburetted hydrogen gas, that is olefiant 
gas, to the lighting of buildings, streets, 

127 


&c. In 1739 the Eev. Mr. Clayton pub¬ 
lished a paper in the Philosophical Tran¬ 
sactions, on the inflammable nature of the 
gases obtained by the decomposition of pit- 
coal in heated close vessels ; but no practical 
application of this discovery was made be¬ 
fore 1792, w'hen Mr. W. Murdoch, a native 
of Ayrshire, in the employ of Messrs. Watt 
and Boulton, lighted his own house and 
offices at Redruth on this principle. In 
1798 he erected a gas apparatus on a large 
scale at Soho Foundry, Birmingham, and in 
1802 M. Le Bon lighted his house in Paris 
by gas, and made a proposal to supply the 
whole city. In 1803 Mr. Winsor exhibited 
gas illuminations at London in the Lyceum, 
and afterwards raised the sum of £50,000 
from a number of subscribers who formed 
themselves into a National Light and Heat 
Company (1810). With this money Mr. 
Winsor lighted Pall Mall, but was soon 
succeeded by Mr. Samuel Gleg, who in¬ 
vented the hydraulic main, the wet-lime 
purifier, and the wet gas-meter. From this 
time coal gas became the most common 
illuminating agent wherever it could be pre¬ 
pared economically. Another kind of gas 
for lighting has lately come into use to some 
extent, namely, water-gas, produced from 
the decomposition of water in the form of 
steam by passing it through incandescent 
fuel. See ]Yater-gas. 

Gas is obtained from coal, the best sorts 
being those bituminous coals knowui in Eng¬ 
land by the name of cannel, and in Scotland 
by the name otparrot. The coal is distilled in 
retorts of cast-iron (a), or nowmore generally 
of fire-clay, heated to a bright red heat. As 
they issue from the retort into the hydraulic 
main (b) the products of distillation contain 
vapours of tar and naphtha, together with 
steam impregnated with carbonate of am¬ 
monia and hydrosulphate of sulphide of am¬ 
monium. These vapours would condense in 
the pipes in which the gas must be distrib¬ 
uted, and would clog them up; they must 
therefore be so far removed by previous cool¬ 
ing as to cause no inconvenient condensation 

o 

at ordinary temperatures. The crude gas 
contains, besides, sulphuretted hydrogen, the 
combustion of which would exhale an offen¬ 
sive odour. Carbonic acid weakens the 
illuminating power of the gas, and has also 
to be removed. In the hydraulic main—a 
large horizontal pipe at first about half -filled 
with water—some separation is effected be¬ 
tween the liquid products of distillation and 
the gaseous, which bubble up through the 


GAS. 


liquid into the upper portion of the main. 
At the end of the main the liquids fall by 
their greater gravity into the sunk reservoir 
known as the tar-well, while the gas is con¬ 
ducted to the condenser or refrigerator (c), a 
series of bent iron tubes kept cool either by 
exposqre to currents of air or by allowing 
water to flow over them. In these there is 
a further deposit of tar and water, and the 
gas passes on to the washer, a series of cells 
in which the gas is forced through water or 
exposed to water spray for the removal of 


ammonia. The scrubber (d), which is some¬ 
times used in place of the washer, is a large 
chamber filled with coke kept constantly 
wet with sprays of water. The gas in pass¬ 
ing up the scrubber leaves its last traces of 
ammonia and its compounds, and then enters 
the purifiers (e), which are iron chambers 
containing a series of perforated trays on 
which are spread slaked lime (in the form 
of dry hydrate), or a mixture of sawdust and 
oxide of iron. These remove carbonic acid 
and the greater portion of the sulphur com- 



Gas-work, shown in section. 


pounds, and the gas is then conveyed by 
means of a pipe (f') to the gas-holder (g), a 
store-house or reservoir, in which it is sub¬ 
jected to uniform pressure, and from which it 
is discharged (f) into the street or other mains 
in the constant stream necessary to produce 
a steady flame from the burners in the houses 
of those using it. The gas-holder, sometimes 
called a gasometer, is usually a very large 
cylindrical air-tight structure of iron plates, 
closed at top, open below, and having the 
lower end immersed in a water reservoir. It 
is supported by chains passing over pulleys on 
iron columns, the greater part of the weight 
of the gas-holder being counterbalanced by 
weights attached to the chains, so that it 
can exercise a certain regulated pressure on 
the gas contained in it. 

The quantity of gas used by each con¬ 
sumer is measured by an instrument called 
a meter, of which there are two classes—the 
wet and the dry. Hie wet meter is com¬ 
posed of an outer box about three-fifths 


filled with water. Within this is a revolving 
four-chambered drum, each chamber being 
capable of containing a definite quantity of 
gas, which is admitted through a pipe in the 
centre of the meter, and, owing to the ar¬ 
rangement of the partitions of the chambers, 
causes the drum to maintain a constant 
revolution. This sets in motion a train of 
wheels carrying the hands over the dials 
which mark the quantity of gas consumed. 
The dry meter consists of two or three 
chambers, each divided by a flexible parti¬ 
tion or diaphragm, by the motion of which 
the capacity on one side is diminished while 
that on the other is increased. By means of 
slide-valves, like those of a steam-engine, 
worked by the movement of the diaphragms, 
the gas to be measured passes alternately in 
and out of each space. The contractions 
and expansions set in motion the clockwork 
which marks the rate of consumption. The 
diaphragms in all the chambers are so con¬ 
nected that they move in concert. 

12a 




























































































































GASCOIGNE 


GAS ENGINE, 


The profitable consumption of gas, where¬ 
by the strongest light can be had at the 
least expenditure of gas, depends consider¬ 
ably upon the form of the burner, and the 
mode by which the flame is fed with the air 
necessary for its combustion. There must 
be a sufficient supply of oxygen to convert 
the carbon of the gas into carbonic acid, and 
the hydrogen into water. If there is not a 
sufficient supply of oxygen, the flame will 
be smoky from excess of carbon. In this 
case the remedy is either to reduce the 
supply of gas or increase the supply of air. 
This may be effected by modifying the form 
of the burner, or in the case of the Argand 
burner by having a different shape of glass 
chimney. As to the form of the burner, it 
has been found that a plain jet ^ inch in 
diameter at the orifice, will not give a flame 
free from smoke of a greater height than 2^ 
inches; but the same quantity of gas which 
would give a smoky flame from a plain jet, 
will produce a clear bright flame by extend¬ 
ing or dividing the aperture of the jet so as 
to expose a larger surface of flame to the 
atmosphere. It is not, however, necessary 
to increase the superficial area of the flame; 
it may even be diminished with a more in¬ 
tensely luminous effect by having instead of 
one aperture two small ones pierced at an 
angle to each other, so that the jets may 
cross each other. This forms the union jet. 
Another form is the slit or batwing burner, 
in which a clean slit is cut across the top of 
the beak. In the Argand burner a circle of 
small holes supplies the gas, and a current 
of air is admitted through the centre of the 
flame, which is steadied and considerably 
increased in brilliancy by being surrounded 
by a glass chimney. For the lighting of 
large halls an improvement called the sun¬ 
light has been introduced. This consists of 
light has been introduc'ed. The incan¬ 
descent gas light is produced by the heat 
from a bunsen burner making incandes¬ 
cent a fragile mantle of asbestos, pre])ared 
with stearin, paraffin or similar substance. 
This is known as the Welsbach light. 

Gascoigne (-koin'), George, English poet, 
born 1535, educated at Cambridge, admitted 
to Gray’s Inn in 1555. Being disinherited 
by his father, he served with distinction in 
Holland and was made prisoner by the 
Spaniards, but returned safely to England, 
and died at Stamford in 1577. He is chiefly 
remembered for his blank-verse satire, The 
Steele Glas (1576), aud the Complaynt of 
Philomene, a rhyming elegy (1576), but he 
VOL. IV. 129 


wrote two or three comedies and tra¬ 
gedies. 

Gascoigne, Sir William, an English 
judge of the Court of King’s Bench, born 
about 1350, died in 1419. He is chiefly 
famous for directing the imprisonment of 
the Prince of Wales (afterwards Henry V.), 
who had struck him in open court for con¬ 
demning one of his dissolute friends. He 
also declined to obey the king and sentence 
Archbishop Scroop to death, alleging that 
the law gave him no power over the life of 
an ecclesiastic. In each case the king ulti¬ 
mately approved his action. 

Gas'cony, an ohl division of France, be¬ 
tween the Garonne, the sea, and the Pyr¬ 
enees. It composes the departments of 
Hautes Pyrenees, Gers, and Landes, with 
part of those of Bas Pyr^n^es, Haute Ga¬ 
ronne, Lot-et-Garonne, and Tarn-et-Ga- 
ronne. The Gascons, who are of mixed 
Basque and Gothic descent, used to have 
the character of being brave, faithful, and 
peculiarly tenacious of purpose, but much 
given to boasting, whence the word gascon- 
nade. 

Gas Engine, an engine in which the move¬ 
ment of the piston is caused by the explosive 
energy of a mixture of inflammable gas with 
atmospheric air. After various attempts by 
Huyghens, Pepin, and others to utilize ex¬ 
plosive agents like gunpowder in working 
machines, a French artisan, I.ebon, patented 
in 1799 an engine in which energy was ob¬ 
tained by exploding charges of coal-gas 
mixed with air on each side of the piston 
alternately, the explosion being effected by 
an electric spark. Modifications of this 
engine were patented by Lenoir in 1860, by 
Hugon, and by Messrs. Siemens. The most 
satisfactory are probably those known as 
Brayton’s High-pressure Gas Engine, and 
Otto’s Gas Engine. The latter consists of 
an upright cylinder in which works a heavy 
piston, the rod of which forms a rack-gear¬ 
ing with a cog-wheel on the shaft of the fly¬ 
wheel. As the piston ascends the cog-wheel 
slips loosely on the shaft; as it descends its 
energy is transferred to the shaft through 
the cog-wheel, the force of the down-stroke 
being due to the rapid condensation of the 
gases after the ex])losion aided by the weight 
of the piston itself. The mixed gases—coal- 
gas and air—are introduced at the base of 
the cylinder and fired, as in Hugon’s patent, 
by communication with a gas-jet kept con¬ 
stantly burning. The great objection to 
this engine—its noise in working—has been 



GAS-HOLDER- 

overcome in the Otto Silent Gas Engine, in 
which the working cylinder is horizontal 
and considerably shorter than in the old form. 

Gas-holder, Gas-meter. See Gas {Light¬ 
ing by). 

Gas'kell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, novelist, 
daughter of William Stevenson, editor of 
Scott’s Magazine, born at Chelsea in 1810. 
She was brought up by an aunt at Knuts- 
ford in Cheshire (the oidginal of the village 
in her story of Cranford); married in 1832 
the Rev. William Gaskell, a Unitarian 
minister at Manchester; and died at Alton, 
Hampshire, in 1865. Her first work of im¬ 
portance, Mary Barton, appeared in 1848, 
based upon the struggles then rife in Lan¬ 
cashire between workmen and eTiiployers. 
The Moorland Cottage, a Christmas story, 
appeared in 1850; and in 1853, her next 
regular novel, Ruth, which aims a distinct 
blow at the common moral judgments of 
society. Lizzie, Cranford, and other minor 
tales appeared at various times in House¬ 
hold Words, in which also she wrote her 
next novel. North and South, a Yorkshire 
tale. In 1857 appeared her admirable Life 
of Charlotte Bronte, and in 1860 Sylvia’s 
Lovers. Wives and Daughters appeared 
posthumously in 1866. 

Gaskets, cords fastened to the sail-yards 
of a ship, and used to furl or tie up the sail 
firmly to the yard by wrapping round both. 

Gasp^, a district of Canada, prov. Quebec, 
on the south of the St. Lawrence estuary, 
and washed by the Gulf of St. Lawrence, of 
which Gaspe Bay is an inlet. The fisheries 
are valuable; Gaspe Basin is a port on 
Gasp^ Bay. 

Gassen'di (properly Gassend), Pierre, 
French philosopher and mathematician, born 
in 1592. At nineteen he was appointed to 
the chair of philosophy at Aix. HisExerci- 
tationes Paradoxicae adversus Aristotelem 
(1624), while they gave great offence to the 
Aristotelians, obtained him a canonry in the 
cathedral of Digne; but a second book of 
Exercitationes excited so much enmity that 
he ceased all direct attacks on Aristotle, con¬ 
tenting himself with the exaltation of Epi¬ 
curus. He strenuously maintained the a tomic 
theory, in opposition to the views of the 
Cartesians, and, in particular, asserted the 
doctrine of a vacuum. He was appointed 
lecturer on mathematics in the College- 
Royal at Paris in 1645, but was compelled 
to return to Digne from 1647 to 1653, in 
which interval he published his De Vita, 
Moribus et Doctrina Epicuri (1647), and 


— GASTORNIS. 

Syntagma Philosophise Epicuri (1649). In 
1653 he went again to Paris, where he pub¬ 
lished the lives of Tycho Brahe. Copernicus, 
Peurbach, and Regiomontanus (John Mlil- 
ler). He died in 1655. 

Gas-tar. See Coal-tar. 

Gastein, or Wildbad Gastein, a water¬ 
ing-place in Austria, 3000 feet above the 
sea, 48 miles south of Salzburg, with ther¬ 
mal springs (64° to 100°) containing sa’t 
and carbonates of magnesia and lime. It 
gives the name to a treaty signed here in 
1865 by the Emperor of Austria and the 
King of Prussia, the non-observance of which 
led to the German war of 1866. 

Gasteromyce'tes. See Fungi. 

Gas'teropods (Gasteropoda), a class of 
molluscs, consisting of animals inhabiting a 
univalve shell, although some of the group 
are wholly destitute of a shell. The shell is 
either a small internal plate, as in slugs; or 



Common Garden-snail {Helix aapersa). f. Foot extending 
the whole length of the under side of the body. 

cone-shaped and spiral, as in the majority; or 
niultivalve, the pieces following each other 
along the middle line, as in the chitons. No 
known gasteropod has a bivalve shell The 
distinguishing characteristic is the foot, 
which is broad, muscular, and disc-like, and 
attached to the ventral surface. The class is 
divided into two sub-classes, the Branchiata 
or Branchiogasteropoda, breathing water by 
gills, and the Pulmonata or Pulmogastero- 
poda, breathing air by a sort of lung appa¬ 
ratus. The former include whelks and peri¬ 
winkles, &c.; the latter include the ordin¬ 
ary land-snails, slugs, pond-snails, &c. 

Gasteros'teus, the genus comprising the 
sticklebacks. 

Gaston, de Foix (fwa), Duke of Nemours, 
French soldier, born 1489, son of John de 
Foix, count d’Estampes, and Mary of Or¬ 
leans, sister of Louis XII., whose favourite 
he became. At the age of twenty-three he 
routed a Swiss army, rapidly crossed four 
rivers, drove the pope from Bologna, and 
won the celebrated battle of Ravenna 
(1512), but was killed while attempting to 
cut off a body of retreating Spaniards. 

Gastor'nis, a large fossil bird of more than 
one species, remains of which have beoa 

130 









GASTRALGIA 


GATH. 


discovered in the lower Eocene deposits of 
Meudon, near Paris, and elsewhere. The 
bones indicate a bird as tall as the ostrich, 
and its structural peculiarities point to affini¬ 
ties with the Grallatores or wading-birds. 

Gastralgia, a severe pain in the stomach, 
generally arising from indigestion. 

Gastric Juice, a clear colourless fluid with 
a saline taste and sour odour secreted by 
the mucous membrane of the stomach, and 
chief agent in the process of digestion. It 
is acid, and contains pepsin, its essential 
nitrogenous principle. The activity of the 
fluid has been ascribed to various acids pre¬ 
sent, lactic, acetic, and butyric; but it ap¬ 
pears that free hydrochloric acid is that 
which is secreted by the stomach, the others 
being the products of change of food under¬ 
going digestion. The acid is necessary for 
the pepsin to exercise its properties, which 
are limited to the conversion of nitrogenous 
substances into peptones, fatty matters not 
being affected by it. (See Pepsin.) Gastric 
juice also holds in solution various inorganic 
salts, chiefly chlorides and phosphates, occa¬ 
sionally also abnormal substances such as 
urea, ammonia, salts, and biliary acids. It 
is not possessed of any marked reactions 
with ordinary chemical reagents, does not 
become turbid by boiling, and gives no strik¬ 
ing precipitates with acids, alkalies, or min¬ 
eral salts. The amount secreted daily in 
the human adult is estimated to be about 
14 pounds, but as it is continually re¬ 
absorbed, there is no great quantity present 
at any one time. 

Gastric System, all the parts of the body 
which contribute to digestion. 

Gastri'tis, or Gastro-enteritis. See En¬ 
teritis. 

Gastrocne'mius, the most external of 
three superficial muscles forming the calf of 
the leg and terminating above the heel in 
the tendo AchiUis. 

Gastrolo'bium, a large genus of legumin¬ 
ous plants occurring in South-western Aus¬ 
tralia. Several of the species often prove 
fatal to cattle who eat of their foliage, and 
they are hence known as poison-plants. 

Gastromalacia, softening of the stomach, 
a disease occurring in infants. 

Gastros'tomy, the operation of forming 
an artificial opening into the stomach with 
the view of introducing food when it cannot 
be received naturally on account of obstruc¬ 
tion or stidcture of the gullet. The opera¬ 
tion has not yet been successfully performed 
on the human subject. 

131 


Gastrot'omy, in surgery, the operation of 
making an incision in the abdomen in order 
to remove some diseased part or foreign 
body. 

Gates, Horatio, an American officer dur¬ 
ing the revolutionary war, born in England 
in 1728. He rose to the rank of major by 
merit alone. At the capture of Martinique 
he was aide-de-camp to General Monkton, 
and he was with Braddock when the latter 
was defeated in 1755. On the conclusion 
of peace he purchased an estate in Virginia, 
on which he resided until the revolutionary 
war in 1775, when he was appointed adju¬ 
tant-general by Congress, with the rank of 
brigadier. At the head of the American 
army of the noi’th he compelled the British 
general Burgoyne to surrender his whole 
army at Saratoga (1777). In 1780, after the 
capture of General Lincoln, Gates received 
the chief command of the southern districts, 
but was defeated two months later by Corn¬ 
wallis at Camden. He was then superseded 
by General Greene and brought to court- 
martial, but was finally acquitted, and rein¬ 
stated in his command in 1782 after the 
capture of Cornwallis. He then retired to 
Virginia, and in 1790, having emancipated 
all his slaves, he removed to New York, 
where he died in 1806. 

Gateshead, parliamentary and municipal 
borough, England, county lOurham, on the 
right bank of the Tyne, opposite Newcastle, 
of which it is practically part, being con¬ 
nected with it by three bridges. The indus¬ 
trial establishments include works where 
heavy articles in iron, such as girders, an¬ 
chors, and chain-cables, as well as engines, 
&c., are made; ship-building yards, roperies, 
brass, copper, and iron foundries; paper, 
glue, vinegar, glas.s, artificial manure, and 
large chemical works. In the vicinity are 
quarries from which the celebrated ‘New¬ 
castle grindstones ’ are obtained, and nu¬ 
merous collieries. The town sends one 
member to the House of Commons. Pop. 
1891, 85,709. 

Gath (Hebrew, ‘wine-press’), one of the 
five royal cities of the Philistines, which, 
from its situation on the borders of Judah, 
was of much importance in the wars of the 
Jews and Philistines. It was the native 
town of Goliath, and was successively cap¬ 
tured by David, Hazael, and Uzziah, who 
dismantled it. The site cannot be deter¬ 
mined with certainty, but it is sometimea 
identified with Tell-es-Safieh, between Ek- 
ron and Aahdod, 




GATINEAU 


GAUL. 


Gatineau (gat-i-n3'), a river of Canada, 
Quebec province, the largest affluent of the 
Ottawa, rising in some lakes, and flowing 
almost due south to enter the Ottawa nearly 
opposite Ottawa city. It is not navigable 
more than five miles above the Ottawa ex¬ 
cept by canoes, but its rapid waters are well 
stocked with fish, and available as water¬ 
power. The country through which it flows 
is, however, only partially settled. 

Gatling-gun. See Machine-gun. 

Gatshi'na, a town, Russia, government 
of, and 35 miles s.s.w. of St. Petersburg, on 
a small lake. It is regularly built, and con¬ 
tains one of the finest of the imperial palaces 
of Russia. Pop. 10,063. 

Gau (gou), a German word of doubtful 
origin, meaning in general district, but in a 
special sense a district as a political unit, and 
its inhabitants as a political association. It 
formed a sort of middle division between 
the highest unit, the state, and the lowest, 
the village, corresponding in some respects 
to the ‘hundred.’ The freemen of the Gau 
met at certain periods, under an elected 
head, to settle matters relating to the public 
weal; and in the same way the head men 
of the Gauen met to settle matters relating 
to the state at large. In the Frankish Em¬ 
pire the character of the Gau was altered, 
each Gau now having as its head one or 
more royal officers called grafs or counts. 
These countships became hereditary, and 
about the 12th century the Gau ceased to 
exist as a political division, though the name 
has survived in Aargau, Thurgau, &c. 

Gauchos (ga-o'chos), natives of the Pam¬ 
pas of the La Plata countries in S. Amer¬ 
ica, of Spanish descent. The race is noted 
for their spirit of wild independence, for 
horsemanship and the use of the lasso. Their 
mode of life is rude and uncivilized, and 
they depend for subsistence chiefly on cattle¬ 
rearing. 

Gauge (or Gage), Steam and Water, the 
instruments fixed to engine boilers for regis¬ 
tering the force of steam and the level of the 
water. The first often consists of a siphon 
tube, with equal legs, half-filled with mer¬ 
cury. One end is fastened into a pipe, which 
enters that part of the boiler which contains 
the steam; the other end is open to the at¬ 
mosphere. The steam, acting on the mer¬ 
cury in one leg of the gauge, presses it down, 
and the mercury in the other leg rises, the 
difference between the two columns being 
the height of mercury which corresponds to 
the excess of the pressure of the steam in 


the boiler above the pressure of the atmo¬ 
sphere; or, in other words, to the effective 
pressure on the safety-valve. For high- 
pressure engines the steam-gauge usually 
consists of a spiral tube into which the 
steam is admitted, and which becomes less 
bent the greater the pressure. The water- 
gauge is a vertical glass tube, or flat case, 
communicating above and below with the 
boiler. Gauge-cocks are sometimes put in¬ 
stead of, or in addition to the tubes, for 
enabling the engineer to verify the level of 
the water. 

Gauge, a standard of measurement. As ap¬ 
plied to railways, gauge signifies the distance 
between the centimes of each pair of rails, 
which in the ordinary or narrow gauge is 4 
feet 8^ inches. The broad gauge, as in the 
Great Western Railway of England, is 7 feet; 
the Irish, Indian, and Spanish gauge is 5 feet 
6 inches. Special narrow gauges have recent¬ 
ly been adopted for mo\mtain and mineral 
lines, such as the 3 feet 6 inch gauge of the 
Norwegian lines. Gauge is also the name ap¬ 
plied to various contrivances for measuring 
any special dimension, such as the wire- 
gauge, an oblong plate of steel, with notches 
of different widths cut on the edge and 
numbered, the size of the wire being deter¬ 
mined by trying it in the different notches 
until one is found which it exactly fits. The 
thickness of sheet-metal is tried by a similar 
gauge. 

Gaul, Gallia, in ancient geography, the 
country of the Gauls, the chief branch of 
the great original stock of Celts. It ex¬ 
tended at one time from the Pyrenees to 
the Rhine, and included also a part of Italy. 
Hence it was divided into Gaul on this side 
(the Roman side) of the Alps, or Gallia 
Cisalpina, and Gaul beyond the Alps, or 
Gallia Transalpina. Latterly the former 
was regarded quite as part of Italy, and the 
name Gallia was restricted to Transalpine 
Gaul, or the country nearly corresponding 
to modern France. Julius Caesar, about the 
middle of the first century B.C., found Trans¬ 
alpine Gaul divided into three parts: 1. Aqui- 
tania, extending from the Pyrenees to the 
Garonne, chiefly occupied by Iberian tribes; 
2. Gallia Celtica, Celtic Gaul, from the Ga¬ 
ronne to the Seine and Alarne; 3. Gallia 
Belgica, Belgic Gaul, in the north, extend¬ 
ing to the Rhine. 

Migrations among the Gauls about 397 
B.C., and their passage of the Alps, first bring 
the Gallic nation into the region of history. 
Having crossed the Alps they fell upon the 

132 



GAUL- 

Etruscans, defeated the Tvomans at Allia 
(390 B.C.), and sacked and burned Rome, the 
capitol, however, being saved by Camillus. 
More than a century after the burning of 
Rome, the eastern Gauls, in 280-278 b.c,, 
made three destructive irruptions into Mace¬ 
donia and Greece. Several tribes pursued 
their course into Asia INlinor, where, under 
the name of Galatians, they long retained 
their national peculiarities. After these 
migrations the Gauls along the banks of the 
Danube and in the south of Germany dis¬ 
appear. 1’ribes of German origin occupy 
the whole country as far as the Rhine, and 
even beyond that river. The Belgae, who 
were partly German, occupied the northern 
part of Gaul, from the Seine and Marne to 
the British Channel and the Rhine, from 
whence colonists passed over into Britain, 
and settled on the coast districts. The 
Celts in Gaul had attained some degree of 
cultivation by intercourse with the Greeks 
and Carthaginians before they came in con¬ 
tact with the Romans. Those of Cisalpine 
Gaul continued formidable to Rome until 
after the first Punic war, when the nation was 
compelled as the result of a war of six years 
to submit to the Romans (220 B.C.). When 
HannibaPmarched on Rome they attempted 
to shake off the yoke; but the Romans, 
victorious over the Carthaginians, reduced 
them again to submission. Thirty-one years 
later (189 B.c.) their kindred tribe in Asia, 
the Galatians, met with the same fate; they 
also were vanquished, and their princes 
(tetrarchs) became tributary. In the years 
128-122 B.c. the Romans conquered the 
southern part of Gaul along the sea from 
the Alps to the Pyrenees, and here estab¬ 
lished their dominion in what was called 
the Province (Provincia), a name that still 
exists as Provence. Not long after Gaulish 
tribes shared in the destructive incunsions 
of the Cimbri and Teutonss on the Roman 
territory, which were ended by Marius in the 
battles of Aquse Sextise (Aix) in 102, and 
Vercelli in 101 B.c. On the appointment of 
Julius Caesar to the proconsulship over the 
countries bordering on Gaul, he resolved to 
subject all Gaul, and executed his purpose 
in less than nine years (58-50 B.C.), in eight 
bloody campaigns. The dominion of the 
Romans in Gaul was confirmed by colonies, 
and the liberal grant of the Roman citizen¬ 
ship to several Gallic tribes. The religion 
of the Druids, being suppressed in Gaul by 
Tiberius and Claudius, gradually retreated 
into Britain, soon also conquered by the 

133 


-GAUSS. 

Romans. After the extinction of the 
Caesars, the Gaizls once more attempted to 
recover their liberty by aid of the Germans, 
but after this last effort became entirely 
Romanized, even their ancient language, 
the Celtic, being supplanted by a corrupt 
Latin dialect. About the year 486 the 
Pranks subdued the greater part of Gaul, 
and put a period to the dominion of the 
Romans in that country. See France. 

Gault, in geology, a series of stiff marls 
or calcareous clays, varying in colour from 
a light gray to a dark blue, occurring be¬ 
tween the Upper and Lower Greensands 
of the Chalk formation of England. It is 
developed chiefly in the neighbourhood of 
Folkestone (hence called Folkestone marl) 
and in Cambridgeshire. 

Gauntlet, or Gantlet, a glove made 
originally of chain-mail, later of plate, and 
jointed at the fingers, used as part of the 
armour of a warrior in former times. 

Gaur, or Gour, a ruined city in Hindus¬ 
tan, 60 miles north by west of Murshedabad. 
From 1212 to 1574 it was the capital of 
Bengal, extending about 7 miles along the 
old Ganges. Its decay proceeded from the 
change in the course of the river, about two 
centuries since. The principal ruins are a 
magnificent mosque, faced with black por¬ 
phyry, two gates, a large edifice faced with 
bricks of various colours, a lofty obelisk or 
tower. Several villages now stand on the 
site of the city. 

Gaur, Gour, one of the largest of all the 
ox tribe [Bos (jaurus or Bibos gaurus), 
inhabiting the mountain jungles of India, 
remarkable for the extraordinary elevation 
of its spinal ridge, the absence of a dewlap, 
and its white ‘ stockings,’ which reach above 
the knee. It is so fierce when roused that 
neither tiger, rhinoceros, nor elephant dare 
attack it. The hide on the shoulders and 
hind-quarters is sometimes nearly 2 inches 
in thickness even after being dried, and is 
therefore much valued for the purpose of 
being manufactured into shields. The ani¬ 
mal is supposed to be incapable of domesti¬ 
cation. 

Gauss (gous), Karl Friedrich, a German 
mathematician, born 1777. In 1801 he pub¬ 
lished his Disquisitiones Arithmeticse, treat¬ 
ing of indeterminate analysis or transcenden¬ 
tal arithmetic, and containing, in addition to 
many new theorems, a demonstration of the 
theorem of Fermat concerning triangular 
numbers. He also calculated, by a new 
method, the orbit of the planets Ceres and 



GAUT 


GAVTAL. 


Pallas. In 1807 he became j^rofessor of 
mathematics and director of the observatory 
at Gottingen, a position which he held till 
his death in 1855. He was pronounced by 
Laplace to be the greatest mathematician 
in Europe. His chief works were the 
Theoria Motus Corporum Coelestium (1809), 
Intensitas Vis Magneticse Terrestris (1833), 
Dioptrische U ntersuchungen (1841),andUn- 
tersuchungen liber Gegenstande der hoheren 
Geodesic (1844). 

Gaut. See Ghats. 

Gan'tama, a name of Buddha, the foun¬ 
der of Buddhism. See Buddha. 

Gautier (go-ti-a), Th^ophile, French 
poet and critic, born 1811 at Tarbes (Hautes- 
Pyr^nees). He studied painting under 
Bioult for two years, but gave up the brush 
for the pen, threw himself vigorously into 
the Romanticist movement, published a 
volume of poems in 1830, and for several 
years worked at general literary criticism. 
In 1832 appeared his poem Albertus; but 
his first great success was the romance 
Mademoiselle de Maupin, which led to his 
engagement by Balzac as secretary. He 
was afterwards engaged as theatrical and 
art critic on the Revue de Paris, the Artiste, 
the Moniteur, and the Journal Officiel. 
Owing to his connection with the Journal 
Officiel his fortunes became linked in some 
measure with those of the Bonaparte family, 
and he was appointed librarian to the Prin¬ 
cess Mathilde. In 1872 he was sent by the 
republican government on a literary mission 
to Italy, and died in the same year. Among 
the most interesting of his productions may 
be ranked his Voyages en Espagne (1843), 
his Italia (1852), Caprices et Zigzags (1845), 
and Constantinople (1854), narratives of his 
travels; his Roman de la Momie (1856), Le 
Capitaine Fracasse (1863), Belle Jenny 
(1865), Spirite (1866), novels, together with 
the brilliant short stories, Fortunio, Une 
Nuit de Cldopatre, Jean et Jeanette, Le 
Roi Candaule, &c.; and his Histoire de 1’Art 
Dramatique en France depuis Vingt-cinq 
Ans (1849), Les Beaux Arts en Europe 
(1852), &c. 

Gauze, a thin transparent stuff of silk, 
linen, or cotton. It is either plain or 
figured, the latter being sometimes worked 
with flowers of silver or gold. 

Gavar'ni, the assumed name of Sulpice 
Paul Chevalier, French caricaturist, born 
at Paris in 1801. Originally a mechanical 
draughtsman, he began his artistic career 
in 1835 by designing costumes for theatres 


and journals of fashion. He then established 
Les Gens du Monde; but the journal was a 
failure, and the artist spent some time in 
the debtor’s prison of Clichy. On his release 
he was employed upon the Charivari, the 
success of which was due in great part to 
his genius. His best known works are Les 
Enfants Terribles, Les Reves, Les Four- 
beries de Femmes, and Impressions de 
Menages. In 1847 he visited England, and 
the sketches which he sent from iSt. Giles, 
l^ondon, to L’Illustration created an im¬ 
mense sensation. He afterwards illustrated 
Eugene Sue’s Wandering Jew, Balzac’s 
novels, and other works. He died in 1866. 

Gavazzi (ga-vat'se), Alessandro, popular 
Italian preacher and religious reformer, born 
at Bologna 1809, died at Rome 1889, At the 
age of fifteen he became a monk of the Bar- 
nabite order, at twenty he was professor of 
rhetoric in the College of Naples, and soon 
after made his mark as a pulpit orator. In 
1846 he was chaplain-general of the Roman 
patriotic league. Subsequently he threw off 
his papal allegiance and joined the agitation 
which ended in the short-lived republic. 
The French occupation of Rome drove him 
into exile, when he travelled through Britain 
and America lecturing against the Church 
of Rome, his power as an orator evoking 
much enthusiasm. He was with Garibaldi 
in 1860, and made subsequent visits to 
Britain gathering funds for the Free Italian 
Church, in the interests of which he lec¬ 
tured, preached, and travelled on deputation 
work till his death. 

Gavelkind, an old English tenure, by 
which the land of the father was at his 
death equally divided among his sons, or in 
default of sons, among the daughters. The 
issue of a deceased son inherited the father’s 
part. Collaterally, also, when one brother 
died without issue all the other brothers 
inherited from him. Gavelkind, before the 
Norman Conquest, was the general custom 
of the realm; it was then superseded by the 
feudal law of primogeniture, and only re¬ 
tained in Wales and Kent. The custom 
continued in Wales till the time of Henry 
VIII.; in Kent all land is still held in 
gavelkind unless specially disgavelled by 
act of parliament. 

Ga'vial {Gavidlis gangeticus), the Indian 
crocodile, characterized by the narrow, al¬ 
most cylindrical jaws which form an exceed¬ 
ingly elongated muzzle. The teeth (about 
120 in number) are of equal length, and the 
feet are completely webbed. The males can 

134 



GAVOTTE-GAY-LUSSAC. 


be distinguished from the females by the 
shape of the muzzle, which is much smaller 
at the extremity. The only extant species 



Head of Gavial or Gangetic Crocodile (Gavialia 
gangeticua). 


occurs in South and Eastern Asia, especially 
in the Ganges. It feeds on fishes and small 
prey. 

Gavotte', an air for a dance with two 
strains, each of four or eight bars, in f or 
^ time, th® starting notes occupying half 
a bar. Like the minuet, it has been intro¬ 
duced for free treatment into suites, sonatas, 
&c. The name is said to be derived from the 
Gavots, the inhabitants of the Gap, in France. 

Gay, John, English poet, born near 
Barnstaple in 1688, and apprenticed to a 
silk mercer in London. In 1711 he pub¬ 
lished his Rural Sports, which he dedicated 
to Pope, with whom he formed a close 
friendship. In 1712 he became secretary 
to Anne, duchess of Monmouth, and his 
mock-heroic poem. Trivia, or the Art of 
^Valking the Streets of London, appeared 
in the same year. In 1714 his caricature 
of Ambrose Philips’ pastoral poetry was 
published, under the title of the Shepherd’s 
Week, and dedicated to Lord Bolingbroke, 
by whose interest he was appointed secre¬ 
tary to the Earl of Clarendon, in his embassy 
to the court of Hanover. In 1715 appeared 
his burlesque drama of What d’ye Call it? 
but his next piece, the farce Three Plours 
after Marriage, altogether failed. In 1720 
he published his poems by subscription, in 
1723 his tragedy, The Captives, and in 1726 
his well-known Fables. His Beggar’s 
Opera, the notion of which seems to have 
been afforded by Swift, was first acted in 
1727, at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where it ran for 
sixty-three nights, but the lord-chamberlain 
refused to license for performance a second 
part entitled Polly. The latter part of his 
life was spent in the house of the Luke of 
Queensberry, where he wrote his sonata Acis 
and Galatea and the opera Achilles. He died 
in 1732. 


Gay, MARiE-FRANgoiSE-SoPHiE, French 
authoress, born at Pai’is 1776; maiden name, 
Nichault de Lavalette. She was first mar¬ 
ried to a financier, M. Liottier, from whom 
after six years she was divorced to marry 
M. Gay, a receiver-general under the empire. 
Her salon was a famous resort for the men 
of letters and artists of the time. She died 
at Paris in 1852. Her chief works are 
Laure d’Estell (1802), Anatole (1815), Le 
Moqueur Amoureuse (1830), Scenes de 
Jeunes Ages (1833), La Duchesse de Ch^- 
teauroux (1834), Les Salons Celebres (1837), 
and Le Mari Confident (1849). For her 
daughter, Lelphine Gay, see Girardin 
{Madame de). 

Gaya, the chief town of a district of the 
same name in Bengal, on the right bank of 
the Phalgu, a tributary of the Ganges, 260 
miles N.w. of Calcutta. It consists of an 
old and a new town. The former occupies 
a rocky height, is inhabited chiefly by Brah¬ 
mans, and being regarded as a place of 
great sanctity, is annually visited by vast 
crowds of pilgrims. The latter, called Sa- 
hibganj, is the trading quarter, and the 
seat of administration where the European 
residents dwell.. The place abounds with 
objects of Hindu worship, and almost every 
height in the vicinity is the subject of a 
legend. Pop. 76,415. The district has an 
area of 4712 sq. miles, and pop. 2,124,682. 

GayaT, Gyal, a species of ox [Bos fron¬ 
talis) found wild in the mountains of Nor¬ 
thern Burmah and Assam, and long domes¬ 
ticated in these countries and in the eastern 
parts of Bengal. The head is very broad 
and flat in the upper part, and contracts 
suddenly towards the nose; the horns are 
short and slightly curved. The animal has 
no proper hump, but on the shoulders and 
fore part of the back there is a sharp ridge. 
The colour is chiefly a dark brown. Its 
milk is exceedingly rich, though not abun¬ 
dant. 

Gay-Lussac (ga-liis-ak), Louis Joseph, 
French chemist and physicist, born at St. 
Leonard (Haute-Vienne) 1778, died at Paris 
1850. He was educated in the Nicole Poly¬ 
technique from 1797 to 1800, and afterwards 
in the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees, but pre¬ 
ferring chemistry, he entered Berthollet’s 
J&cole Laboratory. In 1802 he returned to 
the Poly technique as demonstrator of chera- 
istiy, and in 1804 performed his two balloon 
ascents for scientific purposes, the first with 
Biot, the second by himself, an account of 
which appeared in the Journal de Physique. 


185 












GAZA 


GEAN. 


In 1806 he was elected to the Academy of 
Sciences. In 1808 he was appointed pro¬ 
fessor of physics at the Sorbonne, a post he 
held for twenty-four years, in 1809 professor 
of chemistry in the l^cole Poly technique, and 
then succeeded Fourcroy as professor of 
general chemistry in the Jardin des Plantes. 
In 1831 he entered the chamber of depu¬ 
ties, and in 1839 he was made a peer of 
France, but he never took an active part in 
politics. He was especially celebrated for 
his researches into the chemical and physi¬ 
cal properties of gases and vapours. For 
many years he edited, in conjunction with 
Arago, the Annales de Chimie et de Phy¬ 
sique; and many of his numerous memoirs 
were published in this or in the Comptes 
Rendus. He also published, along with 
Th^nard, Recherches Physico-chimiques, in 
which some of their most important dis¬ 
coveries are described. Other works are 
his Cours de Physique and Legons de 
Chimie. 

Gaza, an ancient town of Syria, originally 
a city of the Philistines, near the Mediter¬ 
ranean, 50 miles s.s.w. of Jerusalem. The 
modern town, Ghuzzeh, is a principal entre¬ 
pot for the caravans passing between Egypt 
and Syria. Pop. about 15,000. 

Gaza, Theodore, Renaissance scholar, 
born at Thessalonica about 1405, died in 
Calabria 1478. He came to Italy about 
1430; became teacher of Greek at Ferrara; 
was patronized by Pope Nicholas V., Car¬ 
dinal Bessarion, and King Alfonso of Naples. 
Gaza laboured for the diffusion of Greek 
literature, not only by teaching, but also 
by his writings, and especially by Latin 
translations of the Greek classics. His 
chief work is a translation of the writings 
of Aristotle on natural history. 

Gazelle' {Gazella dorcas), the type of a 
sub-family of 
antelopes 
(Gazellinae), 
which in¬ 
cludes some 
23 species of 
small, mostly 
desert-loving 
forms. Its 
colour is a 
light fawn 
upon the Gazelles (Gazella dorcas). 

back, deepen¬ 
ing into dark-brown in a wide band which 
edges the flanks and forms a line of demar¬ 
cation between the colour of the upper por¬ 


tions of the body and the pure white of the 
abdomen. The eye of the gazelle is large, 
soft, and lustrous. Both sexes are provided 
with horns, round, black, and lyrated, about 
13 inches long. It seems to be confined to 
the north side of the Atlas Mountains,Egypt, 
Abyssinia, Syria, Arabia, and South Persia. 

Gazette' (from gazzetta, a small Venetian 
coin, which was the price of the first news¬ 
paper), a newspaper, especially an official 
newspaper. The first gazette in England 
was published at Oxford in 1665. On the 
removal of the court to London the title of 
London Gazette was adopted. It is now the 
official newspaper,, and published on Tues¬ 
days and Fridays. It is the organ by means 
of which all state intelligence, proclama¬ 
tions, appointments, &c., are promulgated, 
and in which declarations of insolvency are 
published. A similar official newspaper is 
published also in Edinburgh and Dublin. 

Gazetteer', a geographical dictionary; a 
book containing descriptions of natural and 
political divisions, countries, cities, towns, 
rivers, mountains, &c., alphabetically ar¬ 
ranged. Among the more important gen¬ 
eral works of this kind are M‘Culloch’s 
Geographical Dictionary, Johnstone’s Dic¬ 
tionary of Geography, Blackie’s Imperial 
Gazetteer, Lippincott’s Pronouncing Ga¬ 
zetteer (based upon Blackie’s), Saint-Mar¬ 
tin’s Nouveau Dictionnaire de G^ographie 
Universelle,and Ritter’s Geographisch-Sta- 
tistisches Lexikon. There are also various 
gazetteers confined to particular countries. 

Gaz'ogene, an apparatus used for manu¬ 
facturing aerated water on a small scale for 
domestic use, by the combination of an 
alkali and an acid, as carbonate of soda 
and tartaric acid, which yield carbonic acid 
when mixed with water. It generally con¬ 
sists of two globes, one above the other, con¬ 
nected by a tube, the lower for containing 
water, and the upper the ingredients for pro¬ 
ducing the gas. The vessel is made air-tight 
by means of a screw-top, and when water 
is gently introduced into the upper globe 
from the lower, by inclining the vessel so as 
to fill about a half of the former, chemical 
action takes place, and the carbonic acid 
evolved gradually saturates the water in the 
lower globe. When this has taken place, 
the aerated water can be drawn off by open¬ 
ing a stop-cock at the top attached to a 
second tube which reaches almost to the 
bottom of the lower globe. 

Gean (gen), a kind of wild cherry-tree 
{Prunus A vium), common in Britain. The 

136 






GEARING - 

fruit is smaller than that of the common 
cherry, of a red colour when unripe, and a 
deep purple or black when it arrives at ma¬ 
turity. The flavour is superior to that of 
most cherries. The wood is used for furni¬ 
ture and other purposes. 

Gearing, in machinery, the parts collec¬ 
tively by which motion communicated to 
one portion of a machine is transmitted to 
another, generally a train of toothed wheels. 
There are two chief sorts of wheel gearing, 
viz. spur-gearing and bevelled gearing. In the 
former the teeth are arranged round either 
the concave or convex surface of a cylindri¬ 
cal wheel in the direction of radii from the 
centre of the wheel, and are of equal depth 
throughout. In bevelled gearing the teeth 
are placed upon a bevelled surface round a 
wheel which if the slope of the bevel were 
continued would form a cone, the teeth 
sloping similarly. 

Gebang' Palm, the Corypha gebanga, a 
fan-leaved palm of S. E. Asia. 

Gehbie, George, born in Ayrshire, Scot¬ 
land, in 1832. Died in Philadelphia, 1892. 
He was a leading publisher of that city and 
founded the firm of Gebbie & Co., of 
which he was the head. 

Geber (ge'ber), Arabian chemist or alche¬ 
mist, often designated the father of chemistry, 
flourished during the 8th century. He was 
acquainted with nearly all the chemical 
processes in use down to the 18th century. 
His writings describe various kinds of fur¬ 
naces and other apparatus, and cupellation, 
distillation, and other chemical processes; 
the purification, composition, and properties 
of the metals then known—gold, silver, 
copper, lead, tin, and iron, and the functions 
of mercury, sulphur, and arsenic. He is 
the reputed author of an immense number 
of works, as well on metaphysics, language, 
astronomy, &c., as on chemistry, 

Gebweiler (geb-vi'ler), a town of Ger¬ 
many, in Alsace, on the Lauch. It has two 
fine R. Catholic churches, and works for 
cotton-spinning and weaving, woollen manu¬ 
factures, bleaching, dyeing, calico-printing, 
machinery, &c. Pop. 12,395. 

Gecko, a name common to the members 
of a family of nocturnal lizards {Geckotidce), 
characterized by the general flatness of their 
form, especially of the head, which is some¬ 
what of a triangular shape; the body is 
covered on the upper part wHh numerous 
round prominences or warts; the feet are 
rather short, and the toes of nearly equal 
length and furnished with flattened suck- 

137 


- GEDDES. 

ing pads by means of which the animals can 
run up a perpendicular wall, or even across 
a ceiling. The greatest number feed on in¬ 
sects and their larvse and pupte. Several 
of the species infest houses, where, although 
they ai*e perfectly innocuous, their appear¬ 
ance makes them unwelcome tenants. One 
species is common in N. Africa and S. 
Europe. 

Ged (ged), William, inventor of stereotyp¬ 
ing, born in Edinburgh about the beginning 
of the 18th century, died in poor circum¬ 
stances in 1749. He first practised his great 
improvement in the art of printing in 1725; 
and some years later he entered into a part¬ 
nership in London, the result of which was 
the production of two prayer-books only. 
He returned to Scotland in 1733, and pub¬ 
lished a stereotype edition of Sallust. 

Geddes (ged'es), Alexander, a Roman Ca¬ 
tholic divine, poet, and miscellaneous writer, 
was born in the county of Banff, Scotland, in 
1737, died in London 1802. At the age of 
twenty-one he was sent to the Scottish col¬ 
lege at Paris, and, returning to Scotland in 
1769, he took charge of a Roman Catholic 
congregation at Auchinhalrig in Banffshire, 
where he became known for his scholarship. 
In 1779 the University of Aberdeen granted 
him the degree of LIaD., and the next year 
he repaired to London with a view of ob¬ 
taining facilities for his scheme of a new 
English translation of the Old and New 
Testaments, Two volumes of his transla¬ 
tion and a volume of critical remarks were 
published, but the rationalistic views pro¬ 
mulgated met with much censure, and his 
own immediate superiors suspended him. 
He was in the midst of a translation of the 
Psalms when he died. His other works 
include numerous pamphlets, translations, 
macaronic poems, &c. 

Geddes, Jenny, the name tradition gives 
to a street fruit-seller, who, during the tu¬ 
mult in St. Giles’ Church, Edinburgh, in 
July 1637, w’hen the dean attempted to^ in¬ 
troduce the Episcopalian service-book, threw 
her stool at his head exclaiming, ‘Villain! 
dost thou say mass at my lug? ’ This tu¬ 
mult led to events which annulled Episco¬ 
pacy and restored Presbyterianism. The 
honour of the exploit has been claimed for 
a Barbara Hamilton, wife of John Mein, 
merchant in Edinburgh, but Jenny Geddes, 
the street fruit-seller’s claim, has always 
been the popular one, and recently a memo¬ 
rial brass was placed in St. Giles to her 
memory. 



GEEFS- 

Geefa (gafs), Guillaume, Belgian sculptor, 
born at Antwerp 1806, died 1883. Among 
his most important works are the monu¬ 
ment to the Victims of the Revolution of 
1830 at Brussels; a statue of Rubens in 
front of Antwerp Cathedral; statues of King 
Leopold, &c. His brothers Joseph (died 
1860) and Aloys (died 1841) were also 
sculptors of reputation. 

Geel (gal). See Gheel. 

Geelong (ge-long'), an Australian seaport 
town, colony of Victoria, near the head of 
the west arm of Port Philip Bay, 45 miles 
south-west of Melbourne. The town is well 
laid out on ground sloping to the bay, and 
its streets abound with fine shops, business 
premises, and public buildings. There is an 
extensive and well-laid-out botanical garden 
and several public parks belonging to the 
town. There are three jetties in the bay, 
alongside of which ships of the largest ton¬ 
nage can load and discharge. There are 
wool-mills, tanneries, rope-works, &c., and 
a considerable trade is done in wool. The 
country surrounding Geelong is esssntially 
agricultural, and is taken up by farms and 
orchards. Pop., inclusive of suburbs, 24,283. 

Geestemunde (gas'te-mun-de), a seaport 
town of North Prussia, in Hanover, at the 
mouth of the Weser, separated from Bremer- 
haven by the Geeste. Extensive docks were 
constructed here in 1857-63. The port is 
strongly fortified, and the trade is increasing 
rapidly. The industries include ship-build¬ 
ing, iron-founding, engineering, &c. Pop. 
4796. Close to Geestemunde is Geesten- 
DORF, with 9404 inhabitants. 

Geez (gez), the name of an Ethiopian, 
language. See Ethiopia. 

Gefle (yef'le), a seaport, Sweden, near 
the mouth of a river of same name in the 
Gulf of Bothnia, 50 miles N. of Upsala. 
It stands on both sides of the river and two 
islands formed by it, and has an excellent 
harbour. It has manufactures of linen, 
leather, tobacco, sail-cloth, &c.; ship-build¬ 
ing yards; and an extensive trade in deals, 
tar, pitch, iron, &c. Pop. 1891, 24,337. 

Gehen'na, a term used in the New Testa¬ 
ment as equivalent to place of fire or tor¬ 
ment, and rendered in the authorized (and 
the revised) version by heU and hell-fire. It is 
a form of the Hebrew Ge-hinnom, the val¬ 
ley of Hinnom, in which was Tophet, where 
the Israelites sometimes sacrificed their 
children to Moloch (2 Kings xxiii. 10). On 
this account the place was afterwards re¬ 
garded as a place of abomination, and be- 


- GELA. 

came the receptacle for the refuse of tbe 
city, perpetual fires being kept up in order 
to prevent pestilential effluvia. 

Geibel (gl'bl), Emanuel, German poet, 
born at Liibeck 1815, died 1884. He studied 
at the universities of Bonn and Berlin, and 
resided a year or two in Greece. He pub¬ 
lished his first collection of poems in 1840, 
which reached its hundredth edition in 1884. 
In 1843 he published a tragedy. King Roder¬ 
ick; in 1846 the epic Kbnig Sigurd’s Braut- 
fahrt. A second collection of his poems ap¬ 
peared in 1848—Juniuslieder (June-songs). 
A third collection of poems was published 
by him in 1857, a fourth in 1864. From 
1851 to 1869 he was honorary professor of 
aesthetics and poetry in the University of 
Munich, but spent his latter days in his 
native town. He wrote also Brunhild, a 
tragedy; The Loreley, an opera in rhyme; 
and several other plays, but his fame rests 
on his lyrics, which are immensely popular. 

Geikie (ge'ki), Archibald, geologist, born 
at Edinburgh 1835. He was appointed to the 
geological survey in 1855; became director 
of the Scottish survey in 1867, and director- 
general to the United Kingdom survey, and 
head of the Museum of Practical Geology, 
London, in 1881. From 1870 to 1881 he. 
was professor of geology and mineralogy in 
Edinburgh University, and he is the author 
of numerous manuals, &c., on geology. 

Geikie, James, LL.D., geologist, brother 
of Archibald Geikie, born at Edinburgh 
1839. He was engaged on the Scottish 
survey from 1861 until he succeeded his 
brother in the geological professorship at 
Edinburgh in 1882. He is the author of 
The Great Ice Age, Prehistoric Europe, 
Outlines of Geology, &c. 

Geissler’s Tubes (gis'ler), from the manu¬ 
facturer’s name, a philosophical instrument 
maker of Bonn, tubes made of very hard 
glass, and containing highly rarefied gases. 
Each end of the tube has a platinum wire 
sealed into it to serve as electrodes. When 
a discharge of electricity is caused to take 
place in these tubes by connecting the elec¬ 
trodes to the terminals of a Ruhmkorff’s 
coil or a Holtz’s machine, very brilliant 
effects may be produced. 

Gela( j e'la) ,oneof the most important ancient 
Greek cities of Sicily, situated on the south 
coast of the island between Agrigentum and 
Camarina; founded in 690 B.c. by a colony 
of Cretans and Rhodians. The colony was 
remarkably prosperous, and in 582 B.c. sent 
out a portion of its inhabitants, who founded 

138 




GELON. 


GELABA 


Agrigentum. In 280 Phintias, the tyrant 
of Agrigentum, utterly destroyed Gela. Its 
site has been the subject of much contro¬ 
versy. 

Gelada (gel'a-da), a singular Abyssinian 
baboon, remarkable for the heavy mane 
which hangs over the shoulders, and which 
only grows when the animal is adult. It 
is called Gelada Ruiypelii, in honour of Dr. 
Euppell, its discoverer. 

Gelasius (je-), the name of two .popes— 
Gelasius I. and II. The former, who held 
the see from 492-496, founding on the alleged 
primacy of Peter, was one of the first who 
openly maintained that the Roman bishop 
alone was entitled to regulate mattei’s of 
faith and discipline, though in practice he 
had not tlien attained any such superiority. 
Gelasius II., pope for only one year (1118 
-19), and originally called John of Gaeta, 
was elected by the party hostile to Henry 
V., but was obliged to give way to Gregory 
VIII. , supported by the emperor, and shortly 
after died in the monastery of Clugny. 

Gelatine (jel'a-tin), a concrete animal sub¬ 
stance, transparent, and soluble slowly in cold 
water, but rapidly in warm water. It is 
confined to the solid parts of the body, such 
as tendons, ligaments, cartilages, and bones, 
and exists nearly pure in the skin, but it is 
not contained in any healthy animal fluid. 
Its leading character is the formation of a 
tremulous jelly when its solution in boiling 
water cools. Gelatine does not exist as 
such in the animal tissues, but is formed by 
the action of boiling water. The coarser 
forms of gelatine fi'om hoofs, hides, &c., ai’e 
called (jlue; that from skin and finer mem¬ 
branes is called size; and the purest gelatine, 
from the air-bladders and other membranes 
of fish, is called isinglass. With tannin a 
yellowish white precipitate is thrown down 
from a solution of gelatine, which forms an 
elastic adhesive mass, not unlike vegetable 
gluten, and is a compound of tannin and 
gelatine. It is this action of tannin on 
gelatine that is the foundation of the art of 
tanning leather. Gelatine when acted upon 
by sulphuric acid yields gelatine sugar or 
glycocoll. When treated with potash it is 
said to yield glycocoll and leucine. Gelatine 
is nearly related to the proteids. No che¬ 
mical formula has yet been deduced for it. 
It is a nutritious article of food, and as part 
of the diet in hospitals produces the best 
effects; but animals fed exclu-sively on it die 
wuth the symptoms of starvation, as it can¬ 
not yield albumen, fibrine, or caseine. Its 

139 


ultimate components are 47’S carbon, 7'0 
hydrogen, 16‘9 nitrogen, 27'4 oxygen. 

Gelderland, Guelderland (gel'), a pro¬ 
vince of the Netherlands; area, 1963 English 
sq. miles. It is generally flat, and has much 
alluvial soil, well fitted both for arable and 
grass husbandry. The manufactures, prin¬ 
cipally woollen, cotton, and linen goods, 
soap, salt, and glass, are carried on exten¬ 
sively in vai-ious quarters. The principal 
towns are Arnheim, Nijmegen, Thiel, and 
Zutphen. Pop. 1892, 520,210. 

Geldern (gel'dern), a town of Rhenish 
Prussia, 27 miles north-west of Diisseldorf. 
Pop. 5691. 

Gelder-rose. See Guelder-rose. 

Gelee (zhe-la), Claude. See Claude 
Lorraine. 

Gell (jel). Sir William, English anti¬ 
quarian and classical scholar, born 1777, 
died Naples 1836. He was educated at 
Cambridge, and was for some time a fellow 
of Emanuel College in that university. In 
1814 the Princess of Wales (afterwards 
Queen Caroline) appointed him one of her 
chamberlains, and he accompanied her on 
her travels for several years. His principal 
works are: The Topography of Troy, The 
Geography and Antiquities of Ithaca, The 
Itinerary of Greece, The Itinerary of the 
Morea, The Topography of Rome, and the 
interesting and beautiful work, Pompeiana, 
or Observations upon the Topography, Edi¬ 
fices, and Ornaments of Pompeii. 

Gellert (gel'ert), Christian Eurchtegott, 
Gei’man poet, born 1715, died 1769. He 
w'as appointed extraordinary professor of 
philosophy at Leipzig in 1751, where his 
lectures were received with great applause. 
His hymns, tales, fables, and essays enjoyed 
much popularity in their day. 

Gellius (jel'), Aulus, a Roman author of 
the 2d century. His Noctes Atticse, a book 
of selected passages from many ancient au¬ 
thors, is now of great value, as the authors 
fi’om which he drew his materials are in a 
great measure lost. 

Gelnhausen (geln'hou-zn), an old walled 
town of Prussia, prov. Hesse-Nassau, 16 
miles E.N.E. of Hanau, on the Kinzig. Its 
principal buildings are a large Gothic church 
of the 13th century, and, on an island in the 
Kinzig, a recently-restored palace in which 
Frederick Barbarossa and several of his 
successors used to reside. Pop. 3695. 

Gelon (jelon), an ancient Greek ruler, 
tyrant of Gela, and afterwards of Syracuse. 
After the death of Hippocrates, tyrant of 





GELSEMIUM 


GEMS. 


Gela, he seized the sovereign power (b.c. 
491), and about 485 b.c. gained possession 
of Syracuse. From this time he bent all 
his energies to the aggrandizement of his 
new capital, the power and importance of 
which he greatly increased by his conquests 
and good government. His aid was sought 
by the Greeks against Xerxes, but a formid¬ 
able invasion of Carthaginians under Hamil- 
car engaged him in Sicily. The result was 
the total defeat of the Carthaginians in the 
great battle of Himera (b.c. 480). It is 
celebrated in an ode by Pindar, Gelon died 
in 478 B.C., and was succeeded by his brother 
Hieron. 

Gelse'mium, a genus of plants belonging 
to the nat. order Loganiaceae, the best- 
known, G. nitidum or Carolina jasmine, 
being an evergreen climbing shrub of the 
Southern States of America, with twigs pro¬ 
ducing a milky juice, opposite lance-shaped 
shining leaves, and sweet-scented yellow 
flowers. The root has valuable medicinal 
properties, being used for controlling certain 
forms of nervous irritability. 

Gemara (ge-mii'ra), in Jewish literature, 
the second part of the Talmud or commen¬ 
tary on the Mishna, See Talmud. 

Gembloux (zan-blo), an old Belgian town, 
prov. of Namur, 24 miles S.E. of Brussels, 
It has a Benedictine abbey of the 9th cen¬ 
tury, now used as a royal agricultural in¬ 
stitution. Pop. 3642. 

Gemini (jem'i-ni), the Twins (II), the third 
sign of the zodiac, so named from its two 
brightest stars. Castor, of the first magni¬ 
tude, farthest to the west, and Pollux, of 
the second, farthest to the east. Its constitu¬ 
ent stars form a binary system revolving in 
about 250 years. The sun is in Gemini from 
about the 21st May till about the 21st 
June, or the longest day. 

Gemmation, in zool. a mode of reproduc¬ 
tion among certain animals of low type, 
which consists in the production of a bud 
or buds, generally from the exterior, but 
sometimes from the interior, of the body of 
the animal, which buds are developed into 
independent beings that may or may not 
remain attached to the parent organism. 
This mode of reproduction is seen in the 
sea-mats, the fresh-water polyp, &c. 

Gems, or precious stones, are sometimes 
found crystallized in regular shapes and with 
a natural polish, more commonly of irregular 
shapes and with a rough coat. The term 
gem often denotes more particularly a stone 
that is cut, polished, or engraved, and it also 


includes pearls and various artificial produo- 
tions. The first and most valuable class of 
gems includes diamonds, emeralds, rubies, 
sapphires, and a few others; the second class 
includes the amethyst, topaz, garnet, &c.; 
while agate, lapis - lazuli, cornelian, &c., 
though much used for ornament, can scarcely 
be called gems. The various precious stones 
are described under their proper heads. The 
fabrication of artificial gems is now prose¬ 
cuted with skill and capital, and has become 
an important industrial art. The base of 
one class of imitations is a peculiar kind of 
glass of considerable hardness, brilliancy and 
refractive power called 'paste or sti'ass, which 
is distinguished from ordinary glass by the 
presence of 50 per cent of oxide of lead 
among its constituents. When the strass is 
obtained very pure it is melted and mixed 
with substances having a metallic base, gen¬ 
erally oxides, which communicate to the 
mass the most varied colours. Another class, 
called semi-stones or doublets, are made by 
affixing thin slices of real gem to an under 
part of strass by means of an invisible 
cement. In some cases an imitation is made 
by setting uncoloured strass or quartz in 
jewelry with some coloured ‘foil’ at the 
back of it. Attempts have within I’ecent 
years been made with a fair measure of suc¬ 
cess to manufacture true gems by artificial 
processes. The French chemists Becquerel, 
Ebelman, Gaudin, Despretz, and others have 
done much in this dii’ection. In 1858 MM. 
Deville and Caron communicated to the 
Academy of Sciences, Paris, a process for 
the production of a number of gems of the 
corundum class, as rubies, sapphires, &c. 
The process essentially consisted in exposing 
the fluoride of aluminium, together with a 
little charcoal and boracic acid, in a plum¬ 
bago crucible protected from the action of 
the air, to a white heat for about an hour. 
Many experiments with a view to produc¬ 
ing diamonds artificially have also been 
njade. From hydrocarbons, subjected to a 
very intense heat and enormous pressure, 
minute fragments of crystalline carbon, dif¬ 
fering from natural diamond in no respect 
save brilliancy, have been produced. In art 
and archaeology the term gem is usually ap¬ 
plied to a precious stone cut or engraved 
in ornamental designs, or with inscriptions. 
Stones on which the design is raised above 
the general surface are called cameos; those 
having the design sunk below the surface are 
called intaglios. Early specimens of cut gems 
are seen in the scarabaei or beetle-shaped sig- 

140 



GEMSBOK-GENERAL. 


nets worn in rings by the ancient Egyptians. 
Among the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans 
gem-sculpture held a high place, reaching 
its highest point under Augustus. Modern 
gem-engraving dates from the beginning of 
the 15th century, the chief seats of the art 
being Italy and Germany. Rome is now 
the headquarters of the seal-engraving art. 
The tools of the engraver consist of a lathe, 
and a series of little rods with heads of dif¬ 
ferent shapes, all of which can be adjusted 
to the lathe. The axis of the lathe is pierced 
at the centre with an orifice, into which the 
tools for cutting the stone are firmly fixed 
by means of a screw. The engraver wets 
the extremity of the mounted rod with dia¬ 
mond dust made into a paste with olive-oil, 
and as the wheel is in motion he applies the 
stone, firmly cemented to a piece of reed, to 
the revolving tool. The diamond dust en¬ 
ables the tool to cut into the stone with 
ease. As the design is frequently very ela¬ 
borate and of the greatest delicacy, the tools 
are necessarily multiform. The stones used 
for cameo-cutting often exhibit layers of 
different colours, so that the raised design 
has a tint distinct from the ground. Inta¬ 
glios are very often executed in transparent 
stones, and the subjects treated in this man¬ 
ner are more limited in number. They are 
chiefly such as seals,devices, coats of arms,&c. 

Gemsbok (gemz'bok), the Oryx gazella, 
a large powerful member of the antelope 
family, inhabiting the plains of South Africa. 
It equals the domestic ass in size, has a 
short erect mane, a long sweeping black tail, 
and long sharp-pointed heavy hoi'ns, nearly 
straight from base to tip, and obscurely 
ringed throughout the lower half. By the 
aid of these natural bayonets it can easily 
defend itself from the smaller Carnivora, 
and it has been known to drive off, and even 
kill, the lion himself. 

Gendarmes (zhan'darm), the name ori¬ 
ginally given in France to the whole body of 
armed men, but after the introduction of 
standing armies to a body of heavy-armed 
cavalry, which composed the chief strength 
of the forces. Gendarmes are now the 
French armed police. They are all picked 
men; they are usually taken from the regu¬ 
lar forces, and are of tried courage or ap¬ 
proved conduct. There are horse gendarmes 
and foot gendarmes. They are formed into 
small parties called brigades; and the union 
of a number of these forms a departmental 
company. 

Render, in gram, one of those classes or 
lil 


categories into which words are divided ac¬ 
cording to the sex, natural or metaphorical, 
of the beings or things they denote. It may 
be exhibited by a class of words marked by 
similarity in termination, the termination 
having attached to it a distinction in sex, 
as seen in nouns, adjectives, participles, &c. 
There are three genders in all: masculine, 
feminine, and neuter, but these three dis¬ 
tinctions only exist in some languages. In 
Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin all three are 
present, as also in German and English. 
English words expressing males are said to 
be of the masculine gender; those express¬ 
ing females, of the feminine gender; and 
words expressing things having no sex are 
of the 7ieuter, or neither gender. Gender is 
thus coincident with sex in English, and is 
a very simple matter. But in other lan¬ 
guages sex and gender have little or no 
necessary relation, the majority of the names 
applied to inanimate objects being either 
masculine or feminine, and the grounds for 
such distinction being quite obscure. In the 
languages derived from the Latin—Italian, 
French, Spanish, and Portuguese—a neuter 
gender is not recognized. In the highly 
inflected languages there are certain termi¬ 
nations distinctive of the different genders, 
but in English gender only to a slight extent 
depends on the form of the word— ess, for 
instance, is a feminine termination. In Eng¬ 
lish the gender of a noun only affects the 
pronoun substituted for it. 

Geneal'ogy, the systematical investigation 
and exhibition of the origin, descent, and 
relations of families (or their pedigree). Per¬ 
sons descended from a common father consti¬ 
tute a family. Under the idea of degree of 
relationship is denoted the nearness or re¬ 
moteness of relationship in which one person 
stands with respect to another. A series of 
several persons, descended from a common 
progenitor, is called a line. A line is either 
direct or collateral. The collateral lines 
comprehend the several lines which unite 
in a common progenitor. For illustrating 
descent and relationship genealogical tables 
are constructed, the order of which depends 
on the end in view. The common form of 
genealogical tables places the common stock 
at the head, and shows the degree of each 
descendant by lines. Some tables, however, 
have been constructed in the form of a tree, 
in which the progenitor (German, Stamm- 
vater) is placed beneath, as if for a root. 

General, the commander of an army, or 
of a division or brigade; the highest military 



GENERAL ASSEMBLY 


GENESEE. 


title, with the exception of that of field- 
marshal. In the British service there are 
three ranks, the highest general, the second 
lieutenant-general, and the lowest major- 
general, the last being immediately above a 
colonel, as in other services. Brigadier- 
general is not a distinctive rank in Britain 
as it is in the U. States.— General, in the 
Roman Catholic Church, is the title given 
to the supreme head, under the pope, of a 
monastic order. In most of the orders he 
is elected for three years, or some other 
fixed term, by the Jesuits for life, but the 
election must be confirmed by the pope. 

General Assembly. See Assembly 
{General). 

Generalization, in logic, is the act of com¬ 
prehending, under a common name, several 
objects agreeing in some point which we 
abstract from each of them, and which that 
common term serves to indicate. 

General Lien, in law, the right to retain 
possession of a chattel until payment be 
made, not only of any debt due in respect of 
that particular chattel, but of any balance 
that may be due on general account in the 
same line of business. General liens do not 
exist at common law, but depend entirely 
upon contract express or implied from the 
special usage of dealing between the parties. 

General Officer, in the army, an officer 
higher in rank than a colonel. See General. 

General Ship, in maritime law, is a ship 
announced by the owners to take goods from 
a particular port at a specified time, and 
which is not under special contract to par¬ 
ticular individuals. 

Generation, a single succession of human 
beings (or animals) who are born, grow up, 
and reproduce their kind; hence, an age or 
period of time between one siiccession and 
the next, as the third, the fourth, or the 
tenth generation. The length of a genera¬ 
tion is usually estimated at about thirty 
years. 

Generation. See Reproduction. 
Generation, Alternate, or Metagenesis, 
that kind of multiplication, seen in some 
invertebrate animals or even in plants, in 
which parents produce progeny unlike, some¬ 
times extremely uidike, themselves, while 
this unlike progeny give rise to others resem¬ 
bling the original forms. Sometimes there 
are more than one unlike form between these 
like forms. The Hydrozoa abundantly illus¬ 
trate this phenomenon, also theEchinoderms, 
Polyzoa, Tunicata, the wheel animalcules, 
Nematoid worms, flat-worms, tape-worms, 


several of the true Annelids; among Crus¬ 
taceans, Daphnia, the Phyllopods; among 
Insects, the plant-lice. The steps may be 
seen in certain of the Hydroid Polyps, thus: 
(1) There is an ovum or egg, free-swimming 
and impregnated. (2) This ovum attaches 
itself to a fixed submarine object, and de¬ 
velops into an organized animal. (3) This 
organism produces buds or zooids, often of 
two kinds—one set nutritive, the other 
generative—unlike each other and unlike 
their parent, the whole forming a hydroid 
colony. (4) The generative set mature eggs, 
which on being liberated become the free- 
swimming ova (No. 1), and the cycle is re¬ 
newed. A somewhat similar phenomenon 
is that of parthenogenesis (which see). 

Generation, Spontaneous, or Abio- 
genesis, the doctrine that living matter may 
originate spontaneously, ‘ that under certain 
circumstances dead matter may build itself 
up into living matter without the interven¬ 
tion of already existing protoplasm.’ In the 
17th century this was the dominant view, 
sanctioned alike by antiquity and authority, 
and was first assailed % Redi, an Italian 
philosopher. Buffon held the doctrine in a 
very modified degree. He held that life is 
the indefeasible property of certain inde¬ 
structible molecules of matter which exist 
in all living things, and have inherent acti¬ 
vities by which they are distinguished from 
not-living matter, each individual living or¬ 
ganism being formed by their temporary 
combination. Of course it is only animals 
or plants of very low type and minute size 
that have been supposed thus to be produced 
spontaneously from dead matter; and the 
' readiness with which such appear, in cir¬ 
cumstances in which one might suppose no 
germs of them could be present, gives some 
countenance to the belief. Thus even at 
the present day authorities are found who 
still declare their adherence to the doctrine 
of spontaneous generation, but there is every 
reason to believe that, whatever may have 
been the case with the first beginnings of 
life, living matter is now invariably derived 
from pre-existent living matter. 

Generic Name, in natural history, the de¬ 
nomination which comprehends all the spe¬ 
cies of a genus: thus Canis is the generic 
name of animals of the dog kind; Felis, of 
the cat kind; Cervus, of the deer kind. See 
Genus. 

Genesee (jen-e-se'), a river of the U.States, 
which rises in Pennsylvania, flow's north 
through New York, and falls into Lake On- 

142 



GENEVA. 


GENESIS- 

tario 6 miles below Kochester, after a course 
of 145 miles. It is notable for its varied 
and romantic scenery, and its extraordinary 
falls. These falls are five in number; three 
of them occur about 90 miles from the mouth 
of the river, and are respectively 60, 90, and 
110 feet high. The other two are near 
Rochester, and are both about 100 feet high. 

Genesis (Greek, creation, birth, origin), the 
first book of the Bible and of the Pentateuch, 
named in the Hebrew canon B’reshith (in the 
beginning), from the term with which it com¬ 
mences. Prom the Greek translators it re¬ 
ceived the name it is now commonly known 
by. Genesis consists of two great but closely- 
connected divisions:—(1) The history of the 
creation, the fall of man, the flood, the dis¬ 
persion of the human race, chap, i.-xi. (2) 
The history of the fathers of the Jewish 
race, chap, xii.-l. A certain apparent dif¬ 
ference of style and language, the occurrence 
of what seem gaps on the one hand, and 
repetitions and contradictions on the other, 
and the different use of the term for the 
divine name {Jehovah, Everlasting; and 
Elohim, Almighty), led very early to the 
question of the integrity of the book, and 
various critics have assumed larger or smaller 
interpolations. 

Genet (jen'et), a digitigrade carnivorous 
mammal of the family Viverridre. The 
genus Genetta contains five species, the best 
known of which is the G. vulgaris, the com¬ 
mon genet, whose range extends all around 
the Mediterranean, including Western Asia, 
Northern Africa, and Southern Europe. It 
is about the size of a small cat, but of a 
longer form, with a sharp-pointed snout, 
upright ears, and a long tail. It has a beauti¬ 
ful soft fur, and, like the civet, produces an 
agreeable perfume. The habits of the genet 
are like those of the weasel tribe; it is easily 
tamed, and is sometimes employed in Con¬ 
stantinople and elsewhere to catch rats and 
mice. 

Geneva (je-ne'va; German, Genf; French, 
Geneve), a town of Switzerland, capital of the 
canton of the same name, situated at the 
western extremity of the Lake of Geneva, 
where the Rhone issues, here crossed by 
several bridges, and dividing the town into 
two portions, the larger and more important 
of which is on the left or south bank. The 
environs are covered with handsome villas, 
and the town itself, when approached either 
by land or water, has a very attractive ap¬ 
pearance. It was formerly surrounded by 
walls and regular fortifications, but since 

m 


1850 these have been removed. The town 
is divided into two parts, an upper and a 
lower. The upper town, occupied chiefly 
by the wealthier citizens, consists of well- 
built houses and handsome hotels; the lower 
town, the seat of trade and residence of the 
poorer classes, consists largely of houses re¬ 
markable for their height, and lining narrow, 
irregular, dark, and ill-cleaned streets, but 
great improvements have recently lieen car¬ 
ried out. The more important public build¬ 
ings are the cathedral or church of St. Pierre, 
a Gothic structure of the 10th, 11th, and 
12th centuries, occupying the highest site 
in the town, and by its three towers forming 
the most conspicuous object within it, some¬ 
what defaced externally by a very incon¬ 
gruous Greek peristyle; the town-house in 
the Florentine style; the Musee Rath, con¬ 
taining a collection of pictures and other 
works of art; the university building, nearly 
opposite the botanic garden, rebuilt in 1867- 
71, and containing the public library, founded 
by Bonivard, the prisoner of Chillon, in 1551, 
and now numbering 90,000 vols.; and the 
museum of natural history. The only im¬ 
portant manufactures of Geneva are that of 
watches, musical-boxes, and jeweliy, for all 
of which the town is justly famed. Geneva 
has ample railway communication, and is 
one of the principal entrances for tourists 
and travellers into Switzerland. In litei'a- 
ture and science Geneva has long occupied 
a distinguished place, and it has been the 
birthplace or the residence of many eminent 
men, including Calvin, Beza, Knox, Le 
Sage, Necker, De Candolle, Rousseau, Sis- 
mondi, &c. Geneva early adopted the prin¬ 
ciples of the Reformation, and chiefly through 
the teaching of Calvin the town acquired 
an important influence over the spiritual 
life of Europe, and became the centre of 
education for the Protestant youth of Bri¬ 
tain, France, and Germany. Pop. 71,807. 
The canton is bounded by the canton of 
Vaud and the Lake of Geneva, and by 
France. Area, 109 sq. miles. It belongs 
to the basin of the Rhone, and the only 
streams of importance are that river and 
the Arve, which joins it a little below the 
town of Geneva. The soil has been so much 
improved by skilful and persevering cultui'e 
that abundant crops of all kinds suitable to 
the climate are raised, and the whole terri¬ 
tory wears the appearance of a garden. 
Manufactures consist chiefly of clocks and 
watches, musical-boxes, mathematical in¬ 
struments, gold, silver, and other metal 







GENEVA-GENGHIS KHAN. 


Wares, woollen cloths, and silk goods of 
various desciiptions, hats, leather, and ar¬ 
ticles in leather; and there are numerous 
cotton-mills, calico-printing works, and dye- 
works. The territory of Geneva having, by 
the arrangements of the Congress of Vienna, 
obtained an accession of fifteen communes, 
detached from France and Savoy, was ad¬ 
mitted a member of the Swiss Confederation 
in 1814, and ranks as the twenty-second 
canton. Its constitution of 1848 is the most 
democratic in the federation. All religious 
denominations are declared to have perfect 
freedom, but two of them are paid by the 
state—the Roman Catholics, amounting to 
rather more than a third of the population, 
and the Protestant National Church. The 
language spoken is French. Pop. 105,509. 

Geneva. See Gin. 

Geneva, Ontario co., N. Y., on Seneca 
lake, 47 m. S. E. Rochester. Has extensive 
nurseries, shipping annually $1,000,000 of 
nursery stock. Pop. 7557. 

Geneva, Lake of, or Lake Leman (Latin, 
Lacus Lemanus), the largest of the Swiss 
lakes, extending in the form of a ci’escent, 
with its horns pointing southward, between 
France on the south, and the cantons of 
Geneva, Vand, andV'alais; length, measured 
on its north shore, 55 miles, and on its south 
shore 40 miles; central breadth, about 6 
miles; area, 331 sq. miles; greatest depth, 
900 feet. It is 1150 feet above the sea. On 
the north the shore is low, and the ground 
behind ascends gradually in beautiful slopes. 
On the south, and particularly at the east 
end, the shore is rocky and abrupt, and lofty 
precipices often rise sheer from the water’s 
edge. It contains various species of fish, 
and its water is remarkably pure and of a 
beautiful blue colour. The Rhone, which 
enters its eastern extremity a muddy turbid 
stream, issues from its western extx'emity 
perfectly pellucid, and likewise of the finest 
blue. 

Geneva Arbitration. See Alabama ( The). 

Geneva Bible, a copy of the Bible in Eng¬ 
lish, printed at Geneva; first in 1560. This 
copy was in common use in England till the 
version made by order of James I, was 
introduced, and it was laid aside by the 
Calvinists with reluctance. 

Geneva Convention, an agreement con¬ 
cluded at an international conference held 
in Geneva in 1864, for the succour of the 
sick and wounded in time of actual warfare. 
The neutrality of hospitals, ambulances, and 
the persons attending on them was provided 


for; and the use of the red cross on a white 
ground as a sign of neutrality has received 
the adhesion of all civilized powers. 

Genevieve (jen'e-vev or zhen-vi-av), the 
name of two female saints.—1. St.Genevibve, 
the patron saint of Paris; born at Nanterre, 
about 5 miles from Paris, in the year 423; 
died at Paris about the beginning of the 6th 
century. She devoted herself while yet a 
child to the conventual life. Her prayers 
and fastings are credited with having saved 
Paris from the threatened destruction by 
Attila in 451. Many legends are told re¬ 
specting her, and several churches have been 
dedicated to her. Her festival is held on 
the 3d January.—2. St. Genevieve, by birth 
Duchess of Brabant, wife of Siegfried, count 
palatine in the reign of Charles Martel 
(about 750), According to the legend, which 
is the subject of several tales and dramas, 
she was accused of adultery during her hus¬ 
band’s absence and condemned to death; 
but was allowed to escape, and she lived six 
years in a cavern upon nothing but herbs. 
She was finally found, and carried home by 
her husband, who in the meantime had be¬ 
come convinced of her innocence. 

Genghis Khan, or Jenghis Khan (jen'- 
gis), Mongol conqueror, born about 1160, 
died 1227. His father was chief over thirty 
or forty clans, but paid tribute to the Tartar 
Khan, He succeeded his father when only 
fourteen, years of age, and made himself 
master of the neighbouring tribes. A great 
number of tribes now combined their forces 
against him. But he found a powerful pro¬ 
tector in the great Khan of the Karaite 
Mongols, Oung, or Ung, who gave him his 
daughter in marriage. After much intestine 
warfare with various Tartar tribes Genghis 
was proclaimed Khan of the United Mongol 
and Tartar tribes. He now professed to have 
a divine call to conquer the world, and the 
idea so animated the spirit of his soldiers that 
they were easily led on to new wars. The 
country of the Uigurs, in the centre of Tar¬ 
tary, had long excited his ambition. This 
nation was easily subdued, and Genghis 
Khan was now master of the greatest part 
of Tartary. Soon after several Tartar tribes 
put themselves under his dominion, and in 
1209 he passed the great wall of China. 
The conquest of China occupied the Mongols 
more than six years. The capital, then called 
Yenking, now Peking, was taken by storm in 
1215 and plundered. The murder of the am¬ 
bassadors whom Genghis Khan had sent to 
the King of Kharism 'now Khiva) occasioned 

Hi 



GENII-GENOA. 


the invasion of Turkestan in 1218 with an 
army of 700,000 men; and the two cities of 
Bokhara and Samarcand were stormed, pil¬ 
laged, and burned. Seven years in succes¬ 
sion was the conqueror busy in the work of 
destruction, pillage, and subjugation, and 
extended his ravages to the banks of the 
Dnieper. In 1225, though more than sixty 
years old, he marched in person at the head 
of his whole army against the King of 
Tangut (South-western China), who had 
given shelter to two of his enemies, and had 
refused to give them up. A great battle 
was fought, in which the King of Tangut 
was totally defeated with the loss of 300,0U0 
men. The victor remained some time in his 
newly-subdued provinces, from which he 
also sent two of his sons to complete the 
conquest of Northern China. At his death 
his immense dominions were divided among 
his four sons. 

Genii. See Genius. 

Gen'ipap {Genipapo, the Guiana name), 
the fruit of a South American and West 
Indian tree, the Genipa amcricana, nat. 
order Rubiaceee. It is about the size of an 
orange, and of a pleasant vinous flavour. 

Genis'ta, a genus of leguminous plants, 
compri.sing about 100 species, one of which 
is the Planta genista^ the Plante genet, from 
which the Plantagenets took their name. 
The Genista tinctoria, or dyer’s broom, so 
called, as it was formerly much einployed 
by dyers, who obtained a good fixed yellow 
or orange colour from it, is frequent in 
England and the Lowlands of Scotland. 

Genitive Case, in grammar, a case in the 
declension of nouns, adjectives, pronouns, 
participles, &c., expressing source, origin, 
possession, and the like. In English gram¬ 
mar the corresponding case is the possessive 
case. 

Genius, a tutelary deity; the ruling and 
protecting power of men, places, or things; 
a good or evil spirit supposed to be attached 
to a person and influence his actions. The 
Genii of the Romans were the same as the 
Daimunes (Demons) of the Greeks. Accord¬ 
ing to the belief of the Romans, which was 
common to almost all nations, every person 
had his own Genius; that is, a spiritual 
being, which introduced him into life, ac¬ 
companied him during the course of it, and* 
again conducted him out of the world at the 
close of his career. The Genii of women 
were called Junones. The Genii were 
wholly distinct from the Manes, Lares, and 
Penates, though they were allied in one im- 
VOL. IV, 145 


portant feature—the protection of mor¬ 
tals. 

The term genii (with the singular genie) 
is also used as equivalent to the jinn (singu¬ 
lar jtVmee) of Arabic tales. These are sup¬ 
posed to be a class of intermediate beings 
between angels and men. See Jinn. 

Genlis (zan'les), Stephanie Felicite Du- 
CREST DE St. Aubin, Countess de, French 
authoress, born near Autun 1746, died at 
Paris 1830. At four years of age she was 
admitted as a canoness into the noble chapter 
at Aix, and at seventeen married the Count 
de Genlis. By this marriage she became niece 
to Madame de Montesson (who had been 
privately married to the Due d’Orleans), 
and obtained through her the place of lady- 
in-waiting to the Duchesse de Chartres. 
In 1782 the Due de Chartres (Philippe 
Egalite) appointed her governess of his 
children. She obtained great influence over 
her employer, and was the object of no 
little scandal in her relations with him, 
which was strengthened by the mysterious 
appearance of an adopted daughter, after¬ 
wards known by the name of Pamela, who 
married Lord Edward Fitzgerald. At this 
time she published several works on educa¬ 
tion, &c. On the breaking out of the Revol¬ 
ution she retired for a while to Switzerland, 
and then to Altona. In 1800 she returned 
to France, gained the favour of Napoleon, 
who gave her a pension. From that time 
she resided constantly in Paris. Her works, 
which embrace a wide variety of subjects, 
amount altogether to about ninety volumes, 
and include some of the standard novels in 
the French language. Her voluminous Me- 
moires, written when she was upwards of 
eighty years of age, abound in scandal, and 
are full of malignant attacks upon her con¬ 
temporaries. 

Gennesaret, Sea of. See Galilee {Sea 

of). 

Genoa (jen'o-a; \ts\.Genova,Ma superha'), 
a seaport of N. Italy, the chief commercial 
city of the kingdom, on the coast of the 
Mediterranean, at the head of the gulf of 
the same name, 75 miles s.e. of Turin. It 
is beautifully situated at the foot and on the 
slope of the Ligurian Alps, the lower hills 
of which form a background to the city. It 
is inclosed by extensive fortifications, and 
the heights around are crowned with de¬ 
tached forts. It has a most imposing effect 
when approached either by land or sea. 
In the older parts of the town the streets 
are extremely narrow, with lofty buildings 








GENOA. 


on either side. In the newer quarters many 
of them are spacious, and are lined with 
palaces and other noble edifices. Some of 
the palaces are filled with works of art by 
the greatest masters. The principal are— 
the Ducal palace (now containing the law- 
courts and various public offices), the Palazzo 
del Municipio or town-hall, the Palazzo 
Brignole or Rosso (with the largest picture- 
gallery in Genoa), the Palazzo Pallavicini, 
the Palazzo Reale, built in the 16th century 



Strada Balbi, Genoa. 


for the Durazzo family, was purchased in 
1815 by the royal family, and the palaces of 
Doria, Serra, Cambasio, Balbi, and Durazzo. 
The most remarkable of the churches is the 
Duomo, or Cathedral of St.Lorenzo, founded 
in the 11th century, but not completed till 
the beginning of the 12th; S. Maria in Cari- 
gnano, built in imitation of the original plan 
of St. Peter’s at Rome; S. Stefano, a Gothic 
church, the oldest parts of which date from 
the end of the 12th century; S. Ambrogio, 
containing two paintings by Rubens, and 
the Assumption of Guido Reni. The prin¬ 
cipal charitable institution is the Albergo de’ 
Poveri, in which 1600 individuals, orphans 
and old people, find shelter. Others are the 
Ospedale del Pammatone founded in 1430; 
and a hospital recently built by the Galliera 
family. Among the theatres of the city 


may be mentioned the Teatro Carlo Felice, 
an elegant structure, with a splendidly fitted 
up interior. Besides the university, founded 
in 1775, the chief educational institutions 
are the theological seminary, the school of 
fine arts, the royal marine school, and the 
navigation school. 'I’he building of the Bank 
of St. George, one of the most ancient banks 
of circulation and deposit in Europe, is now 
used as a custom-house. In one of the open 
spaces there is a fine marble statue of Co¬ 
lumbus, with accompanying allegorical fig¬ 
ures. The Campo Santo, or cemetery, about 
2^ miles from the city, is one of the most 
beautiful burial-grounds in Europe. It con¬ 
tains fine mortuary buildings and much 
statuary in white marble. The manufac¬ 
tures of Genoa include cotton and silk 
goods, gold, silver, paper and leather goods, 
sugar, and preserved fruits. The old har¬ 
bour, which is of a semicircular form and 
about j mile in diameter, is formed by two 
moles projecting into the sea from opposite 
sides; there are now also two outer or addi¬ 
tional hai’bours formed by moles recently 
constructed. The principal articles of ex¬ 
port are cereals, oils, fruit, cheese, rags, the 
products of its manufactures, &c. Many 
emigrants embark here. Imports—cotton, 
wool, wheat, sugar, coffee, coal, hides, iron, 
&c. In 1887 the exports amounted to 
£3,255,649, and the impoi’ts to £14,731,350. 
—Under the Romans Genoa was famous 
as a seaport. After the breaking up of the 
empire of Charlemagne, it constituted itself 
a republic, presided over by doges. From 
1119 it was almost constantly at war with 
Pisa down to 1284, when Genoa inflicted a 
crushing defeat on Pisa. The Genoese ob¬ 
tained the supi’emacy over Corsica, and 
nominally over Sardinia, possessed settle¬ 
ments in the Levant, on the shores of the 
Black Sea, on the Spanish and Barbary 
coasts, and had a very flourishing commerce. 
The rivalry between Genoa and Venice was 
a fruitful source of wars during the 12th- 
14th centuries. Meanwhile the city was 
internally convulsed by civil discord and 
party spirit. The hostility of the democrats 
and aristocrats, and the different parties 
among the latter, occasioned continual dis¬ 
order. From the contests of noble rivals, 
in which the names of Doria, Spinola, Gri¬ 
maldi, and Fieschi are prominent, Genoa 
was drawn into the Guelph and Ghibelline 
contest. In the absence of internal tran¬ 
quillity the city sometimes submitted to a 
foreign yoke in order to get rid of anarchy. 

146 

































































GENOA — 

In the midst of this confusion St. George’s 
Bank was founded. It owed its origin to 
the loans furnished by the wealthy citizens 
to the state, and was conscientiously sup¬ 
ported by the alternately dominant parties. 
In 1528 the disturbed state regained tran¬ 
quillity and order, which lasted till the end 
of the 18th century. The form of govern¬ 
ment established was a strict aristocracy. 
The nobility were divided into two classes 
—the old and new. To the old belonged, 
besides the families of Grimaldi, Fieschi, 
Doria, Spinola, twenty-four others, who stood 
nearest them in age, wealth, and conse¬ 
quence. The new nobility comprised 437 
families. By little and little Genoa lost all 
her foreign possessions. Corsica, the last of 
all, revolted in 1730, and was ceded in 1768 
to France, After the battle of Marengo 
(1800) Genoa was taken possession of by the 
French. In 1805 it was formally annexed 
to the Empire of France, in 1815 to the 
Kingdom of Sardinia, with which it has 
become a portion of the Kingdom of Italy. 
Pop. 1890, 206,485. 

Genoa, Gulf of, a large indentation of 
the Mediterranean, in North Italy, at the 
head of which lies the city and port of 
Genoa. No precise points can be named 
as marking its entrance; but it may, per¬ 
haps, be generally said to comprise the 
entire space north of lat. 43° 40' n. 

Genre-painting (zhan-r), that depart¬ 
ment of painting in which are depicted 
scenes of everyday life, in opposition, for 
instance, to historical painting, in which 
historic personages are exhibited, or to land¬ 
scape. 

Gens, in Roman history, a clan or stock 
embracing several families united together 
by a common name and certain religious 
rites; as, the Fabian gens, all having Fahius 
as part of their personal name; the Julian 
gens, all named Julius; the Cornelian gens, 
&c. 

Gens D’Armes. See Gendarmes. 

Genseric (jen'), a king of the Vandals, 
who, having obtained joint possession of the 
throne of Spain with his brother Gonderic, 
crossed the Straits of Gibraltar with 50,000 
men, A.D. 429, on the invitation of Bonifacius, 
the Roman governor of Africa, to assist him 
against the Moors. He, however, soon de¬ 
clared his independence, and, having com¬ 
pletely defeated Bonifacius, founded a king¬ 
dom, which, in 439, had its seat at Carthage. 
He collected a powerful fleet, ravaged the 
coasts of Sicily and Italy, and in 455 took 

147 


- GENTILE. 

and sacked Rome. Two unsuccessful at¬ 
tempts were made by the Eastern and 
Western emperors to overthrow his power, 
but Genseric secured all his conquests, and, 
notwithstanding all his cruelties, was per¬ 
mitted to die in peace a.d. 477. 

Gentian, the name given to the members 
of the genus Gentidna (order Gentianaceje), 
a large genus of bitter herbaceous plants, 
having opposite,often strongly ribbed, leaves, 
and blue, yellow, or red, often showy flowers. 
The calyx consists of four or five valvate 
segments, and the corolla is four or five 
parted; the fruit is 
a two-valved, one- 
celled, many-seeded 
capsule. They are 
for the most part 
natives of hilly or 
mountainous districts 
in the northern hemi¬ 
sphere. The most 
important species is 
Gentidna lutea, a 
native of Switzerland 
and the mountainous 
parts of Germany. 

The root has a yel¬ 
lowish brown colour 
and a very bitter taste, and is imported into 
U. S. in considerable quantities, where it 
is used medicinally, and also as an ingre¬ 
dient of cattle foods. In Switzerland and 
Bavaria a liqueur called Enziangeist or 
‘gentian-spirit’ is made from it. Many of 
the blue-flowered species, as G. acaulis, G. 
nivdlis, and G. verna, are among the most 
conspicuous and ornamental of European 
alpine plants. America has several species. 

Gentiana'cese, the gentians, an order of 
monopetalous exogens, consisting mostly of 
annual or perennial herbaceous plants, with 
opposite often connate entire leaves, and 
yellow, red, blue, or white flowers, which 
are borne in dichotomous or trichotomous 
cymes or in globose terminal heads. All 
are characterized by their bitter principle. 
The order contains about 520 species, which 
are widely dispersed throughout the world, 
occurring most plentifully in temperate 
mountainous regions. Some very handsome 
species are tropical, while a few occur in 
Arctic latitudes. 

Gentile, in Scripture, any one belong¬ 
ing to the non-Jewish nations and not a 
Christian; a heathen. The Hebrews in¬ 
cluded in the term goim, or nations, all the 
tribes of men who had not received the- 



Yellow Gentian (GentiCLna 
lutea). 








GENTLEMAN 


GEOFFROY ST. HILAIRE. 


true faith, and were not circumcised. The 
Christians translated goim by the L. gentes, 
nations, and imitated the Jews in giving the 
name gentiles to all nations who were not 
Jews or Christians. In civil affairs the de¬ 
nomination was given to all nations who 
were not Romans. 

Gentleman, in English law, every man 
above the rank of yeomen, including noble¬ 
men; in a more limited sense, a man who 
without a title bears a coat of arms, or one 
who is ‘ a gentleman by reputation,’ through 
belonging to some liberal profession or hold¬ 
ing some office giving him this rank. 

Gentlemen-at-Arms, a body of forty 
gentlemen, headed by a captain, lieutenant, 
and standard-bearer, whose duties are to 
form a body-guard to the British sovereign 
on state occasions. The corps was estab¬ 
lished by Henry VIII. in 1509, under the 
name of the Band of Gentlemen Pensioners, 
Appointments to the corps are made by the 
sovereign, from a special list of retired 
officers kept by the commander-in-chief. 

Gentoo', a term applied by old writers to 
a native of Hindustan, or to the language. 

Gentz (gents), Friedrich Von, a German 
diplomatist and publicist, born 1761, died 
1832. He was secretary to the directory 
of finances at Berlin when the French revo¬ 
lution broke out, of which he was an ardent 
opponent. He served alternately in the 
Prussian and Austrian civil service, and 
his pamphlets and manifestoes proved for¬ 
midable obstacles to the invasions of Napo¬ 
leon. He took part in the congresses of 
Vienna and Paris, as well as in others. 
Among his various works was a life of Mary 
Queen of Scots. 

Genuflexion (from the Latin genu, knee, 
flectere, to bend), the act of bending the 
knees in worship. There are frequent allu¬ 
sions to genuflexion in the Old and New 
Testaments, and it would appear that the 
use was continued among the early Chris¬ 
tians. Genuflexion obtains, both by rule 
and prescription, in various places in the 
offices of the Roman Catholic Church, and 
at different parts of the services of the 
Church of England. 

Genus, in scientific classification, an as¬ 
semblage of species possessing certain cha¬ 
racters in common, by which they are dis¬ 
tinguished from all others. It is subordinate 
to order, tribe, and family. A single species, 
possessing certain peculiar characters which 
belong to no other species, may also consti¬ 
tute a genus, as the giraffe. 


Geodes (je'odz), round hollow nodules, 
containing sometimes earthy matters, some¬ 
times a deposit of agate, sometimes quartz 
and spars crystallized. They are found more 
or less in all volcanic rocks, and have been 
formed by water depositing their materials 
in the hollows of those rocks. 

Geodesy (je-od'e-si), the science of sur¬ 
veying extended to large tracts of country; 
the branch of applied mathematics which 
determines the general figure and dimen¬ 
sions of the earth, the variations of the in¬ 
tensity of gravity in different regions, &c., 
by means of direct observation and mea¬ 
surement. See Trigonometrical Survey. 

Geoffrey of Monmouth (called also Geof¬ 
frey ap Arthur), an ecclesiastic and histo¬ 
rian of the 12th century. He sprang from 
the Norman settlers in Wales; became arch¬ 
deacon of Monmouth, whence he was, in 
1152, raised to the bishopric of St. Asaph. 
He died in 1154. His famous history was 
first published in 1128. This ‘ Chronicon 
sive Historia Britonum ’ is now known to 
be, as the compiler states, chiefly a transla¬ 
tion from an ancient book in the Breton 
tongue, discovered by Walter Caleuius, an 
archdeacon of Oxford. It contains a pre¬ 
tended genealogy of the kings of Britain 
from the time of the fabulous Brutus, or 
Brute, the Trojan, to the death of Cadwal- 
lader, king of Wessex, in 688. It was soon 
translated into French, English, and Welsh, 
and became a great source of romance to 
the writers of successive generations. 

Geoffrey St. Hilaire (zhof-rwa san te-lar), 
i^TiENNE, French naturalist, born in 1772, 
died in 1844. He was educated at the 
colleges of Navarre and Lemoine, and be¬ 
came a favourite pupil of Haiiy. At the 
age of twenty-one he obtained the chair of 
zoology in the Parisian Jardin des Plantes. 
As a member of the Egyptian expedition in 
1798 he founded the Institute of Cairo, and 
returned about the end of 1801 with a rich 
collection of zoological specimens. In 1807 
he was made a member of the Institute, and 
in 1809 professor of zoology at the Faculty 
of Sciences. He devoted himself especially 
to the philosophy of natural history. The 
fundamental idea brought conspicuously for¬ 
ward in all his works is, that in the organi¬ 
zation of animals there is only one general 
plan, one original type, which is modified in 
particular points so as to present differences 
of genera. This view met with strong oppo¬ 
sition from Cuvier. Among his principal 
works are Sur le Principe de FUnite d© 

.148 



GEOFFROY ST. HILAIRE-GEOGRAPHY. 


Composition Organique; Philosophie Anato- 
mi(pie; Histoire Naturelle des Mammifferes, 
written in conjunction with Cuvier; Notions 
de Philosophie Naturelle (1838). 

Geoffrey St. Hilaire, Isidore, physiolo¬ 
gist and naturalist, son of the preceding, 
was born at Paris 1805, died 1861. He 
devoted himself to natural history, and in 
1824 was appointed assistant to his father 
at the Jardin des Plantes. He was elected 
to the Academy of Sciences in 1833, and 
afterwards became successively inspector- 
general of the university, member of the 
council of public instruction, and professor 
of zoology at the Academy of Sciences. One 
of his chief works, Histoire Genferale et Par- 
ticulifere des Anomalies de FOrganisation 
chez I’Homme et les Animaux, adds valu¬ 
able confirmation to the theories of his father. 
He was the means of founding the Acclima¬ 
tization Society of Paris. 

Geog'nosy, a term which originated among 
the German mineralogists, and is nearly sy¬ 
nonymous with rjeolorjy. It is the science 
of the substances which compose the earth 
or its crust, their structure, position, relative 
situation and properties. 

Geographical Societies are associations 
formed with the view of obtaining and dis¬ 
seminating geographical knowledge. In 
point of seniority the first of these associa¬ 
tions is the Socifetfe de Gfeographie of Paris, 
founded in 1821, whose magazine, the Bul¬ 
letin de la Socifete de Geographie, com¬ 
menced in 1822. The Prussian Gesellschaft 
fiir Erdkunde held its first sittings in Berlin 
in 1828. The more important results of its 
investigations are published yearly in the 
Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde 
zu Berlin. The Royal Geographical Society, 
established in London in 1830, has a capital 
of over £25,000, and large sums are devoted 
annually to aid the cause of geographical 
research, or as awards and recognition of 
services rendered to the science. Its Pro¬ 
ceedings are published monthly. The Royal 
Scottish Geographical Society, founded in 
1884, also publishes a monthly magazine. 
The Russian Geographical Society, founded 
at St. Petersburg in 1845, has greatly ex¬ 
tended our knowledge of Asia, and especially 
Asiatic Russia. The American Geographical 
Society was founded at New York in 1852, 
and publishes an interesting journal. Italy 
has her Societh Geografica, founded at Flor¬ 
ence in 1867. 

Geography (from the Greek yS, earth, and 
gravhOf I write), the science which treats of 

149 


the world and its inhabitants, giving an 
account of the earth as a whole, and of the 
divisions of its surface, natural and artificial, 
describing the different countries, states, 
provinces, islands, cities, &c. It may be 
regarded as embracing several departments 
or branches. Mathematical Geography is 
that branch of the general science which is 
derived from the application of mathemati¬ 
cal truths to the figure of the earth, and 
which determines the relative positions of 
places, their longitudes and latitudes, the 
different lines and circles imagined to be 
drawn upon the earth’s surface, their mea¬ 
surement, distance, &c. Physical Geography 
treats of the physical condition of the earth, 
its great natural divisions of land and 
water, the atmosphere, and the movements 
of oceanic and aerial currents; the geological 
structure of the earth; and the natural pro¬ 
ducts of the earth, vegetable and animal. 
It is concerned chiefly with general laws 
and principles, as they are manifested upon 
a grand scale, and in the organic kingdom 
with the existence of groups of animals and 
plants. This branch approaches at various 
points the sciences of geology, hydrology, 
meteorology, botany, zoology, and ethno¬ 
logy. Political Geography embraces the de¬ 
scription of the political or arbitrary divi¬ 
sions and limits of empires, kingdoms, and 
states; and treats of their government, laws, 
social organization, &c. 

The earliest idea of the earth formed by 
mankind seems to have been that it was 
an immense disc, in the centre of which 
their own land was situated, surrounded by 
the ocean, and covered by the sky as with 
a canopy. The Phoenicians were the first 
people who made any great progress in ex¬ 
tending the bounds of geographical know¬ 
ledge. They seem to have explored all the 
shores of the Mediterranean, and at an early 
period to have passed the Pillars of Her¬ 
cules (the Strait of Gibraltar), and visited 
to some extent the Atlantic shores of Europe 
and Africa, extending their voyages as far 
north as Britain, and as far south as the 
Tropic of Capricorn. In the Homeric poems 
(which may be regarded as representative 
of the ideas entertained by the Greeks about 
the commencement of the 9th century B.c.) 
the earth is supposed to resemble a circular 
shield surrounded by a belt of water which 
was the source of all other streams. The 
world of Herodotus (born 484 b.c.) extended 
from the Atlantic to the western boundary 
of Persia, and from the Red Sea or Indian 







GEOGRAPHY. 


Ocean to the amber lands of the Baltic. The 
Indian expedition of Alexander the Great 
(330 B.c.) greatly enlarged the ancient know¬ 
ledge of Northern and Eastern Asia. About 
320 B.C. Pytheas, a seaman of Massilia 
(ancient Marseilles), a Greek colony, sailed 
along the western coasts of Spain and Gaul, 
visited Britain, and, pursuing his voyage, 
discovered an island, henceforward famous 
as Ultivia Thule, which is supposed to have 
been Iceland. Eratosthenes (276-196 b.c.) 
first used parallels of latitude and longitude, 
and constructed maps on mathematical prin¬ 
ciples. He considered the world to be a 
sphere revolving with its surrounding atmo¬ 
sphere on one and the same axis, and having 
one centre. The Geography of Strabo, a 
Greek of Pontus, written about the begin¬ 
ning of the Christian era, embodies all that 
was known of the science at that period. 
The countries lying round the Mediterranean 
were known with tolerable accuracy, but 
the Atlantic shores of Europe were very 
vaguely comprehended, while of the north¬ 
ern and eastern portions the most erroneous 
notions prevailed. Pomponius Mela, an 
early Roman geographer, wrote about the 
time of the emperor Claudius. He divided 
the world into two hemispheres, the North¬ 
ern or known and the Southern or unknown; 
the former comprising Europe N. of the 
Mediterranean and w. of the Tanais (Don); 
Africa S. of the Mediterranean and w. of 
the Nile; and Asia. The next famous geo¬ 
grapher is Ptolemy, who lived at Alexandria 
about the middle of the 2d century A.D. 
In Europe, Spain and Gaul were now cor¬ 
rectly delineated, together with the southern 
shores of Britain. Northern Germany and 
the southern shores of the Baltic were 
pretty well known, as also some portion of 
Russia in the neighbourhood of that sea, and 
the southern part of European Russia. In 
Asia it was considered certain that there 
were wide regions inhabited by nomadic 
tribes called Scythians, while from the far 
east came some vague reports of China. 
The geography of Ptolemy remained the 
acknowledged authority during the whole 
of the middle ages. From his time up till 
the 13th century no advance Avas made in 
geographical knowledge until Marco Polo 
opened up new fields of inquiry. The ac¬ 
count of his travels first made known to 
Europe the existence of Japan and of many 
of the East Indian islands and countries. 
Then followed the discovery of America in 
1492, and from this time forward the pro¬ 


gress of discovery was extremely rapid. In 
1497 the Cape of Good Hope was doubled 
by Vasco da Gama, four years after its dis¬ 
covery by Bartholomew Diaz. Within thirty 
years from the date of the first voyage of 
Columbus the whole of the east coast of 
America from Greenland to Cape Horn had 
been exjJored. In 1520 Magellan passed the 
straits which bear his name, and his vessel, 
crossing the Pacific and Indian Oceans, re¬ 
turned to Europe by way of the Cape of 
Good Hope, being the first that had circum¬ 
navigated the globe. The west coast of 
America was explored as far as the Bay of 
San Francisco about the middle of the 16th 
century. At the same time discovery in the 
east advanced with rapid strides. Within 
twenty years of Gama’s arrival in India the 
coasts of East Africa, Arabia, Persia, and 
Hindustan had been explored, and many of 
the islands of the great Archipelago dis¬ 
covered. The expeditions of Willoughby 
and Frobisher in 1553 and 1576, of Davis 
in 1585, of Hudson in 1607, and of Baffin 
in 1616, though they failed in their object 
of finding a N.w. passage to India, materi¬ 
ally enlarged our knowledge of the Arctic 
regions. By the middle of the 17th century 
the Dutch, under Tasman and Van Diemen, 
made the Australasian Islands known to the 
world. Late in the following century Cap¬ 
tain Cook added largely to geographical 
knowledge by his survey of the Pacific and 
its innumerable islands. The Antarctic con¬ 
tinent was discovered in 1840 by American, 
English, and French expeditions, and the 
north-west passage round N. America was 
found by M‘Clure in 1850. The travels of 
Humboldt, Spix and Martins, Lewis and 
Clark, Fremont, and others, have made us 
acquainted with the general features of the 
A merican continent. In Asia numerous tra¬ 
vellers have contributed much to render our 
knowledge certain and precise in respect to a 
great part of the continent. The interior of 
Australia has been explored by Sturt, Eyre, 
Leichhardt, Burke, Wills, King, M‘Douall 
Stuart, &c. The opening up of the African 
interior has been materially advanced by the 
explorations of a host of travellers, including 
Bruce, Park, Denham, Clapperton, the Lan¬ 
ders, Burton, Speke, Grant, Baker, Barth, 
Livingstone, Rohlfs, Schweinfurth, Cam¬ 
eron, Stanley, &c. The progress which has 
marked recent discovery has been materially 
assisted by the governments of various coun¬ 
tries, and by the numerous geographical 
societies formed during the present century, 

150 


GEOK TEPE 

The scientific study and teaching of geo¬ 
graphy are becoming more and more recog¬ 
nized to be of high importance, and in both 
at present Germany takes the lead. See 
also Geographical Societies, the articles on 
the different countries, and such articles as 
Earth, Climate, &c. 

Geok Tepe, a town and fortress of Central 
Asia, oasis of the Akhal-Tekke-Turkomans, 
Ion. 58° E., lat. 38° N. In 1879 the Russians 
under General Lomakine were defeated here 
with heavy loss, but in January 1881 it was 
stormed by General Skobeleff after a three 
weeks’ siege, when about 8000 fugitives 
were massacred, no quarter being given. 

Geology (Gr. ge, the earth, and logos, a 
discourse) is the science which treats of the 
history of the earth, as ascertained by the 
study of its exterior or crust, investigating the 
successive changes which have taken place in 
the rock-masses composing it, their relations, 
structure and origin, and discussing also the 
main features of the animal and vegetable 
life of the past as bearing on the earth’s his¬ 
tory. The present condition and conforma¬ 
tion of the earth is the result of vast changes 
in the past and of agencies working through 
immense periods of time, and the same or 
similar agencies may still be seen at work 
producing similar changes. Thus rocks, 
both aqueous and igneous, are still being 
formed. The former receive their name 
from owing their origin mainly to water, 
which acts both chemically and mechanically 
on the crust of the earth, in wearing down 
rocks and soils and carrying the debris often 
to considerable distances. The sediments 
thus carried to sea, or into lakes and estu¬ 
aries, are spread abroad in the water, and 
form stratified deposits, which in course of 
time solidify into rock. With sufficient time 
all land would thus be eventually degraded 
beneath the sea, were it not that the loss is 
compensated by disturbance and elevation 
of land always slowly taking place over 
great portions of the continents and islands 
of the world. Such disturbances have pro¬ 
duced strange phenomena among the stra¬ 
tified rocks, which may be contorted, tilted 
up, dislocated, or otherwise changed from 
their original arrangement. The strata re¬ 
sulting from aqueous deposits are consoli¬ 
dated (petrified) chiefly by pressure and 
chemical decomposition and recomposition. 
Some formations are many thousands of feet 
in thickness. Contraction of the crust of the 
earth due to radiation of the heat of the 
earth into space, has also had immense 

151 


— GEOLOGY. 

effects, the result being that over broad 
areas rocky masses have been contorted and 
compressed to a great degree, and mountain 
ranges upheaved. 

Igneous rocks also form a considerable 
portion of the visible crust of the earth, 
though much smaller in amount than those 
of sedimentary origin. Some of the igneous 
rocks consist of beds of volcanic ashes, others 
of old lavas, others of masses of matter which 
were intruded in a melted state from below 
among the strata. Granite is the most im¬ 
portant and widely-spread of the igneous 
rocks, and is genei'ally regarded as the fun¬ 
damental rock of the earth’s crust. Rocks 
that have been melted are known to be 
igneous by their structure, and also by the 
effects they have prodiiced on the strata 
with which they are associated. Shales, 
sandstones, &c., are often hardened, bleached, 
and even vitrified at the points of junction 
with greenstone, basaltic, and felspathic 
dykes, or old lava beds, and the same kind 
of alteration takes place on a greater scale 
when large masses of igneous rocks have 
been intruded on the strata. 

That the rocks which form the crust of 
the earth had the same general origin with 
the igneous rocks and sedimentary strata 
now forming has been well established, and 
that there is a regular succession of strata 
from the older to the newer, the oldest being 
normally lowermost, the newest uppermost, 
is also well ascertained. A corresponding 
succession in regard to the animal and vege¬ 
table life of former ages has also been 
proved by the fossils that accompany the 
successive strata. This superposition of 
strata and the succession of life in time are 
two cardinal doctrines in geology. Obser¬ 
vation and experiment alike establish the 
doctrine of superposition. Thus at the 
edges of the strata on which London stands, 
the rocks known as the Woolwich and 
Reading beds are seen to lie on the chalk. 
Far within these edges, well-sinkers are 
well aware that often after sinking several 
hundred feet through the London clay the 
chalk is reached. In like manner proceed¬ 
ing westward across the middle of Eng¬ 
land, it is found that the Chalk rests on the 
Green-sands, the Green-sands on the Up¬ 
per Oolites, the Lower Oolites on the Lias, 
the Lias on the New Red marl, and so on 
through lower members of the geological 
series of English rocks. Each great group 
of rocks consists of several subdivisions 
called formations^ and each group, and even 




GEOLOGY. 


to a considerable extent each minor sub¬ 
division, is characterized by the presence of 
distinct assemblages of organic remains. 
The successive appearance of such remains, 
which constitutes the succession of life in 
time, was the great discovery of Wm. Smith, 
made nearly a century ago. The main 
rock-systems into which the earth’s crust is 
divided, and which are based on the charac¬ 
teristics of the organic remains contained 
in them, are shown in the following table 
in ascending order:— 

Life Periods. Rock Sj’stems. 

Post-Tertiary or J Recent—Alluvium, Peat, &c. 
Quaternary_(Pleistocene. 

{ Pliocene. 

Miocene. 

Oligocene. 

Eocene. 
l Cretaceous. 

Secondary or Me- J t, ( Oolitic, 
sozoic.K Jurassic. I^iassic. 

(.Triassic. 

/Permian. 

Carboniferous. 

Primary or Palseo- j Devonian and Old Red Sand- 

zoic .j stone. 

Silurian. 

^Cambrian. 

1 J’uiidamental Gneiss. 

tian, or Eozoic..) 

Igneous rocks also are associated in dif¬ 
ferent localities with the systenos named in 
the foregoing table. 

In the small area of Great Britain a more 
complete series of rocks exists than in any 
other part of the earth’s surface of equal 
dimensions—so far as is known. The greater 
part of the European series is, indeed, nearly 
complete in England and Wales alone; and 
since the days of William Smith, the British 
rocks have generally been the types to 
which formations in other parts of the world 
have been referred. 

Archaean, Pre-Camhrian, or Laurentian 
Bocks.—TheLaurentian are the oldest known 
of the sedimentary rocks. They are meta- 
morphic (that is, changed from their original 
structure), and mostly gneissic in character, 
and were for long classed as granitic and ig¬ 
neous rocks till their true nature was shown 
by Sir William Logan. They occupy vast 
tracts of country in Labrador and Canada. 
They there consist of two divisions. Loner 
and Upper Laurentian. The gneiss of the 
lower division is interstratified with several 
thick bands of crystalline limestone, in one 
of which a remarkable structure believed by 
Dawson, Carpenter, and others to be a fora- 
Riinifer and called Eozoon Canadense was 
found. This is the oldest known fossil, if 


indeed it be a true fossil. In the Outef 
Hebrides and on the west coast of the North 
Highlands, rocks occur of highly metamor- 
phic gneiss, which are probably of Lauren¬ 
tian age. The term Pre-Cambrian or Ar¬ 
chaean is now applied to these rocks in the 
British area; they crop out also in North and 
South Wales, in the Malvern Hills, and in 
Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire. No 
fossils have yet been observed in these rocks. 
The Huronian Rocks of N. America are 
possibly intermediate in age between the 
Laurentian and the rocks next mentioned. 

Cambrian .—These rocks come next in suc¬ 
cession to the Laurentian strata. The term 
Cambrian has been used differently by dif¬ 
ferent geologists. The purple grits and slates 
to which the term Cambrian was restricted 
by Murchison form the greater part of the 
group of hills in Wales that lie east of Car¬ 
digan Bay; they are also well seen in Car¬ 
narvonshire, where the celebrated slate quar¬ 
ries of Penrhyn and Llanberis lie in Cam¬ 
brian strata. In most places they are unfos- 
siliferous (or only doubtfully so), but at St. 
David’s, in North Pembrokeshire, numerous 
fossils in purple shales among the low'est 
beds of the series have been found, including 
a small bivalve crustacean and two brachio- 
pods. In a higher part of the series two 
sponges and various trilobites have been 
found. In Sutherlandshire, red Cambrian 
conglomerates lie on the Laurentian strata 
unconformably. Cambrian strata also occur 
in the hills of the Longmynd of Shrop¬ 
shire, in South Staffordshire, &c. 

The Silurian Rocks were first worked out 
in detail in South Wales and the bordering 
counties by Sir Eoderick Murchison, and 
an account of them published in the year 
1839 in his Silurian System. The Silurian 
is divided into the Lower and Upper Silu¬ 
rian. The former comprises in ascending 
order the Lingula beds (so named from a 
characteristic fossil shell), the Tremadoc 
slate, the Llandeilo flags, and the Caradoc 
or Bala beds. The Lingula flags {Potsdam 
sandstone of North America) rest conform¬ 
ably on, and in fact pass by gradations into 
the Cambrian rocks. They are best de¬ 
veloped in Wales, in Merionethshire, Car¬ 
narvonshire, and at St, David’s, and consist 
of black and gray slaty rocks with beds of 
grit. The mass of hills that extends across 
the south of Scotland, from Wigtonshire on 
the south-west to St. Abb’s Head on the 
eastern coast, is mostly formed of Lower 
Silurian strata. They chiefly consist of gray 

152 





GEOLOGY. 


grits and gray and black shales here and 
there containing fossils. Further south, in 
Cumberland, Westmoreland, and North Lan¬ 
cashire, liOwer Silurian strata form the chief 
mass of the mountains known as the Cum¬ 
brian region. The Skiddaw region consists 
of black slates. Above these there lies a 
great series of volcanic rocks, consisting of 
felspathic lavas and ashes, commonly known 
as the green slates and porphyries. The 
Llandeilo flags in North Wales are named 
fi*om the town of Llandeilo in Carmarthen¬ 
shire, where they occur in a typical form. 
Above and passing into these lie the Cara- 
doc or Bala beds {Trenton limestone of N. 
America). The most characteristic fossils 
of the Lower Silurian are the crustaceans 
known as trilobites, of which more than 
200 species are known to belong to these 
rocks. Other fossils include hydrozoa, cor¬ 
als, echinodermata, numerous mollusca (bra- 
chiopods in particular, also lamellibranchi- 
ates, pteropods, gasteropods, cephalopods or 
cuttle-fishes). No fishes nor any other verte¬ 
brate animals have yet been found in the 
Lower Silurian rocks. The Lower Silurian 
rocks in the British and in some other areas 
were upbeaved, contorted, and denuded be¬ 
fore the deposition of the Upper Silurian 
strata, which, therefore, lie generally uncon- 
formahly upon them. The chief groups form¬ 
ing the Upper Silurian are, in ascending 
order, the Pentamerus beds (so called from 
the brachiopod Pentamerus oblong us), the 
Tarannon shale, Woolhope limestone, TFc??- 
lock shale, Wenloch limestone, and Ludlow 
rocks, in the middle of which is the A ymestry 
limestone. In North America the Oriskany 
and Niagara beds are of this age. The Up¬ 
per Silurian limestones are absent in Scot¬ 
land and over the greater part of Wales. 
All of these formations are in general terms 
fossiliferous. The Wenlock limestone is in 
great part formed of corals, encrinites, shells, 
and trilobites, corals predominating. Near 
the top of the Upper Ludlow strata there 
are several thin bone-beds containing small 
teeth and scales and defences of placoid 
fish: with the exception of a fragment of a 
fish found in the Lower Ludlow beds in 
Shropshire, these are the oldest known fishes. 
Many geologists now classify the Silurian 
system very differently from the above me¬ 
thod. They assign the Tremadoc and Lin¬ 
gula beds to the Cambrian formation; and 
the Llandeilo and C'aradoc beds are put 
into a distinct formation called the OrdovU 
dan. 


Old Red Sandstone and Devonian. — The 
Old Red Sandstone first received that name 
in contradistinction to the New Red Sand¬ 
stone, the former occurring below, and the 
latter abo v e the Carboniferous strata. Where 
the uppermost Silurian strata join the Old 
Bed Sandstone there is a gradual passage 
between them. A broad belt of Old Bed 
Sandstone crosses Scotland in a north-east 
direction between the Firth of Clyde and 
Montrose and Stonehaven. This broad tract 
lies unconform ably on Lower Silurian clay- 
slates, and dips to the south-east under the 
Carboniferous or coal-bearing rocks that oc¬ 
cupy the great central depression through 
which the Forth and Clyde chiefly run. 
On the south-east side of this broad un¬ 
dulating hollow the Old Bed Sandstone 
again rises from beneath the Coal-measures 
with a general north-west dip, and skirt¬ 
ing the Lammermuir Hills, strikes south¬ 
west into the sea south of Ayr. On the 
south side of the Ijammermuirs it again 
appears on the hills between Berwick and 
Hawick, dipping under the Carboniferous 
rocks that, without a break, stretch from 
Berwick to the neighbourhood of Derby. 
The first compendious account of the Old 
Bed Sandstone of Scotland was given by 
Hugh Miller, those rocks and the remark¬ 
able forms of fish (Pterichthys, Cephalaspis, 
&c.) they contain being till his time al¬ 
most unknown. In North Wales and 
Cumberland narrow streaks of red sand¬ 
stone here and there show themselves be¬ 
tween the Silurian rocks and Carbonifer¬ 
ous limestone. South of Coalbrookdale it 
ranges, in great force, through parts of 
Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Gloucester¬ 
shire, into South Wales, where it stretches 
westward to the west coast of Pembroke¬ 
shire, the whole being about 8000 feet in 
thickness. These English and Welsh rocks 
are united by their fossils to the Old Bed 
Sandstone of Scotland. The absence of 
marine shells and the nature of the fossil 
fishes of the Old Bed Sandstone indicate 
that the formation was deposited, not in 
the sea, but in a great fresh-water lake, or 
in a series of lakes, for the nearest living 
analogues of many of the fish are the Poly- 
pterus of the African rivers, the Ceratodus 
of Australia, and in less degree the Lepi- 
dosteus of North America. In Canada, the 
sandstones of Gaspe are of Devonian age, 
as is found by their containing Cephalaspis. 

The name Devonian has been given to a 
series of rocks in Devonshire bearing fossils 


153 






GEOLOGY. 


intermediate in character between those of 
the Upper Silurian and those of the Carboni¬ 
ferous limestone, and which are considered 
as the equivalents of the Old Red Sandstone 
of the west of England and of Scotland. 
The terms Devonian and Old Red Sandstone 
are thus generally considered equivalent in 
point of time. These rocks have been di¬ 
vided into Lower, Middle, and Upper De¬ 
vonian. The lower beds chiefly consist of 
slaty beds, and green and purple sandstones, 
with brachiopods. The middle group, which 
includes the Plymouth limestone, contains 
numerous corals. The Upper Devonian 
group contains land plants (Stigmai'ia, &c., 
and many shells), some of which are identi¬ 
cal with those found in the Lower Carboni¬ 
ferous limestone-shales. 

Carboniferous Locks .—In the south and 
middle of England, and in Ireland, the Car¬ 
boniferous Rocks, so named on account of 
the masses of coal contained in them, consist 
chiefly of limestone at the base and Coal- 
measures above. Including the South Wales, 
the Forest of Dean, and the Somersetshire 
areas, a typical section of the beds is as 
follows:— 

Feet. Feet. 

Coal-measures.1000 to 12,000 

Millstone grit. 500 ,, 1,000 

Yoredale rocks. 100 „ 1,000 

Carboniferous or Mountain ) « 500 

limestone.I ” ’ 

Carboniferous limestone shale 100 „ 500 

Yellow Sandstone, with) 

plants...i ” 

Generally resting on Old Red Sandstone. 

The Yelloiv Sandstone beds form a kind of 
passage from the Old Red Sandstone to the 
Carboniferous rocks, and the plants have 
carboniferous aftinities. The overlying shales 
in Pembrokeshire, &c., contain numerous 
fish-teeth, Spirifers, Productas, and a few 
Lingulas (all brachiopods); and the lime¬ 
stone, which is more than 2000 feet thick in 
South Wales, near Bristol, and in Somer¬ 
setshire, is also so highly fossiliferous that it 
may be stated that the whole of this lime¬ 
stone has once formed parts of animals. 
The Yoredale rocks of Yorkshire consist 
chiefly of shales and sandstones, with marine 
shells and occasional land-plants. The Mill¬ 
stone grit of South Wales is comparatively 
unfossiliferous, but sometimes contains the 
remains of plants, and more rarely marine 
shells. The Coal-measures and Millstone 
grit of Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire, 
and Pembrokeshire, lie in a great oval basin, 
encircled by a rim of limestone, beneath 


which lies the Old Red Sandstone. The 
Coal-measure beds consist of alternations 
of sandstone, shale, fire-clay or under-clay, 
coal, and ironstone. Underneath each bed 
of coal is a bed of under-clay with the 
roots known as Stigmarise, forming the soil 
in which the plants were rooted, by the 
decay of which, passing into peat, material 
was supplied for the production of coal. 
The Gloucestershire and Somersetshire coal¬ 
field was originally joined to the South 
Wales Carboniferous rocks. The Coal-mea¬ 
sures of the Bristol and Somersetshire coal¬ 
field are altogether about 7000 feet thick, 
and contain in all about forty-six beds 
of coal, with a total thickness of about 98 
feet. The Coalbrookdale coal-field contains 
several bands of good nodular ironstone. 
There are in places twenty-two beds of coal, 
about ten of which are workable, some of 
them from 3 to 6 feet thick. The North 
Wales coal-field lies on a great thickness of 
Carboniferous limestone. The Denbighshire 
part contains at least seventeen beds of coal, 
most of which are worked, and the Flint¬ 
shire part at least twelve beds. The base¬ 
ment beds of the South Staffordshire coal¬ 
field rest directly upon Upper Silurian rocks. 
This field, in the northern part, contains 
fourteen beds of coal. In the south several 
of these coalesce to form the thick coal, in 
places 40 feet in thickness, with two thin 
partings. The Warwickshire coal-field con¬ 
tains six beds of workable coal, besides iron¬ 
stone. The Ashby-de-la-Zouch coal-field 
contains fifteen beds of coal. The Coal¬ 
brookdale, South Staffordshire, and War¬ 
wickshire coal-fields present so many points 
of resemblance, that undoubtedly they were 
all originally formed as one coal-field. North 
of this coal-field the Carboniferous rocks are 
somewhat modified in details. The Lan¬ 
cashire and Cheshire and North Stafford¬ 
shire coalfields, exclusive of the Millstone 
grit, vary from about 3500 to 7500 feet in 
thickness, including about forty-six coal 
beds in North Staffordshire, and foiu*teen 
in Lancashire. There are also many beds 
of ironstone. The Nottingham, Derbyshire, 
and Yorkshire coal-fields united give about 
fifteen beds of workable coal. All these 
are ironstone areas, and North Stafford¬ 
shire is also the great pottery district of 
England. The Newcastle coal-field is about 
1600 feet thick, and contains about six¬ 
teen beds of coal throughout the district. 
The lower coal-field of Northumberland is 
of the date of the Mountain limestone, A 

154 







GEOLOGY. 


smaller coal-field overlies the Carboniferous 
limestone north-east of Whitehaven in Cum¬ 
berland. The Whitehaven Coal-measures, 
wiiich lie on the Carboniferous limestone, 
have fourteen beds of coal. The great Scot¬ 
tish coal-fields lie in a broad synclinal hol¬ 
low, in which are the valleys of the Clyde and 
Forth. The whole tract is about 100 miles 
in length, by 40 to 50 in breadth. The 
Carboniferous strata of the Lothians cross 
the Firth of Forth beneath the sea, and 
form great part of Kinross and Fife. By 
far the larger part of the surface of Ireland, 
from the southern coast to Lough Neagh 
and Donegal Bay, consists of the Carboni¬ 
ferous limestone series, lying sometimes on 
Old Red Sandstone, sometimes on Silurian 
rocks. There are a few small coal-fields, 
but these are merely the relics of one great 
coal-field that originally overspread the Car¬ 
boniferous limestone of Ireland. 

In the Carboniferous rocks more than 500 
species of fossil plants have been named, a 
large proportion of which are ferns, includ¬ 
ing some tree-ferns. The remaining chief 
plants are gigantic clubmosses known as 
Calamites, Lepidodendron, and Sigillaria. 
Coniferous trees also occur, as do the wings 
and wing-cases of beetles and other insects, 
spiders, &c., and some reptile forms. In 
the purely marine series of rocks, of which 
the Carboniferous limestone forms the most 
important part, we find corals, very nu¬ 
merous criuoids, brachiopods also exceed¬ 
ingly numerous, and Lamellibranchiate mol¬ 
luscs. Many cuttle-fishes and numerous 
fish also occur; trilobites are scarce. 

Coal-fields occur in France, Belgium, 
European Turkey, Hungary, Russia, India, 
China, Borneo, New Zealand, Australia, &c. 
The largest known coal-fields in the world 
are in the United States. See Coal. 

The Permian series succeeds the Carbon¬ 
iferous rocks, and were long considered as 
part of the New Red Sandstone. They were 
named Permian by Sir Roderick Murchison, 
from the government of Perm, in European 
Russia, where they largely occur. They con¬ 
sist of sandstone, red marl, &c., and contain 
a bed of the magnesian limestone. Be¬ 
tween the north of the Tyne and the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Nottingham the Permian rocks 
skirt the Carboniferous rocks, and lie on 
them unconformably. In Lancashire and 
Cheshire they chiefly consist of red marl 
and sandstone. The same rocks generally 
skirt the South Staffordshire coal-field, and 
the south part of the North Wales coal-field, 

155 — 


and the east side of Colebrookdale, is also 
bordered by Permian marls and sandstones. 
The fossils of the Permian group are generi- 
cally and specifically few in number, but as 
a whole their affinities and grouping are 
decidedly Palaeozoic. All the Permian fish 
have heterocercal tails, like the majority of 
the Palaeozoic genera, in which the verte¬ 
bral column is prolonged into the upper lobe 
of the tail, whereas in the modern fishes the 
vertebral column is not prolonged into either 
lobe. Excepting the Magnesian limestone, 
all the Permian rocks are red, and all, in¬ 
cluding this limestone, seem to have been 
deposited, not in the sea, but in an inland 
salt lake, or in lakes. 

The New Red Sandstone, or Trias, suc¬ 
ceeds the Permian strata. It has received 
the name of Trias from the fact that when 
fully developed, as in Germany, it consists 
of the three great divisions of Keuper, 
Muschelkalk, and Banter Sandstein. Few 
old genera and no species pass thus far up¬ 
wards. The majority of the genera of Bra- 
chiopoda disappear, and the whole grouping 
of the fossils now ceases to be Palaeozoic, 
and assumes a character common to the 
Secondary rocks. Triassic rocks extend 
from Devonshire along the Severn, round 
the eastern borders of the Palaeozoic rocks 
of Herefordshire and North Wales. From 
thence they stretch eastward to the Permian 
and Carboniferous rocks of Lancashire, 
North Staffordshire, and Derbyshire. They 
surround all the midland coal-fields and 
Permian beds between Shrewsbury, Coven¬ 
try, and Derby, and, everywhere uncon¬ 
formably overlying the Permian rocks, 
stretch north in a long band from Notting¬ 
ham to the river Tees. In its greatest de¬ 
velopment in England, the Bunter series 
(of soft red sandstone and quartz conglo¬ 
merate) is about 3000 feet thick. The 
Muschelkalk (absent in Britain) may be 
well seen, among other places, near Gotha, 
and at Eisenach in Thuringia. It is a gray 
shelly limestone, rich in fossil mollusca. 
No fossils are known in the Bunter Sand¬ 
stones of England, though a few are found 
in equivalent strata on the Continent. In 
England, above the upper soft red sandstone 
are beds of red, white, and brown Keuper 
sandstone, and red marl, often ripple-marked, 
and containing bones and footprints, chiefly 
of Labyrinthodont reptiles, together with a 
few plants, and a peculiar fish. The rock- 
salt of England lies in the Triassic red marls 
of the plains of Lancashire, Cheshire, and 



GEOLOGY. 


Worcestershire. This rock-salt was de¬ 
posited in supersaturated salt lakes during 
the Keuper period; and this could only have 
been done by evaporation due to solar heat 
actint; on the waters of salt lakes which had 
no outflow, like the Great Salt Lake of 
Utah, for example, or the salt lakes of Cen¬ 
tral Asia. The Keuper red marl (Upper 
Trias) varies from 500 to 2000 feet in thick¬ 
ness, and contains, besides other fossils, foot¬ 
prints and bones of reptiles. In the United 
States the Triassic rocks of Virginia and 
N. Carolina contain workable beds of coaL 
The red sandstone of the Connecticut valley 
is of Bunter age. Above the Keuper strata 
occur a series of beds called the Rhcvtic 
beds, from similar strata in the Rhsetic Alps. 
All over England, wherever the base of the 
Lower Lias is well seen, the Rhsetic beds, 
rarely more than 50 or 100 feet thick, are 
found to lie between the Lias above and the 
New Red Marl of the Trias below. They 
must be considered as true beds of passage 
between the red marl and the next series of 
strata. At the base of the Rhsetic beds 
have been found minute teeth of the earliest 
known mammal {Microlestes rhceticus), a 
small insect-eating marsupial. 

The Lias and Oolite series succeed the 
New Red and Rhsetic beds. On the Conti¬ 
nent of Europe the Lias and Oolite together 
are termed Jurassic, because in a typical 
form they are largely developed in the range 
of the Jura. The Lias in England consists, 
in descending order, of the Upper Lias shale, 
or clay; Marlstone; Lower Lias shale, or 
clay and limestone. The Lower Lias is 
about 900 feet thick, and consists of beds of 
blue clay interstrati fled with beds of blue 
argillaceous limestone, which is largely quar¬ 
ried in Leicestershire, Warwickshire, &c., 
for hydraulic lime. The Lower Lias is well 
exposed in the coast section at Lyme-Regis. 
From thence the Lower Lias strikes north 
to the junction of the Severn and Avon, 
and again n.e. and N. to the sea-coast of 
Yorkshire, E. of the river Tees. The Lower 
Lias clay and lime, as a whole, is rich in 
the remains of life. These include crinoids, 
decapod crustaceans, Terebratulae, and other 
Brachiopoda, and numerous Lamellibran- 
chiate molluscs. Cephalopoda, such as am¬ 
monites and belemnites, are especially nu¬ 
merous, together with species of nautilus. 
Fish are numerous, and there appear in the 
Lower Lias a great number of remarkable 
reptiles, some of gigantic size, as the Ichthyo¬ 
saurus, the Plesiosaurus, and the well-known 


Pterodactyle. The Marlstone aeries, or 
Middle Lias, which is generally a brown, fer¬ 
ruginous, soft, sandy rock, is rich in many 
forms of ammonite and belemnite, &c. From 
the Upper Lias clay much alum shale, as also 
the well-known Whitby jet, is obtained. It 
is a stiff unfertile dark-blue clay. In York¬ 
shire, at the top of the Lower Lias and in 
the Marlstone, there are the well-known 
beds of ironstone so extensively worked at 
Middlesborough. 

The Oolitic strata as a whole stretch across 
England from south-west to north-east, or 
from Portland Bill to North Yorkshire. 
The Inferior Oolite, the loudest member 
of the Lower Oolite, chiefly consists of 
beds of yellow limestone. Much of the 
limestone is oolitic, that is to say, it is 
formed of small concretionary bodies, like 
the roe of a fish, cemented together in a 
calcareous matrix. Above the Inferior Oolite 
limestone lies the Fuller s earth, so named be¬ 
cause it contains in places beds of that sub¬ 
stance. The formation consists of stiff blue 
clay, which varies in thickness from a few 
feet to 200 feet near Bath. The Great or 
Bath Oolite succeeds, and consists of Great 
Oolite, covered by Forest Marble, and pas¬ 
sing downwards into Stonesfield Slate, which 
forms its base. The Stonesfield slate consists 
of beds of shelly laminated and oolitic lime¬ 
stone, with numerous fossils, among them re¬ 
mains of mammals, viz. the lower jawbones 
of four genera of small insectivorous marsu¬ 
pials. The Bath Oolite, of wdiich the Forest* 
Marble forms the upper part, is best devel¬ 
oped near Bath,where it yields the celebrated 
stone of which that city is built. Among fos¬ 
sils of the Bath or Great Oolite are reptiles of 
the genei’a Teleosaurus and Megalosaurus, 
together with the gigantic Ceteosaurus (or 
whale-lizard), probably about 50 feet in 
length. During this part of the Oolitic 
epoch, while in the south of England the 
strata were exclusively marine, in the middle 
and north they were to a great extent estu¬ 
arine, fresh-water, and terrestrial. 

The Middle Oolite consists of the Upper 
Calcareous Grit, Coral Rag, Lower Cal¬ 
careous Grit, Oxford Clay, and the Kcllo- 
way Rock. The Oxford Clay is a dark blue 
clay, about 600 feet thick where best de¬ 
veloped, running in a long band of varying 
width from the coast of Dorsetshire to the 
Derwent, in Yorkshire. The Kelloway 
Rock is an occasional thin band of calcareous 
sandstone near its base. The Coral Rag is 
a rubbly limestone, trending, with occasional 

156 


GEOLOGY. 


interruptions, from Somersetshire to York¬ 
shire. It is associated in places with sandy 
strata known as the Calcareous Grits, and is 
often almost entirely composed of broken 
shells and sea-ui’chins. 

The Upper Oolite consists of the Portland 
Limestone and Sand and Kimmeridge Clag. 
The Kimmeridge Clay is well exposed in 
Kimmeridge Bay, on the Dorsetshire coast, 
whence its name. Occasionally interrupted, 
it runs from thence north into Yorkshire. 
In places it is 500 or 600 feet thick, and 
consists of a stiff blue and sometimes black 
clay or shale. The Portland Limestone and 
Sand are best seen in the Isle of Portland. 
The celebrated Portland stone has been 
used in many public buildings, including 
St. Paid’s. Like those of all the other 
Oolite formations it is cream-coloured, and 
generally fossiliferous. 

In Scotland the Lias, Inferior Oolite, 
Middle Oolite, and Oxford clay occur in the 
Islands of Skye and Mull. On the east of 
Scotland, at and near Brora, in Sutherland, 
the Liassic and Oolitic strata have been long 
known. Oolitic rocks, known by the name 
of Jurassic, almost identical with those of 
Bi’itain, occur largely in France; and the 
mountain range of the Jura, dividing France 
and Switzerland, is chiefly formed of Liassic 
and Oolitic rocks. From thence they range 
interruptedly northwards and eastwards, 
covering a large part of the plains of Euro¬ 
pean Russia, and extending along the 
Himalayas. 

As regards the fossil remains of the Lias 
and Oolite, a remarkable feature is the vast 
development of Cephalopoda, especially of 
the genera Belemnites, Nautilus, Ammonites, 
and Ancyloceras. There are also many 
genera and species of fishes, chiefly in the 
Lias, and the genera and species of reptiles 
are so numerous, that this life-period has 
been sometimes called ‘ the age of reptiles.’ 
The plants include ferns, horse-tails, coni¬ 
fers, cycads, &c. Viewed as a whole, the 
Liassic and Oolitic strata seem to have been 
deposited in warm seas round groups of is¬ 
lands formed of the older Palaeozoic rucks of 
Europe, of which the Highlands of Scotland, 
Cumberland, and Wales formed parts, and 
from which rivers flowed, at the mouths of 
which the estuarine and fresh-water deposits 
of the north of England and Scotland were 
accumulated. 

Purheck and Wealden Strata. — These 
form a series of transition strata between 
the Oolite and the Cretaceous systems. 

157 


They belong chiefly to the district of Kent 
and Sussex known as the Weald, and com¬ 
prise the Weald clay, the Hastings sands 
and clays, and the Purheck limestones, 
marls, and clays. The Purbeck beds, 
which succeed the Portland stone, are 
chiefly fresh-water strata, and the Hastings 
sand and Weald clay are almost exclusively 
fresh-water beds. Several remarkable rep¬ 
tiles occur in the Weald, including the 
Iguanodon, Plesiosaurus, and Pterodactyle, 
together with a number of Crocodiles. 

The Cretaceous Formation is divided into 
a lower and an upper series of strata. The 
chief member of the former is the Lower 
Green-sand, forming a series of strata over- 
lying the Wealden beds, and occurring in 
magnificent sections along the southern 
cliffs of the Isle of Wight and elsewhere 
round the Wealden area. The general char¬ 
acters of the whole formation are white, 
yellow, ferruginous, and gray and green 
sands. 

The Gault, which forms the base of the 
Upper Cretaceous series, is a stiff blue clay 
about 300 feet thick in its thickest develop¬ 
ment. It appears in the Isle of Wight, 
ranges round the escarpment of the Weald, 
and in the centre of England, from the 
neighbourhood of Devizes to the Wash in 
Norfolk. In general lithological characters, 
the Upper Green-sand in places somewhat 
resembles the Lower Green-sand. In part 
of the Wealden area it is difficult to separate 
from the Gault, there being a passage from’ 
one to the other. In Wiltshire the Upper 
Green-sand is about 200 feet thick. 

The Chalk, from its familiar characters 
and uniformity of structure, is the most 
easily recognizable of all the British forma¬ 
tions. From west to east it stretches from 
the neighbourhood of Beaminster, in Dor¬ 
setshire, to Beachy Head and the North 
Foreland, and from thence north to Speeton, 
in Yorkshire. Its area in Europe and Asia 
is immense. It consists of a soft white lime¬ 
stone, and on examination with the micro¬ 
scope, much of it is found to consist of the 
shells of Foraminifera, Diatomacea, spiculae 
and other remains of sponges, Polyzoa, and 
shells, highly comminuted. Somewhat simi¬ 
lar deposits are now forming in the open 
Atlantic at great depths, chiefly of Fora¬ 
minifera of the genus Glohigerina. In 
its thickest development in England the 
Chalk is about 1200 feet thick (in Dorset¬ 
shire, Hampshire, &c.). The Lower Chalk 
usually contains no flints, and is somewhat 




GEOLOGY. 


marly at the base, while the Upper Chalk 
is interstratified with many beds of inter¬ 
rupted flints. As a whole, the Chalk dips 
gently from its western escarpment to the 
east and south, underlying the Tertiary 
strata of the Hampshire and London basins, 
and reappearing with precisely the same 
characters on the coast of France. Beyond 
England it stretches through France, north¬ 
ward into Sweden, and eastward into Asia. 
Plants are comparatively few in the Chalk, 
but animal remains are very numerous. 
More than eighty species of fish are known; 
various great reptile forms, as the Mosa- 
sauras. Plesiosaurus, and Ichthyosaurus, 
Pterodactyles, &c. In England, and gen¬ 
erally in Europe, there is a marked discord¬ 
ance between the fossils of the Chalk and 
those of the overlying Tertiary rocks; no 
fossils (except, perhaps, one Terebratula) 
being common to the two groups. In Ame¬ 
rica the Cretaceous epoch presents some 
extraordinary reptilian forms of immense 
size, also various birds. The sands and marls 
of New Jersey, U.S., are of this age, and 
similar beds occupy extensive tracts in the 
western regions; but there is no true white 
chalk in America. 

Of the Tertiary strata the Eocene Rocl:s 
form the lowest division. In England these 
lie in two basins, those of London and Hamp¬ 
shire, both surrounded and underlaid by the 
Chalk. The strata are divided into the 
Lower Eocene and the Upper Eocene or 
Oliyocene. The Lower Eocene rocks lie 
sometimes on upper beds of Chalk, and 
sometimes on beds lower in the series. 
They are therefore highly unconformable, 
and in this we have the reason of the com¬ 
plete difference in the species of the Cre¬ 
taceous and Eocene rocks, for great conti¬ 
nental areas of Chalk were upheaved above 
the sea, and remained as dry land for a 
period of time so long that when they were 
again submerged the life of Cretaceous 
times had died out, and other forms ap¬ 
peared. To the Lower Eocene belong the 
Thanet Sand, the Woolwich and Reading 
beds, the London Clay, and the Bag shot 
Sands and Clays. The London Clay usually 
consists of brown and bluish-gray clay, and 
in the London basin varies in thickness 
from 50 feet to 480 feet. Its fossil remains 
include various palm-nuts and other fruits 
- and leaves. Eemains occur of birds allied 
to the vulture and kingfisher, and a small 
swimming-bird with tooth-like serratures 
on the bill; turtles and river tortoises are 


numerous. The Upper Eocene or Oligocene 
includes the Headon Hill Sands, the Osborne 
Beds, Bembridge Beds, and Hempstead Beds, 
groups of strata belonging to Hampshire and 
the Isle of Wight. In these beds various 
Ungulate mammalia are found, such as the 
Anoplotherium, Palfeotherium, a kind of 
river-hog, tapirs, &c. In France, in the Paris 
basin, the Eocene strata are largely devel¬ 
oped. The Wahsatch, Bridger and Uinta 
beds of N. America are of Eocene age. 

The Miocene Rocks are not found in Bri¬ 
tain, but are well represented by strata 
(mostly of fresh-water origin) in Central 
France (Auvergne, &c.) and Switzerland. 
Over many parts of Europe, Asia, and 
America there are other JNIiocene strata, 
each more or less possessing peculiarities. 

The Pliocene strata in Britain consist in 
descending order of the Cromer Forest Bed, 
Chillesford Clay, Mammaliferous or Nor- 
icich Crag, the Red Crag and the Coralline 
or White Crag of Suffolk. The Coralline or 
White Crag lies on the London clay in Suffolk, 
and consists of a patch of about 20 miles in 
length, and generally of less than 100 feet in 
thickness. It is rich in Polyzoa (formerly 
called Corallines, whence the name Coralline 
Crag). The general character of the climate 
seems to have been milder than at present. 
The Red Crag often lies in denuded hollows 
on the Coralline Crag, and is chiefly a ferru¬ 
ginous, shelly sand, very irregularly bedded. 
Many of its shells now live in British seas, 
and there are many reasons for believing that 
during the later part of the Eocene and 
through the Miocene epoch the area now 
called Britain was joined to the Continent. 
The Mammalliferous or Norwich Crag con¬ 
sists of sands, gravels, and shells, and con¬ 
tains remains of species of mastodon, ele¬ 
phant, hippopotamus, and horse, as also of 
the common otter, deer, &c. From the 
nature of the fossils it is believed to have 
accumulated near the mouth of a river. 

The Post-tertiary or Quaternary Epoch is 
that immediately before the period in which 
we now are (the recent). It is characterized 
especially by various glacial phenomena, 
and in particular by numerous evidences of 
a glacial period, when the northern hemi¬ 
sphere was subjected to a climate of the ut¬ 
most rigour. During this period what is now 
the British Islands was in great part cov¬ 
ered by glacier ice, probabl}^ as thick as 
that of the north of Greenland at the pre¬ 
sent day. When the most extreme cold 
prevailed, the mountains of Scotland and 

15S 


GEOMETRICAL DECORATED 


GEOMETRY. 


Wales were literally smothered in ice. Much 
of the boulder clay which is found more or 
less all over the British Islands iiorth of the 
Thames valley is simply the moraine matter 
of clay and boulders that in places lay below 
the ice, and was more or less urged forward 
by the advancing glacier mass. (See Gla¬ 
ciers.) It is believed that subsequently a 
slow submersion of the land took place, and 
that then icebergs deposited the stones, 
earth, &c., carried by them over part of what 
is now the low lands of England and other 
regions, and of neighbouring seas; hence 
the presence of sands, gravels, and clays, 
full of boulders and ice-scratched stones, 
intermingled with shells of arctic or semi- 
arctic type sometimes lying at heights of 
from 800 to 1200 and 1400 feet above the 
present sea-level. The same kind of phe¬ 
nomena are more or less universal over 
great part of Nortliern Europe and North 
America. On the elevation of the country 
after the cold had passed away Britain was 
reunited to the Continent, and Ireland to 
Britain, by plains of boulder-drift across 
which many mammalia (including the mam¬ 
moth), migrated into the country, some of 
them for the second time. Man also mi¬ 
grated into the British area along with such 
mammalia. Among Post - tertiary plants 
there are Scotch fii’s, pines, yews, oaks, al¬ 
ders. The mammalian remains include those 
of elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamus, 
the common horse, bison, aurochs, red deer, 
roe-deer, Irish elk, Machairodus (a tiger?), 
&c. Many of these animal remains are 
found in the celebrated hone caves, several 
notable examples of which have been in¬ 
vestigated in Britain. (See Cave.) In these 
have been found not only such remains as 
those of the cave bear, cave hyaena, fox, 
wolf, cat, lion, reindeer, Irish elk, bison, 
rhinoceros, elephant, &c., but also the works 
of man, such as flint implements, and on the 
Continent of Europe his skull and other 
bones associated with the above - named 
mammalia. 

Geometrical Decorated, in architecture, 
applied to the earlier period of decorated 
Gothic, in which the tracery and other or¬ 
namentation consist entirely of distinct geo¬ 
metrical forms. See Gothic Architecture. 

Geometrical Mean, the second of the 
terms of a geometrical progression contain¬ 
ing three terms. The geometrical mean of 
two numbers is equal to the square root of 
their product. See next article. 

Geometrical Progression, a series of 

159 


numbers which increase or decrease by equal 
ratios; as, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 16, 8, 4, 2. 

Geometry (Greek ge, earth, and metron, 
measure), as its name implies, was primarily 
the mathematical science which has for its 
object the measurement of portions of the 
earth’s surface; but now geometry may be 
termed the science which treats of the pro¬ 
perties and relations of definite portions of 
space, such as surfaces, volumes, angles, lines. 
The relation between the parts of the same 
figure may be of two kinds,—of position or 
of magnitude; for example, two points in a 
straight line, four points on the same circle, 
two straight lines perpendicular to one an¬ 
other, a straight line tangent to a circle, are 
relations of position. On the other hand, 
the proportionality of homologous lines of 
two similar figures, the equality of the square 
constructed on the hypotenuse of a right- 
angled triangle to the sum of the squares 
constructed on the sides containing the right 
angle, that of the volumes of two pyramids 
on equal bases and of the same height, are 
relations of dimension. But the relations of 
position govern the relations of dimension, 
and vice versa; that is, the one set of rela¬ 
tions depend upon the other. Thus it is 
because a triangle is rectangular that the 
square constructed on one of its sides is 
equivalent to the sum of the squares con¬ 
structed on the other two, and, vice versa, 
that relation between the magnitudes of the 
squares on the three sides depends on the 
triangle being right-angled. The geometer 
may draw indifferently from the study of a 
figure either the knowledge of the relations 
of position or that of the relations of dimen¬ 
sion, on the condition that he knows how 
to apply relations of the one kind to those 
of the other: and the principal aim of geo¬ 
metry is to examine into the connection be¬ 
tween the relations of magnitude and those 
of position. 

Geometry may be conveniently divided 
into several principal sections—elementary 
geometry, practical geometry, analytical 
geometry, infinitesimal geometry, &c. Ele¬ 
mentary geometry comprehends two parts— 
plane geometry, the object of which is the 
study of the simplest figures formed on a 
plane by straight lines and circles; and solid 
geometry or geometry of three dimensions, 
which treats of straight lines and planes 
considered in any relative position whatever, 
of figures terminated by planes, of the cylin¬ 
der, of the cone, and of the sphere. Ana¬ 
lytical geometry, either plane or solid, makes 




GEOMETRY. 


use of the method of co-ordinates introduced 
by Descartes and primarily applied to 
curves. In ancient times, though curves 
•were studied and the principal properties 
of conic sections known, still no connection 
e.xisted between these curves, nor was there 
any means of establishing one, so that the 
study of one was of no value to that of an¬ 
other, The first question in introducing 
the analytic method was then to fix upon 
some means which should serve to construct 
every curve by successive points as numer¬ 
ous and as closely brought together as is 
necessary in order to lay down the curve. 
Now the position of a point in a plane 
may be determined by tw'o intersecting 
perpendiculars drawn from tw'o fixed lines 
—the co-ordinate axes—at right angles to 
each other. An equation may then be 
found which states the relation between the 
co-ordinates of any point, that is, its dis¬ 
tance from the two co-ordinate axes. (See 
Co-ordinates.) The study of the curves will 
thus be simply the study of their equations. 
In this way a typical equation for a curve 
in a certain system may be got, so that if 
at another time the curve is represented 
under another definition in investigating its 
equation in the same sj^stem of co-ordinates, 
particularized so as to simplify as much as 
possible the calculations, it will suffice to 
compare the particular equation with the 
general one to verify the identity of the 
curve, to give it its name, and to know all 
the properties of it which have been studied 
previously. In a similar way the analytical 
geometry of solid bodies is based on the 
fact that the position of any point in space 
can be determined by reference to three in¬ 
tersecting planes. Infinitesimal (jcometry is 
simply a continuation of the analytical geo¬ 
metry of Descartes, of which it may indeed 
be said it forms a part; the difference con¬ 
sists simply in the nature of the questions 
which, as they involve the measurement of 
magnitude.s, the incessantly variable ele¬ 
ments of which cannot be summed up by 
finite parts, require the use of the infini¬ 
tesimal calculus. Descriptive geometry con¬ 
sists in the application of geometrical rules 
to the representation of the figures and 
the various relations of the forms of bodies 
according to certain conventional methods. 
In the descriptive geometry the situation of 
points in space is represented by their ortho¬ 
graphical projections, on two planes at right 
angles to each other called the planes of 
projection, 


History .—The origin of geometry is as¬ 
signed by an ancient tradition to Egypt, 
but the history of the science, as far as it is 
know'n, commences in Greece with Thales 
(639-548 B.C.). To him is attributed the 
discovery of the properties of triangles. 
His disciple, Pythagoras (born about 580), 
founded a celebrated school in Italy where 
geometry was as highly honoured as philo¬ 
sophy. He discovered the theorem of the 
square of the hypotenuse, thus completing, 
so to speak, the geometry of polygons. He 
was also the first to show that the circle 
contains a greater area than any plane 
figure having the same perimeter, and that 
the sphere contains the greatest volume 
bounded by a given surface. After him 
Anaxagoras, Hippocrates of Chios, Theodo- 
rus of Cyrene, and Archytas of Tarentum 
cultivated the science and have left names 
connected with various problems, but the 
next great development of the science is due 
to Plato and his disciples, who laid the 
foundation of the analytical method and 
developed the fundamental principles of 
geometrical loci. Euclid, who belonged to 
the famous school of Alexandria, and flour¬ 
ished about 285 b.c., has the merit of col¬ 
lecting and systematizing all the more im¬ 
portant problems and theorems worked out 
iDy his predecessors, besides adding many 
new ones of his own. He also wrote various 
other mathematical works, a book of Data, 
a treatise on Porisms, &c., most of which 
have been lost. It is in his Elements of 
Geometry, which are still the favourite text, 
book, that the method of proof known as 
the reductio ad absurdum is first found. 
After Euclid came Archimedes (287-212 
B.C.). Among his achievements are the 
determination of the ratio of the diameter 
of a circle to its circumference, and the 
investigation of the areas of the circle and 
parabola and other problems much more 
difficult than any previously attacked. Ar¬ 
chimedes had completed that branch, the 
object of which is the comparison with each 
other of magnitudes of the same nature; 
Apollonius (247 b.c.) made an analogous 
progress in that which treats specially of 
the properties of figures. His eight books 
of Conics, in which he considers these curves 
in the oblique cone, which had not been 
done until that time, contain almost all their 
interesting properties, those which relate to 
their foci, tangents, asymptotes, or diame¬ 
ters, and to their involutes. Eratosthenes, 
Nicomedes, the inventor of the conchoid; 

160 


GEOMETRY — 

Hipparcbus, who made some progress in 
spherical trigonometry; Menelaus (80 a.d.); 
I’tolemy (125 a.d.), Pappus (390), and Pro- 
clus (440), continued the fame of the Alex¬ 
andrine school. Diophantus introduced me¬ 
thods of an algebraic kind, and was the 
model on which the Arabic geometers, and 
Leonard of Pisa, Cardan, and finally Vieta 
formed themselves. He is thus the connect¬ 
ing link between the ancient and modern 
geometricians. After the sack of Alexandria 
and the burning of its library the science was 
confined to India and to the Arabic school 
of commentators, and it was not till the 
middle of the 16th century that geometry 
revived in Europe with Vieta (1540-1603), 
who introduced the use of algebraic symbols 
for the solution of geometrical problems. 
Trigonometry owes to him most of the ele¬ 
gant formulae which now constitute it. In 
the writings of Kepler (1571-1631) we find 
the first applications among the moderns of 
the method of Exhaustions of Archimedes 
freed from the difficulties which had encum¬ 
bered the geometry of the Greeks; and to 
Cavalieri (d. 1647) belongs the honour of 
an entirely new method for quadratures and 
cubatures. Descartes (1586-1650), develop¬ 
ing Vieta’s discoveries, created the science 
of analytical geometry, which greatly ex¬ 
tended the domain of geometrical science. 
Fermat (1570-1633) and Barrow (1630-77) 
with their methods of tangents and of maxi- 
mums; Huyghens (1629-95), with the theory 
of involutes, were on the road to the differen¬ 
tial calculus, as Eoberval, Pascal, and Wallis 
with their processes of summation were to 
the integral calculus. Newton (1642-1727) 
and the brothers Bernouilli (1654-1705, 
1667-1748) made important contributions, 
such as the theorem on the generation of 
curves of the third order and the method of 
isoperimeters. About the beginning of the 
19th century a decided advance was made 
by Monge (1746-1818) and Carnot (1753- 
1823). The Descriptive geometry of the 
former established the whole theory of pro¬ 
jections. Carnot’s first contribution to geo¬ 
metrical science was his principle of the cor¬ 
relation of figures^ a principle which, having 
been farther generalized, is now known as 
the principle of continuity. His second 
contribution was his theory of transversals. 
On these inventions is founded modern 
geometry, which has revolutionized the sci¬ 
ence, and has given us generalized concep¬ 
tions previously undreamed of. Amongst 
the later geometricians who have contributed 
VOL IV, 161 


■ST. GEORGE. 

to extend the methods and domain of the 
science we may mention Poncelet for his 
theory of reciprocal polars, Chasles for his 
treatise on porisms, &c.; Sir William Rowan 
Hamilton for his invention of quaternions, 
an entirely new method; Cayley and Syl¬ 
vester for their application of generalized 
geometrical methods to space of more dimen¬ 
sions than three. 

Geoph'agism, or Dirt-eating, the prac¬ 
tice of eating some kind of earthy matter, 
clay, chalk, &c., common amongst uncivilized 
peoples, such as the South American Otta- 
macs, the Indians of the Hudson Bay coun¬ 
try, the West Indian blacks, the negroes in 
some of the United States of America, and 
others. In some cases it is probably used to 
allay liunger, but it is also practised where 
the supply of food is suflBcient. Amongst 
chlorotic young women a similarly depraved 
appetite is not uncommon. 

George, Duke of Saxony {the Bearded), 
born in 1471, died in 1539, was the son of 
Albert the Brave, the founder of the Alber- 
tine line of Saxony, and succeeded in 1500 
to the hereditary dominions of the Albertine 
house. Later on he became involved in the 
turmoils of the Reformation period. He 
was not at first wholly hostile to reform, 
but thought that it could be better effected 
by means of Papal edicts than by the revolt 
of Luther. Accordingly he became embit¬ 
tered by the uncompromising tone of Luther’s 
later writings, and endeavoured to suppress 
the Reformation in his dominions by violent 
measures. These, however, were unsuccess¬ 
ful, and in 1539, on the accession of his 
brother Henry, who was a Protestant, the 
Reformation was introduced into the do¬ 
minions of the Albertine house of Saxony. 

George, St., a saint venerated both in the 
eastern and western churches, and the patron 
saint of England. He was canonized in 494 
or 496 by Pope Gelasius. His origin is very 
obscure, one of many legends representing 
him as a prince of Cappadocia martyred by 
Diocletian. Gibbon has sought to identify 
this legendary saint with the notorious and 
turbulent Arian heretic George of Cappa¬ 
docia, who was slain in 361 in a rising of 
the populace who had been infuriated by his 
oppression and his violence against pagans 
and orthodox. But the most eminent scho- 
lars,both Roman Catholic and Protestant, are 
of opinion that the veneration of St. George 
has been traced up to so early a period as 
to make it very improbable that a notorious 
Arian could have been foisted on the Oath* 

107 








ST. GEORGE-GEORGE III. 


olic Church as a saint and martyr. The 
killing of a dragon that was about to swal¬ 
low a maiden is a legendary feat attributed 
to him. He was adopted by the Genoese 
as their patron saint, and in 1222 the Coun¬ 
cil of Oxford ordered that his day (the 23d 
of April) should be observed as a national 
holiday in England; in 1350 he was made 
the patron of the order of the Garter by 
Edward III. 

George, Order of St. The following are 
the principal of the numerous orders which 
have been founded in honour of St. George:— 
(1) A military order instituted in Russia in 
1769 by the Empress Catharine II. as a 
reward of military achievements. It consists 
of four classes, to which a fifth, intended for 
non-commissioned officers and privates, was 
added in 1807. (2) An order instituted in 

Bavaria by the Emperor Charles VII. 
(Charles Albert) in 1729, and reorganized 
by King Louis II. in 1871. Since the re¬ 
organization the order, which had previously 
been a mere decoration for the nobility, has 
devoted itself to such services as the care of 
the wounded on battlefields, &c. (3) An 

order instituted by Ernest Augustus of 
Hanover in 1839. (4) A Sicilian military 

order, instituted by Joseph Napoleon 24th 
Eebruary, 1808, and remodelled by King 
Ferdinand IV. in 1819. (5) The name 

under which the order of the Garter was 
first instituted in England. See Garter 
{Order of the). 

George, St., one of the Bermudas. It is 
about 3 miles long and half a mile broad, is 
fortified, and contains a port of the same 
name, which is a British military station. 

George, The, a badge exhibiting the figure 
of St. George encountering the dragon, worn 
pendent from the collar by the knights of 
the Garter. See Garter. 

George I. (George Louis), King of Great 
Britain, and Elector of Hanover, was the 
son of the Elector Ernest Augustus, by 
Sophia, daughter of Frederick, elector pala¬ 
tine, and grand-daughter to James I. He 
was born May 28, 1660, and in 1682 was 
married to Sophia Dorothea of Zell, whom, 
in 1694, on account of a suspected intrigue 
with Count Konigsmark, he caused to be 
imprisoned and kept in confinement for the 
rest of her life. In 1698 he succeeded his 
father as elector. He commanded the im¬ 
perial army in 1707 during the war of the 
Spanish succession; and ascended the throne 
of Great Britain on the death of Queen Anne 
in 1714, Amongst the notable events of liig 


reign were the rising of the Scottish Jacob- 
ites (1715-16); the Triple and Quadruple 
Alliances against Spain (1717 and 1718); 
the failure of the South Sea Company (1720). 
The private character of George I. was bad, 
but he showed much good sense and pru¬ 
dence in government, especially of his Ger¬ 
man dominions. By Sophia Dorothea he 
had a son, George, afterwards George II. of 
England, and a daughter, Sophia, the mother 
of Frederick the Great. 

George I., “ King of the Hellenes,” was 
born at Copenhagen Dec. 24, 1845, second 
son of the king of Denmark. In 1863 he 
was elected king by the Greek National 
Assembly. In 1867 he married the Princess 
Olga, a niece of the Russian czar. His 
conduct as a constitutional monarch has 
always been correct and regular, and he 
has won the popular sympathies by the 
efforts he has made on behalf of the ex¬ 
pansion of Greek nationality. His children 
are all bred up in the Greek faith. The 
crown prince is Constantine, Duke of Sparta, 
born 2d Aug. 1868. 

George II. [George Augustus), King of 
Great Britain, son of George I., was born 
Oct. 30, 1683. He married in 1705 Wil- 
helmina Carolina of Brandenburg-Anspach. 
In 1708, then only electoral prince of Han¬ 
over, he distinguished himself at Oudenarde 
under Marlborough. In 1727 he succeeded 
his father on the English throne, but in¬ 
herited to the full the predilection of George 
I. for Hanover. His reign is notable for 
the great events with which it is filled, and 
for the number of men great in art, letters, 
war, and diplomacy which then adorned 
England. The war of the Austrian Suc¬ 
cession, in which George II. himself took 
part at Dettingen, the Jacobite rebellion of 
1745, the conquest of Canada, and the 
growth of the British empire in India are 
amongst the chief events of his reign. 
George 11. died suddenly Oct. 25, 1760. 
He was a prince of very moderate abilities, 
regardless of science or literature; of obsti¬ 
nate temper and vicious habits; but honest 
and open in his disposition. 

George III., King of Great Britain, born 
in 1738, was the eldest son of Frederick, 
prince of Wales, by the Piuncess Augusta 
of Saxe-Gotha, and succeeded his grand¬ 
father, George II., in 1760. In the follow¬ 
ing year he married the Princess Charlotte 
Sojihia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The sixty 
years of his reign are filled with great 
events, amongst which are the Wilkes’ con- 
■ ' 162 





GEORGE TIL 


GEORGETOWN. 


troversy, the American revolution, 1775-83; 
the French revolution, 1789, and the Na¬ 
poleonic wars which followed; the Irish re¬ 
bellion, 1798, &c. George III. was a man 
of conscientious principles and of a plain 
sound understanding, though hardly en¬ 
larged enough for the great responsibilites 
of his position. His narrow patriotism, his 
obstinate prejudices, and blind partialities 
were even more hurtful to British interests 
than the indifference of his predecessors had 
been. His tastes and amusements were 


plain and practical, literature and the fine 
arts receiving but a small share of his 
attention. His private life was very exem¬ 
plary. In 1810 the king’s mind, which had 
already given way several times, finally 
broke dovVn, and from that time to his 
death on Jan. 29, 1820, his biography is a 
blank. 

George IV. {Geonje Fredericlc Augustus), 
King of England, son of George III. and 
the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg- 
Strelitz, born in 1762, died June 26, 1830. 




Lake George. 


places on its banks are favourite resorts, and 
in summer large numbers of tourists are 
attracted by the beauties of its scenery. 

George-noble, a gold coin of the time of 
Henry VIII. of the value of 6s. 8J. sterling; 
so called from bearing on the reverse the 
figure of St. George killing the dragon. 

George’s Channel, St., the arm of the 
sea which separates Ireland from Wales 
south of the Irish Sea. From Holyhead 
and Dublin on the north to St. David’s Head 
and Carnsore Point it extends about 100 
miles, with a breadth varying from 50 to 
70 miles. Its depth in the middle varies 
from 40 to 70 fathoms. The bottom is 
chiefly sand and gravel. 

Georgetown, a port of entry in the 
United States, in the district of Columbia, 
on the left bank of the Potomac, near 
city of Washington, with which it was in¬ 
corporated in 1878. It is beautifully situated 
on a ranofe of hills, and abounds with villas 
and country seats. It contains the George¬ 
town college (the oldest Catholic college in 
the United States), the Peabody library, 
.&c. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal com¬ 
mences here, 


His dissipated life, his extravagance, his 
supposed marriage wdth a Catholic, IVTrs. 
Fitzherbert, alienated from him the affec¬ 
tion of his father and the esteem of the 
nation. In 1795 he married the Princess 
Caroline of Brunswick, from whom he soon 
separated, and who was afterwards tried for 
adultery in 1820 and acquitted. In 1811 
George became regent, and, on the death of 
George III. in 1820, king. 

George, Henry, political economist, was 
born at Philadelphia, Pa., Se])t. 2, 1839. 
He wrote a number of works, the most 
famous being Progress and Poverty. He 
was twice nominated for mayor of New 
York, in Sept., 1886, and Oct., 1897 ; in 
the former he was defeated and he died 
suddenly during the canvass of the latter, 
Oct. 29, 1897. 

George, Lake, a lake in New York state, 
between Warren and Washington counties, 
south of Lake Champlain, into which it dis¬ 
charges at Ticonderoga. It is 36 miles long, 
and from f mile to 4 miles in width. It is 
surrounded by lofty hills wooded to the top, 
has richly wooded shores, and many pictur¬ 
esque islands. Caldwell, Bolton, and other 

















































GEORGETOWN 


GEORGIA. 


Georgetown, or Demeeara, the capital of 
British Guiana, at the mouth of the Deme- 
rara. It is neatly built, consisting of broad 
streets at right angles, with canals in the 
middle, and lofty wooden houses, often with 
luxuriant gardens attached. There is a bar 
at the mouth of the river, and large ships 
have to discharge and load by means of 
lighters, Georgetown is the seat of an 
Anglican bishop, and has a number of 
churches, schools, hospitals, &c. The chief 
exports are sugar, rum, and coffee. Pop, 
1891, 53,176, of whom only one-seventh 
are pure whites. 

Georgia (by the Russians called Grusia, 
and by the natives themselves Karthli), 
was formerly a kingdom, but is now in¬ 
cluded in the Russian government of Tiflis, 
though the name is sometimes loosely em¬ 
ployed to designate a much larger portion 
of the territory possessed by Russia south 
of the Caucasus. In the latter sense it has an 
area of say 34,000 square miles, but Georgia 
proper does not exceed about 15,000 square 
miles. The natives are a fine-looking race, 
the Georgian women, like the Circassians, 
being celebrated for their beauty. The 
Georgian language, together with that of 
the Mingrelians, Lazes, and other Caucasian 
peoples, seems, according to the latest re¬ 
searches, to form a perfectly distinct lin¬ 
guistic family. It possesses a not unim¬ 
portant literature, commencing with the 
introduction of Christianity into the country. 
The history of the Georgians first becomes 
trustworthy about the time of Alexander 
the Great, to whom they became subject. 
About B.c. 324 they gained their indepen¬ 
dence under Pharnavas. They became 
Christianized towards the end of the 4th 
century. After yielding for a time to the 
supremacy of the Arabian caliphs Georgia 
f regained its independence towards the end 
of the 10th century, wLich it retained till 
1799, when Heraclius, successor of George 
XI., formally ceded his dominions to the 
Russian emperor Paul. 

Georgia, one of the Southern United 
States, bounded N. by Tennessee and North 
Carolina, E. by South Carolina and the At¬ 
lantic, S. by Florida, and w. by Alabama; 
length, north to'south, 320 miles; breadth, 
255 miles; area, 59,475 sq. miles (about same 
as England and Wales). The coast is bor¬ 
dered by a chain of islands, separated from 
the mainland by narrow lagoons or sounds. 
On them the famous sea-island cotton is 
raised, The Japd is }ow tow^'rds th^ coast, 


beginning as a salt marsh, grown over with 
tall reeds, continuing next as swampy rice 
plantations and then as ‘pine barrens’ 
about 60 or 90 miles inland, latterly gradu¬ 
ally rising as a sandy district, interspersed 
with fertile tracts, till it reaches the lower 
falls of the Savannah, Ogechee, Oconee, 
and other rivers. Here the hilly and finally 
mountainous region called the Upper Coun¬ 
try begins, a fertile and salubrious region 
extending north and west till it rises into 
the Appalachian mountain chain. Of the 
ri v^ers the Chattahoochee, which flows under 
the name of the Appalachicola into the Gulf 
of Mexico, is navigable for steamers for 
300 miles; the Savannah is navigable for 
steamers part of the year for 250 miles; and 
the Aitamaha and its affluents are navi¬ 
gable for small vessels 300 miles upwards. 
The climate is mild, but unhealthy in the 
low country during July, August, and Sep¬ 
tember. The soil in many parts is very 
rich. Cotton, rice, maize, and the sugar¬ 
cane are the staple productions; but tobacco, 
the sweet potato, and other crops are culti¬ 
vated with success. The fruits, which in¬ 
clude peaches, apples, melons, oranges, 
bananas, &c., are of the finest. Copper and 
iron, also gold in considerable quantities, 
are found in the northern parts. Atlanta 
is the seat of the legislature and largest 
town; the other principal towns are Sa¬ 
vannah (the chief seaport), Augusta, IMacon, 
and Columbus. A charter for the founda¬ 
tion of a colony in the territory now called 
Georgia was obtained in 1732 by General 
Oglethorpe from George II., after whom the 
state was named. Georgia was one of the 
thirteen oi’iginal states. In 1788 it adopted 
the constitution of the United States by a 
unanimous vote. In January, 1861, Georgia 
seceded with the Confederates, took an active 
part in the civil war, and was conquered 
by a Federal army under General Sherman 
(f864-5) and restored to the Union. The 
history of Georgia in the last few years has 
been one of material progress. The Na¬ 
tional Exposition held at Atlanta in 1881 
was of great benefit to agricultural and 
manufacturing interests. Pop. 1890,1,837,- 
353, of whom 863,716 were coloured. 

Georgia, Gulf of, a large gulf of the 
North Pacific Ocean, between the continent 
of North America and Vancouver’s Island; 
about 120 miles in length from north to 
south; the breadth varies greatly in its 
different parts, from 6 miles to 20. It com- 
ipuuigjites with the ocean on the north by 


GEORGIA - 

Queen Charlotte’s Sound, and on the south 
by the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 

Georgia, South, an island in the South 
Atlantic, lat. at its north point, 53° 57' S.; 
Ion. 38° 13' w. It is 90 miles long, and has 
high and rocky coasts, inaccessible from ice 
during a great part of the year. It abounds 
with seals and sea-fowl. 

Georgia Bark {PincTcneya puhens), a 
small tree of the Southern U. States closely 
resembling the cinchona or Peruvian bark, 
and belonging to the natural order Cin- 
chonaceffi. It has pretty large white flowers, 
with longitudinal stripes of rose-colour, dis¬ 
posed in beautiful clusters at the extremities 
of the branches; each flower is accompanied 
with a floral leaf, bordered with rose-colour 
near the upper margin; the corolla is tubu¬ 
lar; the stamens five, with a single style; 
and the capsule contains two cells and nu¬ 
merous seeds. The wood is soft and unfit 
for use in the arts. The inner bark is ex¬ 
tremely bitter, and is employed with success 
in intermittent fevers. 

Georgian Bay, formerly called Lake 
Manitoulin, the north-eastern part of Lake 
Huron, partly separated from the main body 
of the lake by the peninsula of Cabot’s 
Head and the island of Great Manitoulin. 
It is about 120 miles long and 50 broad. 

Georg^um Si'dus, the name given by 
Herschel to the planet which he discovered 
13th March, 1781, and which is now known 
as Uranus. 

Geot'ropism, in botany, a disposition or 
tendency to turn or incline towards the 
earth, as the characteristic exhibited in a 
young plant when deprived of the counter¬ 
acting influence of light, of directing its 
growth towards the earth. 

Geotru'pidse, a family of burrowing 
lamellicorn beetles. They inhabit tem¬ 
perate climates, and are useful in removing 
disgusting substances. When alarmed they 
feign death. The Geotrupes stcrcorarius, or 
watchman-beetle of Britain, is the type of 
the family. 

Gera (ga'ra), chief town of the principality 
of Reuss-Schleiz, in Germany, on the right 
bank of the Elster, 35 miles s.s.w\ of Leip¬ 
zig. It has manufactures of woollen, linen, 
cotton, and other goods. Pop. 34,078. 

Gerace (je-ra'cha), a town of S. Italy, 
province of Reggio di Calabria, 36 miles 
N.E. of Reggio. The cathedral, once a hand¬ 
some structure, was ruined by the earth¬ 
quake of 1783. Pop. 9511. 

Gerando. See JJe Gerando. 

165 


- GERARD. 

Gerania'ceae, a nat. order of exogenous 
plants, the distinguishing character of which 
is to have a fruit composed of five capsules 
or cases, connected with as many flat styles, 
consolidated round a long conical beak, giv¬ 
ing some of ’the species the name of stork’s- 
bill and crane’s-bill. These plants are usually 
astringent and odoriferous, and many of 
them have beautiful flowers, especially those 
of the genus Pelargonium, natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope. The species are mostly 
herbaceous plants. A few of them have 
edible tubers. See next article. 

Geranium, the typical genus of the 
order Geraniaceae (which see), popular name 
crane’s-bill. They have usually palmately 
divided leaves and regular flowers with ten 
stamens and five car|:)els. Some thirteen 
species are wild in Britain, of which the 
G. rohertianum or herb-robert is the most 
common. An American species, G. maeu- 
Idttim, from its astringency called ‘alum¬ 
root,’ is used medicinally as a gargle and 
otherwise. The so-called geraniums of our 
gardens belong to the genus Pelargonium. 
Cultivation has produced many varieties, 
which from their beauty are great favourites. 

Gerard (zha'riir), FRANgois Pascal, 
Baron, a French historical and portrait- 
painter, born at Rome in 1770; went to 
Paris (1786), and studied under David. In 
1795 he exhibited his first notable painting, 
Belisarius. He was much patronized by 
Napoleon, for whom he painted the battle 
of Austerlitz, and was made a baron by 
Louis XVIII., after completing his large 
painting of the Entrance of Henry IV. into 
Paris. Amongst his portraits the most fa¬ 
mous are those of Talleyrand, Talma, Louis 
Philippe, Madame Recamier, Mdle. Mars, 
&c. He died in 1837. 

Gerard, Jean Ignace Isidore, a French 
caricaturist and book illustrator, generally 
known under the pseudonym of Gi-andville, 
was born at Nancy in 1803, died at Paris 
in 1847. He went to Paris in 1824, and 
after some minor works acquired great 
popularity in 1828 by his Metamorphoses 
du Jour, a representation under the guise 
of animal heads of human foibles and weak¬ 
nesses. Later on he became a contributor 
to Le Charivari and an illustrator of the 
works of Beranger, La Fontaine, Gulliver’s 
Travels, Robinson Crusoe, &c. 

Gerard, Maurice I^tienne, Count, Mar¬ 
shal, and Peer of France, born 1773. He 
served as a soldier during the republic and 
the empire, distinguishing himself at Aus- 






GERARD — 

terlitz and other battles. In 1813 he was 
made a general of division and count. He 
distinguished himself in the battle of Ligny, 
and at Waterloo acted under Grouchy. He 
took an active part in the revolution of 
1830; became war-minister and marshal; 
commanded the troops which reduced Ant¬ 
werp in 1832; became prime-minister 1834; 
commander of the national guard 1838; died 
at Paris in 1852. 

Gerard de Nerval, the pseudonym of 
G(^rard Labrunie, French man of letters, 
born in Paris 1808. His earlier productions 
were poetic, Elegies nationales and Poesies 
diverses. As an adherent of the Romantic 
school he set himself to translate Goethe's 
Faust, and performed it in a manner which 
the old poet himself pronounced a marvel of 
style. Amongst bis best w'orks are his short 
tales and sketches, Voyage en Orient, Contes 
et Fac^ties, I^a Boheme Galante, &c. He 
became insane and committed suicide in 
Paris, 1855. 

Gerasa (je-ra'sa), Gerash, or Djerash, 
a ruined town in Syria, 80 miles s.s.W'. of 
the town of Damascus. It was several times 
destroyed and rebuilt. The ruins compris¬ 
ing ancient walls, gateways, a forum, baths, 
theatres, and temples are very extensive. 

Gerbi, or Jerba, an island in the Gulf 
of Cabes, off the coast of Tunis. It is about 
20 miles long and 14 broad. The surface 
is level and fertile, and occupied by a popu¬ 
lation of 30,000, mostly Berbers. 

Gerbillus, a genus of small burrowing 
rodents (the gerbils) of the family Muridae 
(mice). They have a long tail, which is tufted 
at the end. There are several species, found 
in the sandy parts of Africa and Asia. The 
Egyptian gerbil {G. cegyptiaciis), inhabiting 
Egypt around the pyramids, is the type. 
It is about the size of a mouse and of a clear 
yellow colour. 

Gerfalcon. See Falcon. 

Gerhard (ger'hart), Eduard, a German 
archaeologist, born 1795, died 1867. Hav¬ 
ing travelled in Italy, he devoted himself 
to archaeology, and in 1829 took part in 
founding the Archaeological Institute at 
Rome. Returning to Germany in 1837, he 
became ai’chaeologist at the Royal Museum 
at Berlin, and aRerwards professor at the 
university. Among his numerous works are 
the following:—Antike Bildwerke (with 
140 plates); Auserlesene Griechische Vasen- 
bilder (330 jdates); Etruskische und Cam- 
panische Vasenbilder, Griechische Mythol- 
ogie, &c. 


GERMAIN. 

Gerhardt (ger'hart), Karl Friedrich, 
German chemist, born 1816. He studied 
under Liebig at Giessen; went to Paris in 
1838, was appointed professor of chemistry 
at Montpellier, returned to Paris in 1842 to 
pursue his investigations; went in 1855 to 
Strasburg as professor in chemistry and 
pharmacy, but died soon after, in 1856. 
Gerhardt is the author of several works, 
amonofst which the most celebrated is his 
valuable Traits de Chimie Organique. He 
w’as the first to introduce the new combining 
weights, or rather to subject more com¬ 
pletely combination by weight to combina¬ 
tion by volume; to originate the theory of 
types, and to furnish new ideas on classifi¬ 
cation, homology, and similar subjects. The 
methods he originated have had a great in¬ 
fluence on modern chemistry. 

Gerhardt, Paul, the gi'eatest of German 
hymn-writers, born in 1607. He studied 
theology, became pastor of Mittenwalde in 
1651, and afterwards at Berlin. A strict 
Lutheran, he opposed energetically all at¬ 
tempts to unite the Lutheran and Reformed 
Churches, and was removed from his church 
in 1666 in consequence of his refusal to sub¬ 
scribe to the edict of 16th Sept. 1664, pro¬ 
hibiting mutual insults or offensive language 
between the churches. In 1668 he was made 
archdeacon in Lubben, where he died in 
1676. His excellent book of hymns appeared 
at Berlin in 1667 (Geistliche Andachten). 
Many particular hymns have found English 
translators. 

Gericault (zha-re-ko), Jean Louis Theo¬ 
dore Andr6, a French painter, born at 
Rouen in 1791; came to Paris in 1806 and 
studied under Charles Vernet and Guerin. 
His first pictures (the Chasseur Officer and 
the Wounded Cuirassier) were exhibited in 
1812 and 1814. In 1817 he visited Italy, 
returned to Paris in 1819, and painted the 
Raft of the Medusa (a well-known ship¬ 
wreck of the time), a work of much power, 
which won immediate popularity. He died 
at Paris in 1824. 

Geri'zim Mount. See Ehal. 

Germ, in physiol, the earliest form under 
which any organism appears, that is the 
rudimentary or embryonic form of an organ¬ 
ism. The name is also given to certain 
minute organisms which give rise to disease. 
See Germ Theory. 

Germain (zher-man), St., the name of a 
number of places in France, among which is 
St. Germain-en-Laye, a town in the depart¬ 
ment of Seine-et-Oise, about 6 miles north 

166 




GERMAN PASTE. 


GERMAN CATHOLICS 

from Versailles and 11 miles w.n.w. from 
Paris, on the left bank of the Seine. The 
most remarkable building is the royal palace, 
commenced by Charles V. in 1370, and 
embellished by several of his successors, 
especially Francis I. and Louis XIV. It 
was used as a prison during the revolution, 
afterwards as a school for cavalry officers, 
and was ultimately restored in 1862 by 
Napoleon III., who established in it a 
museum of Gallo-Roman antiquities. The 
forest of St. Germain is one of the finest in 
France, extending over 10,000 acres. Pop. 
14,280. 

German Catholics, a religious sect which 
sprung up in Germany about the close of 
the year 1844. The immediate cause of its 
formation was the exhibition by Arnoldi, 
bishop of Trfeves, of the holy coat preserved 
in the cathedral of that city, accompanied 
by a promise of plenary indulgence to who¬ 
ever should make a pilgrimage to Treves to 
worship it. The announcement caused a 
general feeling of astonishment in Germany, 
and two priests, Johannes Ronge of Silesia 
and Johann Czerski of Posen, whose inde¬ 
pendent views had already caused the de¬ 
position of the one and the secession of the 
other, led a secession movement, appealing 
to the lower grades of clergy to unite in 
founding a national German church inde¬ 
pendent of the pope. A number of congre¬ 
gations were formed, especially in Leipzig, 
under the celebrated Robert Blum, and in 
Magdeburg under the teacher Kote. Two 
creeds were drawn up for the new church, 
the Confession of Schneidemiih!, by Czerski, 
which, though substantially Roman Catho¬ 
lic, rejected indulgences, purgator}^ auri¬ 
cular confession, &c., and the Confession of 
Breslau, drawn up by Ronge. The latter, 
which was much less orthodox, was sub¬ 
stantially adopted by the Council which 
met at Leipzig March 22, 1845. The or¬ 
ganization was almost the same as that of 
the Presbyterian Dissenting churches of 
Scotland. Each congregation was to choose 
its own pastor and elders. For a time the 
new church had a great success. Many 
Protestants joined the body, which, by the 
end of 1845, numbered nearly 300 congre¬ 
gations. Difficulties soon arose, however. 
The majority of the German governments 
began to use repressive measures. More 
fatal were internal dissensions, one party, 
headed by Czerski, clinging to the tradi¬ 
tions and doctrines of the Roman Catholic 
Church, the other, headed by Ronge, tend- 

167 


ing to mix up democratic and socialistic 
principles with their creed. After the rise 
of ‘ Old Catholicism ’ the movement lost 
all importance. 

German Confederation, See Germany. 

German Evangelical Protestant Church 
(United States) i.s liberal in doctrinal be¬ 
lief, having no confession of faith. Its 
ministers are associated in district unions. 
Number of churches, 52; members, 36,156. 

German Evangelical Synod of North 
America. This body accepts the symbol¬ 
ical books of the Lutheran and Reformed 
Churches, representing in the U. States the 
State Church of Prussia, which is a union 
of the Lutheran and Reformed bodies. It' 
celebrated, Oct. 12, 1890, the semi-centen¬ 
nial anniversary of its organization in the 
U. States. Number of members, census of 
1890, 187,432. 

German'icus, CjESar, a distinguished Ro¬ 
man, son of Nero Claudius Drusus and the 
younger Antonia, a niece of Augustus, was 
born B.c. 15. He was adopted by Tiberius, 
his paternal uncle, and married Agrippina, 
the granddaughter of Augustus. When 
Augustus died, in a.d. 14, Germauicus was 
invited by the rebellious legions on the Rhine 
to assume the sovereignty, but refused, and 
quelled the revolt. He then crossed the 
Rhine, surprised and defeated the Marsi 
with great slaughter. Next year (a.d. 15) 
a campaign against the Catti and the Ger¬ 
mans, led by Arminius, resulted in a series 
of victories. The following year he again 
made his way into Germany, defeated the 
Cherusci twice, and made an incursion into 
the country of the Marsi. Tiberius now 
became jealous of the glory of Germanicus, 
called him home under pretence of granting 
him a triumph, then, to get rid of him, sent 
him into the East to compose the disturb¬ 
ances in Armenia and Cappadocia. This he 
performed in a.d. 18, visited Egypt the fol¬ 
lowing year, and died on his return to Syria 
(a.d. 19) under some suspicion of having been 
poisoned by Cn. Piso, the governor of Syria. 

German Ocean. See North Sea. 

German Paste, the name given to a kind 
of paste made for feeding cage-birds, such 
as canaries, larks, nightingales, &c. The 
following is one of various recipes: one 
pound of pea-meal, half a pound of blanched 
sweet almonds, two ounces of fresh butter, 
two ounces of moist sugar, fifteen grains 
of hay saffron. Mix and beat well with a 
little water, pass through a cullender, then 
expose to the air till dry. 





GERMAN SARSAPARILLA-GERMANY. 


German Sarsaparilla, a name given to 
the roots or rhizomes of Carex arenaria, 
C. disticha, and C. hirta, from their being 
occasionally used in Germany as a substi¬ 
tute for sarsaparilla. 

German Silver, Nickel Silver, or Pack- 
FONG, is an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc 
in different proportions, amongst which the 
following may be mentioned. Spoons and 
forks are made from 2 parts copper, 1 nickel, 

1 zinc; knife and fork handles from 5 copper, 

2 nickel, 2 zinc, a mixture closely resembling 
alloyed silver; addition of lead produces an 
alloy which appears well fitted for casts, and 
for making candlesticks, &c.; iron or steel, 
on the other hand, makes the alloy whiter, 
harder, and more brittle. German silver is 
harder than silver, and takes a high polish. 
iTmelts at a red heat, the zinc being vola¬ 
tilized in the open air. It is attacked by 
the strong acids, but it is also affected by 
common organic acids, such as vinegar, and 
by some saline solutions. 

German Tinder, or Amadou, is prepared 
from the Boletus fomentarius, a fungus 
growing on the oak, birch, and some other 
trees, or from the BolUus igniarius found 
on the willow, cherry, plum, and other trees. 
The fungus is removed with a sharp knife, 
washed, boiled in a strong solution of salt¬ 
petre, beaten with a mallet, and dried. In 
surgery it is sometimes used to stop local 
bleeding. 

Germantown, a northern suburb of Phila¬ 
delphia, pleasantly situated on high ground, 
and containing numerous elegant residences. 
Here the British, under General Howe, de¬ 
feated the Americans under Washington, 
4th Oct. 1777. 

Germany (Latin, Germania; German, 
Deutschland; French, AUemagne), the name 
given collectively to the states in Central Eu¬ 
rope which constitute the German Empire. 
The limits of Germany have varied greatly 
at different times; and at present there are 
large numbers of people Germans in race 
and language not included within the boun¬ 
daries of the empire, many being natives 
of Austria and Switzerland. On the other 
hand, the political boundaries of Germany 
contain several millions of Slaves, Lithu¬ 
anians, Poles, &c. As one of the Teutonic 
peoples the Germans are akin by race to 
the Dutch, English, and Scandinavian peo¬ 
ples. The capital of Germany is Berlin; 
other large towns are Hamburg, Breslau, 
Munich, Dresden, Leipzig, Cologne. As 
each state is described under its own name, 


the description given below is confined to 
leading features which belong to Germany 
as a whole. The following table shows the 
component parts of the empire:— 


Kingdoms. 


Area in Pop. Dec. 
sq. miles. Ist, 1890* 


1. Prussia. 

2. Bavaria. 

3. Wiirtemberg 

4. Saxony.. 


134,463 

29,282 

7,528 

5,787 


29,955,281 

5,589,382 

2,035,443 

3,500,513 


Imperial Territory. 
5. Alsace-Lorraine. 


5,668 


1,603,987 


Grand-duchies. 

6. Baden. 

7. Hesse. 

8. Mecklenburg-Schvverin... 

9. Mecklenburg-Strelitz_ 

10. Oldenburg. 

11. Saxe-Weimar. 


5,821 

2,965 

5,135 

1,131 

2,479 

1,388 


1,656,817 

993,659 

578,565 

97,978 

354,968 

326,091 


Duchies. 

12. Brunswick. 

13. Saxe-Meiningen. 

14. Saxe-Coburg and Gotha .. 

15. Saxe-Altenburg. 

16. Anhalt. 

Principalities. 

17. Waldeck. 

18. Lippe. 

19. Schaumburg-Lippe. 

20. Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.. 

21. Schwarzburg-Sonders- 

hausen. 

22. Reuss (elder line). 

23. Reuss (younger line). 

Free Towns. 

24. Bremen. 

25. Hamburg. 

26. Liibeck. 


1,424 

953 

755 

511 

906 


403,029 

223,832 

206,513 

170,864 

271,759 


433 

469 

131 

363 


57,283 

128,414 

39,183 

85,863 


333 

122 

319 


75,510 
62,754 
119,811' 


99 

158 

115 


180,443 

622,530 

76,485 


>08,738 


49,416,476 


Physical Features. —Germany, as regards 
its surface, may be divided into three differ¬ 
ent regions. Farthest south is the Alpine 
region along the southern frontier, compris¬ 
ing parts of Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and 
Baden lying next to Austria and Switzer¬ 
land. North of this the Suabian-Bavarian 
plateau extends to the mountain region of 
Central Germany, where the chain known 
as the Fichtelgebirge is continued east by 
the Erzgebirge and the Riesengebirge, form¬ 
ing the boundary next Austria; west by 
the Thiiringerwald, Rhbngebirge, and Spes- 
sart; farther north lie the Harz Moun¬ 
tains. The great plain in the north ex¬ 
tends without interruption to the German 
Ocean and the Baltic. Germany is remark¬ 
ably well watered. Its central mountain 
region and plateau forms part of the great 
water-shed of Europe. The Danube pro¬ 
ceeds across it in an eastern direction, and 
the Rhine, though it neither rises nor te*- 

168 

































GERMANY. 


minates within Germany, flows within it for 
the greater part of its course. After these 
come the Elbe, the Oder, Weser, Main, 
Neckar, Mosel, Ems, and Eider—all of 
which are navigable. Germany possesses 
much and varied mineral riches, the most 
important minerals being common coal and 
brown coal, iron, zinc, lead, and salt, f'in, 
quiksilver, antimony, sulphur, marble, kao¬ 
lin, asbestos, freestone, &c., occur in various 
localities. Germany is likewise extremely 
rich in mineral waters, especially in the 
southern parts. Though the country ex¬ 
tends over of latitude, its mean annual 
temperature is remai'kably uniform. This 
is owing mainly to the different elevations 
of the surface, the low plains of the north 
having a higher, while the hills and pla¬ 
teaux of the south have a lower temperature 
than their latitudes might seem to indicate. 
The mildest climate is enjoyed by the val¬ 
leys of the Rhine and the Main. 

Agricultural Products, tbc.—These are 
varied and numerous. With exception of 
the loftier mountain districts, where the 
surface is fit only for pasture, the growth of 
all the ordinary cereals is universal. Pota¬ 
toes, hemp, and flax also form most impor¬ 
tant crops, and in many parts sugar-beet, 
tobacco, and hops are cultivated on an ex¬ 
tensive scale. Wine is produced in many 
districts. The cultivation of the vine 
diminishes in importance from south-west 
to north-east, but is carried on to some 
extent even in the Prussian provinces of 
Saxony, Brandenburg, and Posen. The 
forests are of great extent and value, par¬ 
ticularly in the mountain districts. The 
central plateau is more sparingly wooded, 
but the eastern part of the north plain has 
extensive forests. Among domestic animals, 
the horned cattle of the districts along the 
North Sea and the Baltic, the sheep of Sax¬ 
ony and Silesia, and the swine of Westphalia 
have long been famous. The horse, except in 
Schleswig-Holstein, East Prussia, Mecklen¬ 
burg, and some other parts, appears to be 
much neglected. Game is very abundant, 
and includes, in addition to the smaller 
kinds, the boar and the wolf. Fish are 
numerous, both in the rivers and lakes. 

Manufactures. —Linens are made in every 
part of Germany, but more especially in 
Westphalia, Silesia, Bohemia, and Saxony; 
woollens in the Prussian provinces of the 
Rhine, Saxony, Brandenburg, and Silesia, 
in the kingdom of Saxony, and in Alsace; 
the cotton manufacture constitutes the chief 

169 


manufacturing industry in Alsace-Lorraine, 
the kingdoms of Saxony and Wiirtemberg, 
and the grand-duchy of Baden, and flourishes 
in Bavaria, Prussia, and other parts; the silk 
manufacture flourishes in the Rhine prov¬ 
inces and in Baden; iron manufactures are 
carried on in most of the states, but princi¬ 
pally in Prussia, Alsace-Lorraine, Bavaria, 
and Saxony; steel is largely manufactured 
in the Rhine provinces. The manufactures 
of beet-root sugar, of leather, of metals, por¬ 
celain, glass, fancy flowers, hats, musical in¬ 
struments, watches, clocks, wooden wares, 
including toys, &c., are likewise important; 
and breweries and distilleries are to be met 
with everywhere. 

Covimerce. —The commerce is very exten¬ 
sive, and is administered and guided by 
special laws of a union called the Zollverein 
or Customs Union, which embraces the 
whole of Germany and also the grand-duchy 
of Luxemburg. The exports and imports 
comprise a great variety of manufactured 
goods and raw products. The manufactures 
of Germany are now sent to aU parts of the 
world, and in various' places there is a strong 
competition between German and British 
goods. The staple exports to Britain are 
agricultural produce, sugar, provisions, tim¬ 
ber, &c. In return Britain sends to Ger¬ 
many cotton and woollen goods, machinery 
and metals, herrings, coal, &c. In 1890 the 
imports of Germany were 4,272,910,000 
marks, the exports, 3,409,584,000. In 1891 
the merchant navy contained 3653 ships of 
1,433,413 tons burden, of which 896 were 
steamers, having a tonnage of 723,652. By 
far the principal seaport is Hamburg; others 
are Bremen and Bremerhaven, Stettin, 
Konigsberg, Danzig, Llibeck, &c. The total 
length of railways is over 25,000 English 
miles, five-sixths of which are state railways. 
By the law of Dec. 4, 1871, a uniform gold 
standard was introduced for the monetary 
system of the whole German Empire. The 
denominational unit is the mark, nearly 
equal to Is. of British money and divided 
into a hundred pfennige. Since 1872 the 
French metrical system of weights and 
measures has been in force throughout the 
German Empire. See Decimal System. 

Finances. —The revenue is derived prin¬ 
cipally from the customs duties collected 
throughout the Zollverein, from excise duties 
on beet-root sugar, salt, tobacco, and malt, 
and from the contributions made by each 
state in proportion to its population. Ac¬ 
cording to the budget for year ending March 








GERMANY. 


3l, 1892, the revenue would amount to 
1,104,872,000 marks, of which customs and 
excise were estimated to yield 578,754,000 
marks. The chief item in the expenditure 
is on military administration, amount¬ 
ing to 413,118,000 marks. The estimate 
for the navy was 42,818,000 marks. The 
debt of the empire is of no great amount. 

Constitution. — The constitution of the 
German Empire is based upon the decree 
of the 16th of April, 1871, which took effect 
on the 4th of May following. The presi¬ 
dency of the empire belongs to the crown of 
Prussia, to which is attached the hereditary 
title of Emperor of Germany. The prero¬ 
gatives of the emperor are to represent the 
empire in its relation to other states, to de¬ 
clare war if defensive, and conclude peace 
in name of the empire, to contract alliances, 
&C. The emperor has also the supreme com¬ 
mand of the army and the navy, appoints 
and dismisses officials of the empire, appoints 
consuls, and superintends the entire consul¬ 
ate of the empire. The legislative authority 
is vested in the Bundesrath (Federal Coun¬ 
cil) and the Reichstag (Imperial Diet), the 
former consisting of 58 representatives of 
the different states of the empire, 17 from 
Prussia, 6 from Bavaria, 4 each from Sax¬ 
ony and Wiirtemberg, 3 each from Baden 
and Hesse, 1 from Saxe-Weimar, &c. The 
Reichstag consists of 397 deputies elected 
by secret voting in all the states of the em¬ 
pire. As a rule one member is returned to 
the Reichstag for every 100,000 of the in¬ 
habitants of each state. 

Army and Navy. —Service in the army 
or navy is obligatory on every man in Ger¬ 
many from the 1st of January of the year 
in which he completes the twentieth year of 
his age to the end of his forty-second year, 
unless he be released altogether, or for times 
of peace, by the competent authorities. Seven 
years must be spent in the standing army 
or fleet, three of them in active service, and 
the remaining four in the reserve. After 
quitting the army of reserve the next five 
years are passed in the Landwehr, the mem¬ 
bers of which may be called out only twice 
for training during that period. All men 
capable of bearing arms who are not in the 
line, the reserve, or the Landwehr, must be¬ 
long to the Landsturm, which is called out 
only in case of invasion of the territory of 
the empire. Young men above seventeen 
years of age who are able to pass an exam¬ 
ination upon general sixbjects, and who volun¬ 
teer for active service in the army, and agree 


to equip and maintain themselves during 
the time that their active service lasts, are 
admitted into the reserve after one year’s 
continuous service. The peace strength ot 
the array is 486,983 men, and the total war 
strength of trained soldiers 2,234,631. In 
1891 the German navy consisted of 77 ves¬ 
sels, including 28 iron-clads, with 168 guns, 
and of 104,148 tons burden, the rest being 
corvettes, despatch-boals, gunboats, &c. 

Religion and Education. —At the census 
of 1890 the German Empire contained 
31,026,810 Protestants, 17,674,921 Catho¬ 
lics, 145,540 Christians of other denomina¬ 
tions, and 567,880 Jews. Education is com¬ 
pulsory throughout Germany. Every com¬ 
mune or parish must support at its own cost 
a primary school. Every town in addition 
must maintain one or more middle schools, 
which supply a higher education than the 
elementary schools. Above these are real- 
schools {Realschulen) giving a still higher 
education, nearly corresponding to what is 
called the modern side in Great Britain; 
institutions of similar standing called gym¬ 
nasiums, giving an education in which the 
ancient languages form a more important 
element; and, above all, the universities, of 
which there are 21 in the country, the chief 
being those of Berlin, Leipzig, and Munich. 
The Germans as a whole are perhaps the 
best educated people in the world. 

History. —The date of the first arrival of 
the Germanic or Teutonic races in Europe 
is unknown. At the close of the 2d cen¬ 
tury B.c. Germanic tribes called Cimbri 
and Teutones left their homes in the Danish 
peninsula, and descending upon Italy were 
defeated by Marius at Aquae Sextiae (Aix in 
Provence) and Vercellse in Northern Italy. 
The Romans did not come again in contact 
with the Germans till Caesar’s invasion of 
Gaul brought on a contest with the Suevian 
prince Ariovistus (58 B.c.). At that time 
several German tribes had crossed the Rhine 
and settled in the district between that 
river and the Vosges Mountains, while others 
had pushed their way through what is now 
Belgium. The Germans on the left bank 
of the Rhine were soon subjugated, and 
two expeditions were made by Caesar across 
the Rhine. Under Augustus a systematic 
attempt was made to subjugate the vast and 
little-known region Germania, extending 
between the Rhine and the Vistula, and from 
the Danube to the North Sea. Tiberius re¬ 
duced all the tribes between the Rhine and 
the Elbe, but a few years later there was a 
_ 170 



GERMANY. 


revolt, in which three Roman legions imder 
Varus were annihilated by Arminius, leader 
of the Cherusci, about 9 A.D. The attempt 
to subjugate the Germans was given up by 
Augustus; and Germanicus, although he 
avenged the defeat of Varus by a succession 
of campaigns, failed to recover the Roman 
ascendency. About this time each tribe or 
nation among the Germans is described as 
having been divided into four classes:— 
1. The nobles, from whom the kings and 
chiefs of the districts were chosen. 2. The 
freemen, who, with the nobles, had the right 
to choose their residence and hold heritable 
property, who formed the chief strength of 
the armies and voted in the popular assem¬ 
blies. 3. The freedmen, a middle class be¬ 
tween freemen and slaves, had no landed 
property, but farmed the land; they were 
not admitted to the popular assemblies. 
4. The slaves, who were entirely in the 
power of their masters. In religion the 
Germans were polytheists. Among their 
great gods were Woden (or Odin), Donar 
(Thor), Thiu(Tyr),rrigga, &c. They erected 
no temples and had no idols, but believed 
in a future life and in eternal justice. 

As the aggressive force of the Roman em¬ 
pire abated, it continued to be more and 
more subject to the incursions of the Ger¬ 
mans, who by the end of the 5th century 
had overrun Gaul, Italy, Spain, and part 
of Africa. After this Germany itself con¬ 
tinued in a divided state till it came under 
the single rule of Charlemagne. (See 
France.) The history of the German em¬ 
pire properly commences with the dTeaty 
of Verdun (843 A.D.), which separated the 
land of the Eastern Franks under Ludwig 
the German from that of the Western and 
Central Franks. Out of Ludwig’s kingdom 
was developed the German nationality. 
Charles the Fat became emperor in 881, 
and three years later was also elected king 
of.the West Franks, thus again uniting under 
one sceptre the Monarchy of Charlemagne. 
After his deposition in 887 the two terri¬ 
tories of the Eastern and Western Franks 
were again separated, the former electing 
Arnulf as their king. He died in 899, and 
was succeeded by his infant son Louis, who 
was proclaimed King of Lorraine in 900, 
assumed the title of emperor in 908, and as 
such is designated Louis IV. He died in 
911, and the German nations chose Conrad, 
count or duke of Franconia, as his successor. 
He died in December, 918, of a wound re¬ 
ceived in battle with the Huns. In 919 

171 


Henry the Fowler, duke of Saxony, was 
elected. He was succeeded by his son Otto 
the Great in 936, who revived the empire 
of Charlemagne, receiving the crown of 
Holy Roman Empire from the pope in 962. 
He died in 973, and was succeeded by his 
son Otto II., who had been crowned em¬ 
peror by the pope in his father’s lifetime. 
Henry II., duke of Bavaria, surnamed the 
Saint, the hereditary heir of the Saxon line, 
was elected at Mainz, on the death of Otto 
in 1002, crowned emperor in Rome 1014, 
and died in 1024. With him ends the Saxon 
line of emperors. 

Conrad II., surnamed the Salic, a Fran¬ 
conian nobleman, was chosen to succeed him. 
He spent several years in Italian wars, de¬ 
feated the Poles, and restored Lusatia to the 
empire. He died in 1039. He was succeeded 
by His son Henry III., who had been chosen 
in his lifetime, and who, the imperial power 
being now at its highest point, exercised 
more despotic authority in Germany than 
any of his predecessors. The fruits of his 
policy were lost by his son Henry IV. 
(1056-1106), who was passionate and weak. 
In his reign occurred the famous quarrel 
with the pope regarding investitures, which 
ended in Henry having to humble himself 
before the pope at Canossa. His life was 
embittered by contests against rival em¬ 
perors, and latterly by the defection of his 
own son Henry to the Papal party, by 
whom he was eventually deposed. Henry 
V. (1106-25) inherited, however, the quar¬ 
rel of the investitures, took Pope Paschal 
11. prisoner, and was excommunicated by 
seven councils. At length the question of 
investiture was settled by the Concordat of 
Worms (1122). On his death there was a 
contested election and a civil war between 
Lothaire, duke of Saxony, and Conrad of 
Hohenstaufen, in which the former was 
successful. 

A contest was now begun between the 
Saxon and Hohenstaufen (Suabian) fami¬ 
lies, in which the celebrated party names 
Guelf and Ghibelline originated. On the 
death of Lothaire in 1138 Conrad III. 
(of Hohenstaufen) was chosen to succeed 
him. Conrad died in 1152, and was suc¬ 
ceeded by his nephew Frederick Barba- 
rossa (which see). His son Henry VI. be¬ 
gan his reign with a war in Southern Italy. 
He conquered Sicily, and was crowned king 
of it in 1194. He died at Messina in 1197. 
Philip, brother of Henry, and Otto IV., 
were elected by rival factions in 1198. 










GERMANY. 


Philip, who was successful, was assassinated 
in 1208. Otto IV., the son of Henry the 
Lion, was recognized by the Diet of Frank¬ 
fort in 1208 as the successor of Philip. He 
attempted the conquest of the Two Sicilies 
without success, and died in 1218. Frede¬ 
rick II., king of the Sicilies, was elected 
emperor in 1212. His life passed in con¬ 
tentions with the popes and the Lombard 
cities. He died in 1250. Conrad IV., his 
son, had to contend against William of 
Holland. He died in 1254. He was the 
last emperor of the house of Hohenstaufen, 
which became extinct On the death of his 
son. His successor, William of Holland, 
was slain in Friesland in 1256. Richard, 
earl of Cornwall, and Alfonso X., king of 
Castile, were chosen emperors in 1257; but 
the internal divisions of Germany had al¬ 
ready deprived the office of all authority, 
and neither of them had any power. Until 
1273 the German Empire had no real head. 

Rudolph, count of Hapsburg and Cyburg, 
the most powerful prince in Helvetia, was 
chosen emperor (1272). He enriched his 
own family by his victories over the King 
of Bohemia, and acquired Austria, Styria, 
and Cariuthia as imperial fiefs for his sons 
Albert and Rudolph. He died in 1291. 
Adolphus of Nassau, his successor, was de¬ 
posed in 1298 by the Diet of Mainz. Albert 
I., son of Rudolph, was chosen emperor the 
same year. He is chiefly celebrated for his 
wars with the Swiss as Duke of Aiistria, 
which led to the independence of Switzer¬ 
land. He died in 1308, and was succeeded 
by Henry VII. of Luxembourg, nearly the 
whole of whose reign was passed in Italy, 
where he died in 1313. In 1314 a double 
election took place, Frederick, duke of Aus¬ 
tria, sometimes called Frederick III., was 
elected along with Louis of Bavaria. On 
the death of Frederick in 1330 the latter 
became sole emperor. He died excommuni¬ 
cated and deposed in 1347. Charles IV., 
king of Bohemia, was elected in 1346. His 
reign is chiefly distinguished for the Golden 
Bull (1356) regulating the electorate. (See 
Golden Bull.) He died in 1378. Wences- 
laus, his son, was deposed for his excesses 
in 1400. Rupert, count palatine, elected 
1400, possessed little authority. Sigismund, 
king of Hungary and Bohemia, son of 
Charles IV., was elected by a party in 1410. 
His reign is distinguished % the commence¬ 
ment of the Reformation in Bohemia, by 
the Council of Constance, and the condem¬ 
nation of Huss and Jerome. He died in 


1437. Albert II. (V. of Austria) was elected 
in 1438, and died in 1439. He was suc¬ 
ceeded by Frederick III., duke of Styria 
and Cariuthia. He was the last emperor 
who was crowned in Rome. Henceforth the 
German emperors were always of the house 
of Austria. He died in 1493. His son 
Maximilian I. succeeded. During his reign 
the diet of Cologne was held, which divided 
the e.states of the empire into ten circles 
for the better maintenance of the public 
peace. 

Since its rise the empire had undergone 
many changes. At the extinction of the 
Carlovingian dynasty Germany was divided 
into five nations or dukedoms—Franconia, 
Suabia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Lorraine. 
Henry the Fowler and the Ottos added 
the marches of Austria and Misnia; Henry 
the Lion and Albert of Brandenburg, 
Mecklenburg and Pomerania. The house 
of Austria added Styria, Cariuthia, Car- 
niola, and the Tyrol. But Switzerland 
had been lost, and the old Burgundian ter¬ 
ritories of the empire, Franche Comt^, the 
Lyonnais, and Provence, had gone to con¬ 
solidate the French monarchy under Louis 
XI. Bohemia and Hungary', and many of 
the Italian cities, especially in the north, 
were also connected with the empire, but the 
connection was more formal than real, and 
the circles established by the Diet of Co¬ 
logne (1512) represented at that time the 
estates of the empire, viz.; 1. Austria, 2. Ba¬ 
varia, 3. Swabia, 4. Franconia, 5. the Upper 
Rhine (Lorraine, Hesse, &c.), 6. the Lower 
Rhine, or the Electorates (Mainz, Trier, 
Cologne), 7. Burgundy (Netherlands), 8. 
Westphalia, 9. Lower Saxony (Brunswick, 
Llineburg, Lauenburg, Holstein, &c.), 10. 
Upper Saxony (Saxony, Brandenburg, Pom¬ 
erania, &c.). 

The chief political machinery of the em¬ 
pire w'as connected with the diet. The 
exact constitution of the early German 
diets is not known. In the 12th century 
the counts of the empire became distin¬ 
guished from the princes, and lost the right 
of voting in the diets. The election of an 
emperor was at first undertaken by the 
whole diet. In the 13th century the num¬ 
ber of electors was restricted to seven, to 
which twomore w’-ereafterwards added. (See 
Elector.) The diets were called by the em¬ 
peror at his own pleasure, but as they had 
the power of granting supplies their meet¬ 
ings were frequent; and as their authority 
over the different states was partial, and their 

172 



GEKMANY. 


policy could only be carried out by the execu¬ 
tive force of the emperor, they can hardly 
be regarded as an independent power in the 
state. Neither the time nor the place of 
meeting of the diets was at first fixed. 
From an early period the cities of Ger¬ 
many were represented in the diet. In 
early times they generally supported the 
authority of the emperor, as their interest 
was common with his in diminishing the 
power of the greater vassals. Municipali¬ 
ties were at first established about the 
reign of Frederick I., and soon began to 
assert their independence. The predatory 
habits of the nobles, besides the claims of 
supei-iority over entire cities or particular 
citizens asserted by the princes, involved 
the cities in continual warfare with the 
feudal nobility, and often also with their 
ecclesiastical superiors. The necessity of 
defending their privileges compelled them 
to enter into leagues among themselves. 
Among the earliest of these combinations 
was the Hanseatic League, formed to resist 
both the oppression of rulers and the de¬ 
predations of land and sea robbers. A league 
was formed in 1255 by more than sixty cities 
of the Rhine, headed by the three ecclesias¬ 
tical electors, to resist the depredations of 
the lesser nobles. The Suabian League, 
formed in 1376, was of similar origin. These 
leagues were met by counter associations of 
nobles and princes. 

Maximilian, who succeeded to the empire 
in 1493, was succeeded in 1519 by his 
grandson Charles V. (See Maximilian 
Charles F.) The reign of Charles, the most 
important in the German annals and the 
most brilliant in the 16th century, was 
divided among three great conflicts—the 
continued struggle between France and 
Germany, the conflict with the encroaching 
Ottoman empire, and that with the Refor¬ 
mation. In 1556 Charles resigned the em¬ 
pire to his brother Ferdinand. The Council 
of Trent was concluded in Ferdinand’s reign. 
He died in 1564. Then followed Maximi¬ 
lian II., Rudolph II., Matthias, and Fer¬ 
dinand II. By this time was begun a reli¬ 
gious war, by which Germany was devasted 
for thirty years, hence called the Thirty 
Years’ war. 

The invasion of Germany by Christian IV. 
of Denmark in 1625, the Peace of Ltibeck 
(1629), the invasion of Gustavus Adolphus 
(1630), the battles of Leipzig in 1631, of the 
Lech and Lutzen in 1632, of Nordlingen in 
Jfi34, the war with France io 1055, belong to 


the history of the Thirty Years’war (which 
see). Ferdinand died in 1637, and was suc¬ 
ceeded by his son Ferdinand III. Ferdinand 
III. had gained a military reputation by the 
battle of Nordlingen, but Bane'r, Bernhard 
of Saxe-Weimar, Torstenron, Turenne, and 
the Great Cond^ gained repeated victories 
over his troops. He was at length induced 
to enter into negotiations; and the Thirty 
Years’ war was concluded by the Peace of 
Westphalia (24th October, 1648), in which 
the policy of France and Sweden was tri¬ 
umphant. The principal conditions which 
concerned Germany were a general amnesty 
and restoration of rights. France received 
definitively the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and 
Verdun, with Breisach, Upper and Lower 
Alsace, and ten imperial cities in Alsace. 
Sweden received Riigen, and Hither Pome¬ 
rania and part of Farther Pomerania, with 
some other territories. Greater power was 
given to the Protestants; and the right of 
the princes and states to make war and 
alliances among themselves or with foreign¬ 
ers was recognized. 

Idle emperor died in 1657. His son Leo¬ 
pold I. was elected emperor in 1658. The 
success of Louis XIV. in his invasion of 
Holland led to a coalition against him, in 
which the emperor joined (1673). The war 
was continued for some years, and termi¬ 
nated by the Peace of Nimeguen, 1679. 
The League of Augsburg, in which the em¬ 
peror joined, led to a protracted war with 
France, which was concluded by the Peace 
of Ryswick. In 1692 the emperor erected 
Hanover into an electorate, and in 1700 he 
permitted the Elector of Brandenburg, Fre¬ 
derick III., to take the title of King of 
Prussia. The war of the Spanish Succession, 
in which Great Britain, Holland, and the 
empire were leagued against France, was 
begun in 1702. To it belong the victories 
of Marlborough and Eugene (Blenheim, Ou- 
denarde, Malplaqtiet). The Emperor Leo¬ 
pold died in 1705. He was succeeded by 
his son, Joseph I., who died in 1711. Joseph 
was succeeded by his brother, Charles VI. 
(See Charles VI.) The alliance against 
France was dissolved by the Peace of Utrecht 
in 1713, to which the emperor refused to 
accede, and was left alone against France. 
After a brief campaign between Prince 
Eugene and Villars he acceded to the Treaty 
of Rastadt, negotiated between these com¬ 
manders, 7th March, 1714. The Spanish 
Netherlands, and Naples, Milan, Sardinia, 
a.pcl Qtber Italiao conc^uests were left to the 












GERMANY. 


emperor. Having no male heirs Charles had 
promulgated in 1713 the Pragmatic Sanc¬ 
tion, regulating the succession to his heredi¬ 
tary dominions in favour of his daughters in 
preference to those of his brother, J oseph I. 
He died in 17 40. Charles Albert, elector of 
Bavaria, son-in-law of Leopold I., got him¬ 
self chosen emperor(asCharles VII.) in 1742. 
He laid claim to the hereditary possessions 
of the House of Austria, and entered into an 
alliance with France, Spain, Prussia, &c., 
against Maria Theresa, daughter of Charles 
VI. But he died in 1745, and Francis I., 
grand-duke of Tuscany, the husband of Maria 
Theresa, was elected emperor; thus the house 
of Hapsburg-Lorraiue, which had succeeded 
to the hereditary possessions of Austria, was 
recognized as the head’of the empire. After 
a brief interval took place the Seven Years’ 
war (1756-63), in which Austria, Russia, 
France, and Saxony combined against Prus¬ 
sia, then ruled by Frederick the Great. The 
Peace of Hubertsburg (15th Feb. 1763) con¬ 
cluded the war, Prussia retaining her ac¬ 
quisitions. In 1765 Joseph II. succeeded to 
the imperial crown, becoming at the same 
time co-regent with his mother of the Aus¬ 
trian hereditary dominions. He joined with 
Russia and Prussia in the first partition of 
Poland (1772). He was succeeded by his 
brother Leopold, who, having died in 1792, 
was succeeded by his son, Francis II. He 
joined in 1793 in the second partition of 
Poland. He took the command of his army 
against the French in 1794, concluded the 
Peace of Campo Formio with Bonaparte 
(17th October, 1797); joined the second coa¬ 
lition against France in 1799, and concluded 
the Treaty of Lundville (3d February, 1801); 
joined the third coalition in 1805, and con¬ 
cluded the Treaty of Presburg (26th De¬ 
cember, 1805). In 1804 Francis took the 
title of hereditary Emperor of Austria, re¬ 
nouncing two years later that of head of 
the German Empire, which, indeed, had 
ceased to exist, owing to the conquests of 
Napoleon. 

The States of Germany were again united 
by the Treaty of Vienna (1815), in a con¬ 
federation called the German Confederation 
(der Deutsche Bund). In 1818 a general 
commercial league, called the Zollverein, 
was projected by Prussia, and was gradu¬ 
ally joined by most of the German states, 
exclusive of Austria. Revolutionary out¬ 
breaks caused great disturbances in various 
German states in 1830 and 1848, particu¬ 
larly tfe? latter. The Germaii diet was 


restored in 1851 by the efforts of Prussia 
and Austria, who were latterly rivals for 
the supremacy in the confederation. In 1866 
the majority of the diet supported Austria 
in her dispute with Prussia respecting the 
disposal of the duchies of Schleswig and 
Holstein, whereupon Prussia withdrew from 
the confederation and declared it dissolved. 
The Seven Weeks’ war between Austria and 
Prussia ended in the defeat of the former, 
the loss of her Italian possessions, and he»* 
exclusion from the German Confederation, 
which was re-formed by Prussia under the 
title of the North German Confederation. 
After the Franco-German war (which see\ 
in which the South German States, as well as 
the North German Confederation, supported 
Prussia, the King of Prussia was proclaimed 
German Emperor at Versailles on 18th 
January, 1871. The parliament of the new 
German Empire met at Berlin on 21st 
IMarch, and adopted the new constitution. 
Since the unity of the empire was attained 
endeavours have been made to establish a 
colonial empire, principally in Africa. In 
Polynesia Germany has also acquired a por¬ 
tion of New Guinea, now known as Kaiser 
Wilhelm’s Land; the Bismarck Archipelago, 
including the islands formerly known as 
New Britain, New Ireland, and the Admi¬ 
ralty Islands, and some of the Solomon and 
Marshall Islands. 

German Language .— German is one of 
the Teutonic family of languages, of the 
Aryan or Indo-European stock, and hence 
is a sister tongue with Gothic, Anglo-Saxon 
and English, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and 
Icelandic. Of these the Gothic, now lonof 
extinct, presents us with the earliest speci¬ 
mens of any Teutonic speech that we possess 
in the fragments of a translation of the 
Bible made by Bishop LTlfilas about a.d. 
360. Anglo-Saxon comes next; German fol¬ 
lows somewhat later. The German dialects 
spoken in the lower and more northern 
localities have long exhibited considerable 
differences from those spoken in the higher 
and more inland, thus giving rise to the 
distinction between High German and Low 
German. What is ordinarily called German 
(called Deutsch by the Germans) is High 
German. Low German includes Dutch, 
F^risian, &c. One of the earliest speci¬ 
mens of Old High German is the oath of 
Charles the Bald, sworn at Strasburg in 842. 
Middle High German became literary in 
the 12th century, its poetry giving it a pre¬ 
dominance as far as Austria. During the 

174 ■ ■ 9 




GERMANY. 


following century Suabian was the predomi¬ 
nant dialect, and its influence is apparent 
in all the writings of the 14th and 15th 
centuries. Ultimately Upper Saxon became 
the language of literature and cultivated 
society in consequence of the translation of 
the Bible by Luther, which may be said to 
have fixed the New High German of modern 
times. 

German Literature received its first im¬ 
pulse from the fondness of the early Ger¬ 
manic races for celebrating the deeds of 
their gods and heroes. According to Taci¬ 
tus the warriors would advance to attack 
chanting wild war-songs, with their shields 
held close to their mouths, w’hich added to 
the discordant effect of the unknown and 
uncouth tongue. Of these early songs no¬ 
thing even in a translated form has been 
banded down to us. The legends immedi¬ 
ately connected with the Gothic, Frankish, 
and Burgundian warriors of the period of 
national migration — Dietrich (Theodoric), 
Siegfried, Hildebrand, &c. — have for the 
most part some historical foundation, and 
many of them were eventually incorporated 
in the Nibelungenlied, the most celebrated 
production of German mediaeval poetry. On 
the introduction of Christianity was opened 
another sphere of literary activity. Metri¬ 
cal translations of the Evangelists, the Krist 
and Heliand, appeared in the 9th century 
in the High and Low German dialects re¬ 
spectively.- The Ludwigslied, a paean in 
honour of the victory of Louis III., king of 
the Franks, over the Normans in 88-3, was 
composed in Old High German by a Frank¬ 
ish ecclesiastic. The preservation of the 
Hildebrandlied is also due to churchmen, 
who transmitted it partly in the High and 
partly in the Low dialect. The Merse- 
burger Gedichte, two songs of enchantment 
written in the 10th century, throw light 
on the ancient religious beliefs of Germany; 
but in general the hostility of the clergy 
to the old pagan literature of heroic legends, 
beast-fables, &c., was not favourable to its 
preservation. 

In the 12th and 13th centuries poetry 
passed from the monasteries and ecclesiasti¬ 
cal schools to the palaces of princes and the 
castles of nobles. Under the cultured em¬ 
perors of the house of Hohenstaufen, the 
first bloom of German literature came. 
Many of the poets of this period were nobles 
by birth, some of them even princes. Hein¬ 
rich von Weldeke was the first to introduce 
into bis boiojc poem Eneit that spirit of 


devotion to women called by the old Ger¬ 
mans Minne (Love, hence the name Minne- 
sdrujer, Love-Minstrel). A still greater 
name is that of Wolfram von Eschenbach, 
the author of Parzival, a poem embodying 
the legends of King Arthur, the Knights of 
the Round Table, and the San Graal (Holy 
Grail). These traditions, together w'ith the 
exploits of Charlemagne, of Alexander the 
Great, and the Trojan heroes, inspired also 
the lays of Gottfried of Strasburg, Hartman 
von der Aue, and others. These subjects 
were all taken from the romances of the 
French trouv^res, and treated in a style 
closely resembling theirs. But we have be¬ 
sides real national epics in the Nibelungen¬ 
lied and Gudrun. (See Nibelungenlied, 
Gudrun.) The lyric.« or minnesongs of this 
period are not less remarkable than its ro¬ 
mances and epics. Perhaps the most gifted 
lyrist is the celebrated Walther von der Vo¬ 
gel weide. Next to him rank Heinrich von 
Ofterdingen, Eeinmar der alte, the Austrian 
poets Nithard and Tannhauser. Several 
hundreds of these poets were engaged in 
travelling from palace to palace and from 
castle to castle. Their songs were mostly 
in the Suabian dialect, and the poets con¬ 
stituted what is called the Suabian school. 
In the 13th century didactic poetry began 
to be cultivated with some success. The 
dawn of historical literature is heralded by 
the chronicles of Limburg (1336-98) and of 
Alsace (1386), but the age of chivalry, as 
Ulrich von Lichtenstein complained in his 
poem Frauendienst, was declining. During 
the troublous times of the Interregnum 
(1256-73) poetry passed to the homes of the 
private citizen and the workshops. These 
plebeian songsters formed themselves into 
guilds in the imperial cities—Niirnberg, 
Frankfort, Strasburg, Mainz, &c., and were 
called Meistersdnger, in contradistinction to 
the knightly Minnesdnger. 

In the 14th century Germany produced 
several mystical thetdogians, disciples of 
Meister Eckhart, the most celebrated of 
whom were Tauler and Suso, whose sermons 
and writings paved the way, in some mea¬ 
sure, for the Reformation. The only good 
poetry in the 14th, and up to the close of the 
15th century, were the spirited lays of Halb 
Suter and Veit Weber, who celebrated the 
victories of Switzerland over Austria and 
Burgundy. The invention of printing caused 
an increasing literary activity, and the 
works printed in Germany between 1470 
?ind 1500 ^ipounted to several thousand 











GERMANY. 


editions. In 1498 there was published the 
celebrated beast-epic Reineke Vos (Reynard 
the Fox). Other popular works were the 
Narrenschiff (Ship of Fools) of Sebastian 
Brandt, an allegorical poem in which the 
vices are satirized; The Satires of Thomas 
Miirner; and (in 1519) Till Eulenspiegel, 
a collection of humorous stories about a 
wandering mechanic. 

In the 16th century anew era opens in litera¬ 
ture with Luther’s translation of the Bible. 
The writings of Luther, Zwingli (1484-1531), 
Sebastian Frank (1500-45?), Melanchthon 
(1497-1560), Ulrich von Hutten (1488- 
1523), one of the chief writers of the Epis- 
tolae Obscurorum Virorum, constitute the 
principal theologic literature of the Refor¬ 
mation. History was now written in a 
superior style, and with greater comprehen¬ 
siveness, by Frank in the Zeitbuch and 
Weltbuch, and by Sebastian Munster (1489 
-1552) in hisKosmographie; also by Tschudi 
(1505-72) in Chronicles of Switzerland, and 
by Aventinus (14771-1534), the Bavarian 
chronicler. The autobiography of Gotz von 
Berlichingen also deserves mention as a 
sketch of the rude lives of the smaller no¬ 
bility. Amongst the poets of this period 
Hans Sachs (1494-1576), the cobbler of 
Nlirenberg, the greatest of the Meistersiin- 
ger, and Johann Fischart (died 1589), a 
great satirist, and author of Das gliickhafte 
Schiff, stand much above their contempora¬ 
ries. Many of the hymns and religious ly¬ 
rics of the age are of high merit, particularly 
those of Luther, Eber, Waldis, and others. 
The drama also made considerable progress, 
Hans Sachs, before mentioned, and Jakob 
Ayrer (died 1605) being amongst the best 
writers in this department. But it was in 
learned and scientific treatises that the age 
w'as most prolific. Amongst the chief names 
in this respect are Luther, Camerarius, Cor¬ 
nelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, Copernicus (as¬ 
tronomy), Leonhard Fuchs (botany and me¬ 
dicine), Conrad Gesner (zoology and classics), 
and Agricola (mineralogy). 

By the beginning of the 17th century 
literature was on the decline. This century 
is known in German literature as the period 
of imitation. Most of the poets were gradu¬ 
ates of universities; and learned societies 
w'ere formed for the purpose of improving 
the language and literature. A new school 
of poetry, known as the first Silesian school, 
was founded, of which Martin Opitz (1597- 
1639) was the leader. His works are more 
remafkable for smoothness of versification 


than for true poetic inspiration. As a critic 
his work Die Deutsche Poeterie became a 
kind of manual for verse makers. Amongst 
the chief members of the Silesian school were 
Simon Dach (1605-69), Von Zesen (1619- 
89), Johann Rist (1607-67), and, greatest 
of all, Paul Fleming (1609-40), whose lyrics 
are natural and cheerful as the songs of a 
lark. Of this school also was Andreas 
Gryphius (1616-64), who may be said to 
have founded the regular German drama. 
The second Silesian school, headed by Hoff¬ 
mann von Hoffmannswaldau (1618-79), and 
Lohenstein (1635-83), carried affectation to 
its utmost. Both the Silesian schools were 
opposed by the ‘court poets,’ Canitz (1654- 
99), Besser (1654-1729), and many others 
who imitated the French school and took 
Boileau for their guide. Germany’s greatest 
hymn-writer, Gerhardt (1606-75), belongs 
to this period. Amongst the best satirists 
arid epigrammatists were Logau (1604-55) 
and Lauremberg (1591-1659). Amongst 
novelists Moscherosch with his Geschichte 
Philanders von Sittewald, and Grimmels- 
hausen in his Simplicissimus give graphic 
pictures of life during the Thirty Years’ war. 
Among the scientific and philosophic writers 
of the period we may mention Kepler (1571- 
1631), Puffendorf (1632-94), the publicist; 
and Jakob Bohme (1575-1624), the great 
mystic who stood almost alone in using the 
vernacular in communicating philosophical 
instruction. Leibnitz (1646-1716) was the 
first to lay a scientific basis for the study of 
philosophy, but his works were composed 
chiefly in French and Latin. Wolff (1679- 
1754), his disciple, shaped the views of his 
master into a comprehensive s^^stem, and 
published his works in the German language. 

In the 18th century poetry revived with 
Haller (1708-77), remai'kable as a descriptive 
poet, and Hagedorn(l708-54),alyristof con¬ 
siderable merit. The Saxon school headed 
by Gottsched (1700-66) aimed at a reforma¬ 
tion of German poetry in the direction of 
French clearness and correctness, modelling 
the drama as far as possible on the wmrks 
of Corneille and Racine. These tendencies 
brought about a violent controversy with a 
group of writers in Zurich, known as the 
Swiss school, and headed by Bodmer and 
Breitinger, who took the English poets as 
their model, and laid stress on the function 
of imagination and feeling in poetry. The 
result of the controversy was that most of 
the young writers at Leipzig shook off the 
authority of Gottsched, and even established 


GERMANY. 


a periodical (The Bremer Beitrage) in which 
the principles of their former master were 
attacked. Among the contributors were 
Rabener (1712-91), a popular satirist with 
a correct and easy style; Zachariii (1726-77), 
a serio-comic epic poet; Gellert (1715-69), 
the author of numerous popular hymns, 
fables, and a few dramas now forgotten; 
Kiistner (1719-1800), a witty epigramma¬ 
tist and talented mathematician; Giseke, 
Cramer, Fuchs, Ebert, and many others of 
more or less note. To the school of Halle 
belonged Kleist (1715-59), Gleim (1719- 
1803), a celebrated fabulist, and others. 
Gessner of Zurich (1730-87) gained in his 
time a high reputation as a writer of idyls. 
With the writings of Klopstock (1724- 
1803) and Wieland (1733-1813) the clas¬ 
sical period of German literature (usually 
reckoned from 1760) may be said to begin. 
Though the epic poem of the first (Mes- 
sias) is no longer counted a poem of the 
first rank, yet Klopstock’s work, with its 
ardent feeling for the spiritual and sub¬ 
lime, is recognized to have had a beneficent 
effect on German literature. Wieland, a 
striking contrast to Klopstock, awakened 
with his light and brilliant verse a greater 
sense of gracefulness in style. But it was 
reserved for Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 
(1729-81) to give a new direction to Ger¬ 
man literature. He established a new school 
of criticism and dealt the fatal blow at 
French influence. His tragedy, Emilia Ga- 
lotti, his comedy of Minna von Barnhelm, 
and his philosophic drama Nathan der 
Weise, were the best models of dramatic 
composition which German literature had 
yet produced, and his direction of the Ger¬ 
man mind towards Shakspere and the Eng¬ 
lish drama was not the least of the many 
impulses he contributed to the literary 
growth of his countrymen. Herder (1744- 
1803), with his universal knowledge and 
many-sided activity, followed Lessing as 
another great influence in the literary world. 
The researches of Winckelmann (1717-68) 
in ancient sculpture led to a new under¬ 
standing of art, as those of Heyne in ancient 
literature mark the development of modern 
German scholarship. A union of the stu¬ 
dents at Gottingen University, where Heyne 
taught, gave rise to the Gottinger Dichter- 
bund or Ilainhund, among the members of 
which were Gottfried Aug. Burger (1748- 
94), author of Lenore and other wild and 
picturesque ballads and songs; Voss (1751- 
1826), the translator of Homer, and author 
voii. IV. ,177 


of one of the finest German idyls, Luise; 
together with the two brothers Stolberg, 
Boie, Holty, Claudius, &c. 

This period was followed by a time of tran¬ 
sition and excitement known in Germany 
as the Sturm-und-Drang Periode (Storm 
and Stress period), which found its fullest 
expression in an early work of Goethe’s 
(1749-1832), the Sorrows of Werther. The 
literary excitement was raised to the high¬ 
est pitch by the Rauber (Robbers) of Schil¬ 
ler (1759-1805), afterwards the friend and 
coadjutor of Goethe, By the joint exertions 
of these two great men German literature 
was brought to that classical perfection 
which, from a pxirely local, has since given it 
a universal influence. Of a highly individual 
character are the works of Jean Paul Rich¬ 
ter (1763-1825), awriterof profound humour 
and pathos; and Jung Stilling (1740-1817), 
whose autobiography holds a peculiar place 
in German literature for the charming 
naivetd of its thought and style. In the 
departments of science and philosophy, we 
have the names of Moses Mendelssohn 
(1729-1786); A. G. Baumgarten (1714-62), 
the founder of the science of Aesthetics; the 
historians Mosheim (1694-1755), Dohm, 
Moser, Spittler, Johannes Muller; Adelung 
the philologist; Basedow and Pestalozzi the 
educationalists; Ernesti, Spalding, Rosen- 
mtiller, and Michaelis, theologians; Eich- 
horn in theology and universal and literary 
history; and the scientific writers Blumen- 
bach, Euler, Vega, Herscliel, and others. 
In the field of pure metaphysics Immanuel 
Kant was succeeded by Fichte (1762A814), 
Hegel (1717-1831), and Schelling (1775- 
1854). 

Partly produced by the influences of the 
Sturrn-und-Drang period, and partly trained 
in the laws of art laid down and worked out 
by Goethe and Schiller, the so-called ro~ 
mantic school, distinguished by its enthusi¬ 
asm for mediaeval subjects and its love of 

what is mvsterious and transcendental in 

«/ 

life or thought, gradually succeeded in 
gaining public attention about this epoch. 
Amongst the principal writers of this school 
are Von Hardenberg, better known as No- 
valis (1772-1801), a pensde-writer of deep 
poetic insight; Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853), 
a writer of tales, dramas, and dramatic 
criticisms; La Motte Fouque, ClemensBren- 
tano, Hoff man,Musaeus, Werner, Von Kleist, 
&c. The two Schlegels (August Wilhelm, 
1767-1845, whose translation of Shakspere 
is still celebrated, a.nd Friedrich, 1772-1829, 

108 









GERMANY-GERMINATION. 


best known by his philosophy of history) 
also belong to this school. 

The war of liberation against Napoleon I. 
introduced a strong manly enthusiasm for 
a time into the hitherto gloomy and me¬ 
lancholy productions of the romanticists. 
Amongst the patriotic poets of the time 
Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769-1860) and Theo¬ 
dor Korner (1791-1813) hold the first place. 

' The ballads and metrical romances of Lud¬ 
wig Uhlaud (1787-1872) have brought him 
a world-wide fame. Friedrich Riickert 
(1789-1866) also may be noticed as a lyric 
poet of merit. During the excitement pro¬ 
duced by the July Revolution in France 
(1830) a school of writers arose in whose 
works the social and political ideas of the 
time were strongly reflected. The most 
prominent names amongst this party are 
Ludwig Borne (1786-1837) and Pleinrich 
Heine (1799-1856), whose writings combine 
the keenest satire and the finest pathos. 
Amongst the better known members of the 
school is Karl Gutzkow (1811-1878), a 
popular dramatist and novelist. As in 
England and France of late, the novel, 
especially the novel of a social or political 
character, has taken a prominent place in 
literature. Most distinguished are Gustav 
Freytag, Fr. Spielhagen, Paul Heyse, Berth- 
old Auerbach, Fanny Lewald, Hackliinder, 
Reuter, &c. Of late, however, science and 
learning rather than literature and the arts 
have produced the names of most eminence. 
Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) gave 
a great impulse to almost all branches of 
knowledge by his Cosmos, his Travels, and 
his Views of Nature, and by the general 
suggestiveness of his labours. In history, 
Niebuhr and Theod. Mommsen, the his¬ 
torians of Rome; Leopold Ranke, the his¬ 
torian of the Popes; Dahlmann, Gervinus, 
Sybel (French Revolution), Giesebrecht, 
Julian Schmidt, H. Kurz, and others may 
be mentioned. Biography has been well 
represented by Varnhagen von Ense, Pertz, 
David F. Strauss, and others. German 
modern theology and Biblical criticism has 
had lately much influence in the religious 
world. Baur, Bleek, and Ewald are among 
the widely-known names. Histories of art 
have been written by Kugler, Burckhardt, 
Liibke, and others. The brothers Grimm— 
Jakob (1785-1863), Wilhelm (1786-1859), 
were the founders of a new branch of philo¬ 
logical and poetic investigation in ancient 
German literature. Eminent names in general 
philological science are those of Bopp, Pott, 


Schleicher, Steinthal, and Friedrich Muller. 
In natural sciences, Oken, Burmeister, Cams, 
Cotta, Liebig, Helmholtz, Virchow, Scblei- 
den, Grisebach, Vogt, Bessel, Brehm, 
Hackel, Bastian, &c., are the eminent names; 
in philosophy, Schopenhauer, Feuerbach, 
Rosenkranz, Kuno Fischer, von Hartmann, 
Lotze, &c. Amongst recent poets Anas- 
tasius Griin (pen-name of Count von Auer- 
sperg) and Nikolas Lenau amongst Aus¬ 
trian, and Meissner and Hartmann, natives 
of Bohemia, have a considerable reputation. 
Hervegh, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Freil- 
igrath, and Franz Dingelstedt infuse strong 
political sentiments into their poetry. Em¬ 
manuel Geibel, Von Scheffel, Bodenstedt, 
and others represent a poetry more com¬ 
prehensive in its aims and tendencies. 

Germersheim(ger'-merz-him), a town and 
fortress in the Bavarian Palatinate on the 
Rhine, 8 miles s.w. of Speier. Pop. 6132. 

Germinal (Fr. zhar-me-nal), the seventh 
month of the first French republican calen¬ 
dar, March 21—April 19. 

Germinal Vesicle, (a) in animal physiol, 
the nucleus of the ovum or egg of animals. 
It contains within it a nucleolus called also 
the germinal spot. The germinal vesicle 
undergoes important changes in the early 
stages of the development of the egg into 
the embryo, {b) In bot. a cell contained 
in the embryo sac, from which the embryo 
is developed. 

Germination, the first act of growth by 
an embryo plant. The immediate causes of 



Seeds germinating. (In centre a plant which has 
newly appeared above grround.) 

germination are the presence of moisture and 
atmospheric air and a certain elevation of 
temperature. Moisture softens the integu¬ 
ments of the seed and relaxes the tissue of 
the embryo; atmospheric air supplies oxygen 
and nitrogen; and a temperature which 
must be at least as high as 32“ Fahr,, by 
178 





GERM THEORY OF DISEASE. 


exciting the vitality of the embryo, enables 
it to take advantage of the agents with which 
it is in contact. During germination various 
changes take place in the chemical con¬ 
stituents of the seed, and are usually accom¬ 
panied with increase of temperature, as is 
seen in the process of malting. Along with 
these other changes commonly take place; 
a root is produced, which sti'ikes perpendicu¬ 
larly downwards and, fixing itself in the 
soil, begins to absorb food; a growth up¬ 
wards then commences and ends in the pro¬ 
trusion of a stem and leaves. 

Germ Theory of Disease, the theory 
that certain diseases are communicated 
from an infected person to an uninfected 
one by living organisms which gain access 
to the body of the afflicted person by the 
air or food, or drink, and which, growing and 
multiplying in the body they invade, produce 
the changes characteristic of the particular 
disease. The period during whicdi the living 
particles of contagious matter retain their 
vitality, like the rate of their growth and 
multiplication, varies in different cases, but 
it is limited in all. Few, if any, resist the 
destructive influence of a temperature of 
300° Fahr., while most succumb at the tem¬ 
perature of 200° or even less, particularly 
if exposed for some time. Animal poisons 
generally are destroyed by boiling, and 
clothes, sheets, &c., infected, may be ren¬ 
dered pure by being exposed to a tempera¬ 
ture of 300° Fahr. These living organisms 
are grouped together as microbes or micro¬ 
organisms, and are divided into different 
classes. The micrococcus is a round form 
about the 32,000th of an inch in size, and 
multiplies by fission. The bacterium is rod- 
shaped, about the 10,000th of an inch long, 
with rounded ends; it also multiplies by 
fission. The bacillus is a third form also 
rod-shaped, and somewhat larger than the 
bacterium. They often form long chains or 
threads, and increase by division and by 
spore formation. Vibrio and spirillum are 
somewhat similar forms; and, like the others, 
increase with a rapidity beyond concep¬ 
tion. The connection between these micro¬ 
organisms and the various forms of zymotic 
disease has been thoroughly established. 
The only method of investigation that 
yields reliable results, is to se[)arate the 
organism supposed to be the cause of the 
disease, and cultivate it outside of the body. 
Thus a drop of blood from a person suffer¬ 
ing from a special disease, which contains 
the bacteria, or bacilli, &c., believed to be 

179 


the producers of the disease, is placed in a 
flask containing a nourishing material, care 
having been taken to destroy all other 
organisms in the flask. The special microbe 
flourishes there, let us suppose. It is then 
cultivated in one flask after another through 
successive generations, only a single minute 
drop of the material in one flask being used 
to inoculate a succeeding one. In this way 
a pure cultivation is obtained, a cultivation, 
that is, containing the particular microbe 
and none other. If this is the true cause 
of the disease, then a drop of the solution 
containing it introduced into the body of an 
animal, capable of the disease, ought to pro¬ 
duce it, and the particular organism intro¬ 
duced should be found multiplying in the 
blood and tissues of the infected animal. 
Such a demonstration has been given of the 
cause of a few diseases. Dr. Koch, of Ber¬ 
lin, published in 1876 a paper giving a full 
account of the life history of the bacillus 
organism which had been observed in ani¬ 
mals dead of splenic fever; and in 1877 the 
great French chemist, Pasteur, proceeded 
to investigate the subject, and his investi¬ 
gations conclusively su])port the germ theory 
of disease. In 1882 Dr. Koch, of Berlin, 
announced the discovery of a micro-organism 
in tuberculosis, a disease believed to be the 
chief, if not the only, cause of consumption 
of the lungs. These microbes are fov;nd not 
only in the lungs of persons who have died 
of tubercle, but also in the spit of tuber¬ 
cular and consumptive patients, and mul- 
tij)ly also by spores. Thus it is that the 
spit of a consumptive patient, even after it 
has dried up, may be capable of imparting 
the disease, owing to spores being scattered 
in the air. After the epidemic of cholera 
in Egypt in 1883, which spread to France 
and Italy, investigations were undertaken 
by French, German, and British commis¬ 
sioners. Dr. Koch detected a peculiar ba¬ 
cillus, shaped like a comma (,), in the intes¬ 
tines of persons who had died of cholera, in 
the discharges from cholera patients, &c. 
He believed that this bacillus was the active 
agent in the production of. the disease; but 
other authorities were unable to accept Dr- 
Koch’s view that the comma-bacillus was 
the cause of the disorder. All investigation, 
however, seems to point to the fact that 
every infectious or contagious disease is due 
to some form of micro-organism, and that 
there is one particular organism for each 
particular disease. Each organism produces 
its own disease and none other; and the 







GEROME-GERSON. 


special disease cannot arise unless its germ 
has gained entrance to the body. The 
channels through which these germs obtain 
entrance are innumerable, but they have 
one origin and one only, and that is a 
preceding case of disease. The ‘ germ 
theory’ affords the hope and suggestion of 
a method of diminishing, if not of getting 
rid of, such diseases altogether, and to some 
extent also indicates the direction in which 
their cure is to be sought. If the particular 
microbe of each contagious disease were 
known, the condition of its life and activity 
understood, there is great probability that 
its multiplication in the living body could 
be arrested, and the disease thus cured. 
Even without such knowledge, however, the 
germ theory indicates that the means for 
arresting the spread of contagious diseases 
and diminishing their occurrence consist in 
preventing the spread of the germs from 
an existing case of disease. See Disinfec¬ 
tant. 

Gerome (zha-rom), Jean Leon, a French 
painter, born in 1824 at Vesoul. He came 



Jean L6on Gerome. 


to Paris and studied under Paul Delaroche. 
In 1853 he travelled in the East. In 1855 
the first of his great pictures. The Age of 
Augustus and the Birth of Christ, appeared, 
and four years later his picture of the Roman 
gladiators, Ave Caesar Morituri te salutant. 
In 1861 he exhibited his celebrated Phryne 
before her Judges. In 1863 he was ap¬ 
pointed a professor at the Nicole des Beaux- 
Arts. Many of his pictures have been ex¬ 
hibited in London, and his works are in 
great favour in England and the U. States 
as well as in his native country. Besides 
those already mentioned the following are 
amongst the chief works of Gerome: Louis 


XIV. and Molihre, Death of Caesar, The 
Plague at Marseilles, Rex Tibicen, L’Emin- 
ence Grise, and various scenes from Oriental 
life. M. Gerome has been decorated with 
the Prussian order of the Red Eagle and 
made a commander of the legion of honour. 

Gerona (Aa-ro'na), a fortified town of 
N. E. Spain,capital of the province of Gerona, 
in Catalonia, at the confluence of the Ona 
and the Ter, 52 miles north-east of Barce¬ 
lona. It consists of an old and a new town, 
the former on the slope of a hill, Avith anti¬ 
quated houses and a stately cathedral. There 
is spinning and weaving; also paper fac¬ 
tories. Gerona was once the residence of the 
kings of Arragon, and as a place of strategic 
importance has sustained many memorable 
sieges. Pop. 14,009.—The province, area 
2270 square miles, abuts on the Mediter¬ 
ranean, is mountainous and mostly rugged, 
but with many fertile valleys, which produce 
olives, wine, wheat, rye, &c., and all kinds 
of fruits and vegetables. Pop. 309,008. 

Geropigia, Jerupigia (je-ro-pi'ji-a, je-ru- 
pi'ji-a), a mixture composed of unfermented 
grape-juice, Avith sufficient brandy and sugar 
to prevent it from fermentation, and colour¬ 
ing matter from rhatany root or log-wood, 
imported from Portugal, to give spurious 
strength and colour to port Avines. 

Gers (zhar), a department in the s.w. of 
France, separated from the Bay of Biscay 
by the department of Landes; area, 2425 
square miles. The southern piart is covered 
with ramifications of the Pyrenees separated 
by valleys, each of Avhich is Avatered by its 
oAvn stream. The chief of these are the 
Gers, Losse, Save, &c. More than half the 
land is under the plough, and about a 
seventh in vineyards. Much of the wine 
is made into Armagnac brandy. Auch is the 
capital. Pop. 1891, 261,084. 

Gerson (zhar-son), Jean de, properly 
Jean Charlier, a celebrated French theo¬ 
logian, born at Gerson in 1363. He studied 
at the University of Paris, received the * 
doctorate in 1392, and in 1395 became 
Chancellor of the University. He Avas 
ardent and courageous in advocating im- 
provements and reforms, but mostly only 
succeeded in making for himself powerful 
enemies. He is mainly remembered in con¬ 
nection with his efforts to bring about a 
cessation of the great scliism which had 
divided the church since 1378. His proposal 
Avas to depose both the rival popes and elect 
a third in their room—a step which was 
actually taken by the council held at Pisa 

180 



GERSTACKER 

in 1409, of which Gerson was a member as 
deputy of the University of Pai'is. This 
proceeding, however, was a failure, the only 
result being that there were three rival 
popes instead of two. When the Council of 
Constance (1414-18), in which also Gerson 
took a leading part, likewise proved unable 
to settle the differences existing in the 
church, he at last gave up the struggle in 
despair, and not daring to return to France, 
where his enemies had then the upper baud, 
sought shelter for a time in Bavaria and 
• Austria. In 1419 he returned to his native 
country, and spent the last ten years of his 
life with his brother, the prior of a com¬ 
munity of Celestine monks at Lyons, living 
an ascetic life, and devoting himself to re¬ 
ligious meditation and the composition of 
theological and other treatises. The author¬ 
ship of the Imitation of Christ, by Thomas- 
a-Kempis, was at one time erroneously 
ascribed to him. 

Gerstacker (ger'-stek'er), Friedrich, a 
German traveller and novelist, born at 
Hamburg 1816, died in 1872. In 1837 he 
went to America, where he earned a living 
by the most various employments—as a 
sailor, stoker, innkeeper, woodcutter, and 
trapper and hunter in the prairies of the 
west. He returned to Germany in 1843, 
and began his literary life by the publication 
of his expei’iences in America, Streif-und 
Jagdzuge durch die Vereinigten Staaten 
Nordamerikas (Dresden, 1844). This was 
followed by Die Regulatoren in Arkansas; 
Die Flusspiraten des Mississippi; Missis- 
sippibilder, &c. In 1849 Gerstacker was 
engaged on behalf of the German govern¬ 
ment to collect information which might be 
useful to German emigrants. The results 
were published under the title of Reisen in 
1853. He afterwards made voyages to 
South America, to Egypt, West Indies, and 
other places, which are described in bis 
Neue Reisen (1868). Amongst his many 
romances (most of which may be had in 
English) are Die beiden Straflinge (1856), 
Im Busch (1864), General Franco (1865), 
Californische Skizzen (1856), and others. 

Gerund, the name given originally to a 
part of the Latin verb which possesses the 
same power of government as a verb, but 
also resembles a noun in being governed by 
prepositions. In early English or Anglo- 
Saxon a dative form of the infinitive is used 
to indicate purpose, and is often called the 
gerund. In modern English what seems to 
be a present participle governed by a pre- 

181 


— GERVINUS. 

position is sometimes denominated a gerund, 
in such phrases, for example, as ‘fit for 
teaching ; ’ but this is merely a verbal noun 
representing the old Anglo-Saxon noun in 
•ung. 

Gervaise, or Gervase, a monk of Canter¬ 
bury, born in 1150. Amongst his writings 
is an important chronicle. Chronica de tem¬ 
pore regum Angliae, Stephani, Henrici 11. 
et Ricardi I. It is reprinted in Twysden’s 
collection. Gervaise died probably-about 
1200. 

Gervaise (or Gervase) of Tilbury, a chron¬ 
icler of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, 
born at Tilbury in Essex about the middle 
of the twelfth century. Having completed 
his studies in England, he visited the courts 
of Italy and of Germany, was a{)pointed by 
Otto IV. Marshal of the Kingdom of Arles. 
He died, according to some, in 1218. His 
chief works are Otia Imperialia (containing 
a history of the kings of France and Ensc- 
land); Illustrationes Galfridi Monemuth- 
ensis (Illustrations of Geoffrey of Mon¬ 
mouth) ; Historia Terrae Sanctae (History of 
the Holy Land); De Origine Burgundiorum 
(On the Origin of the Burgundians). Most 
of his writings still remain in manuscript in 
the Cottonian collection and the Corpus 
Christi library, Cambridge. 

Gervas, a small shrub, the Stachytarpheta 
jamaicensis, nat. order Verbenaceae, a native 
of the West Indies and warm parts of 
America, the leaves of which are sold in 
Austria under the name of Brazilian tea, 
and used in Britain to adulterate tea. 

Gervi'nus, Georg Gottfried, a German 
critic and historian, born at Darmstadt May 
20, 1805. He quitted commerce in 1825 to 
study at Heidelberg, was for some time a 
teacher, and qualified as a privat-docent. 
After a visit to Italy he published his 
Geschichte der Poetischen Nationalliteratur 
der Deutschen (History of the Poetic Na¬ 
tional Literature of the Germans, 1835-42). 
In 1835 he was appointed extraordinary 
professor at Heidelberg, and the following 
year ordinary professor of history and litera¬ 
ture at Gottingen; but in 1837, being one of 
the seven professors who protested against 
King Ernst August’s breach of the constitu¬ 
tion, he was banished from Hanover. After 
another visit to Italy he returned to Heidel¬ 
berg, where in 1844 he was appointed an 
honorary professor. He now began to take 
an active part in politics on the liberal 
side; became editor of the newly-founded 
Deutsche Zeitung, and was returned to the 












GESENIUS-GETHSEMANE. 


federal diet by the Hanse towns. Discon¬ 
tented with the tendency of affairs after 
1848, he gave up politics and resumed his 
old studies. In 1849 he published the first 
part of his great work on Shakspere, in 
1853 his History of German Poetry, and in 
1855 the first volume of his History of the 
Nineteenth Century,^ wliich, however, was 
never carried farther than the French re¬ 
volution of 1830. Amongst his last writings 
was a critical essay on Handel and Shak¬ 
spere. He died in 1871. 

Gese'nius, Friedrich Heinrich Wil¬ 
helm, a German orientalist and Biblical 
critic, born in 1786, studied at Gottingen, 
and became professor of theology at Halle. 
In 1810-12 his Hebrew and Chaldee Dic¬ 
tionary of the Old Testament appeared. In 
1820 he visited Paris and Oxford for the 
purpose of collecting materials regarding the 
Semitic languages. In 1829 he published 
his large Thesaurus philologico-criticus Lin¬ 
guae Hebraicae et Chaldaicae, completed in 
1858 by Rodiger. Besides the works men¬ 
tioned, Gesenius wrote a Hebrew Grammar, 
a history of the Hebrew language, and notes 
to the German translation of Burckhardt’s 
Travels in Syria and Palestine. He died in 
1842. 

Gesner (ges'ner), Konrad von, German 
scholar, born at Zurich in 1516, studied at 
Strasburg, Bourges, and Paris, and became 
schoolmaster in his native town. Hoping 
to raise himself from his needy condition he 
went to Basel, and devoted himself particu¬ 
larly to the study of medicine. Afterwards 
he became successively professor of Greek 
at Lausanne, and of philosophy at Zurich. 
He did important work in the departments 
of history, zoology, and botany. His Biblio¬ 
theca Universalis is a descriptive catalogue 
of all writers extant in Greek, Latin, and 
Hebrew. His Historia Animalium must be 
regarded as the foundation of zoology; and 
in botany he was the inventor of the method 
of classifying the vegetable kingdom accord¬ 
ing to the characters of the seeds and flowers. 
He died of the plague at Zurich, 1565. 

Gesnera'cese, an order of monopetalous 
exogens, typical genus Gesnera. There are 
many species, mostly natives of tropical and 
sub-tropical regions. They are shrubby 
herbs, often with tuberous rhizomes, and 
scarlet, violet, or blue flowers. Some of the 
genera are frequent in our hothouses, such 
as Gloxinia, Achimenes, Gesnera, &c. 

Gessler. See Tell. 

Gessner (ges'ner), Salomon, a German poet 


and artist, was born at Zurich in 1730, died 
there 1788. In 1749he was sent by his father 
to learn the business of bookselling at Berlin, 
but haviiifr taken a dislike to the business he 
maintained himself by executing landscapes. 
On his return to Zurich he published Daph- 
nis, a small volume of idylls, and Tod Abels 
(The Death of Abel), a kind of pastoral 
idyll in prose. These idylls acquired for him 
a great reputation amongst contemporaries. 
For some years afterwards he devoted him¬ 
self to the engraving art, in which he also 
became very eminent. He died in 1787. 

Gesta Romano'rum (‘Deeds of the Ro¬ 
mans’), the usual title of a collection of short 
tales, legends, &c., in Latin, very popular 
during the middle ages. The book was 
probably written about the close of the 13th 
century by a certain monk Elinandus, an 
Englishman or a German. The separate 
tales making up the Gesta are of very vari¬ 
ous contents, and belong to different times 

and countries, the sources from which thev 

' */ 

are derived being partly classical, partly 
oriental, and partly western. Whatever 
may have been the intention of the original 
compiler, they very soon were adapted to 
the moralizing tendencies of the time, and 
moral reflections and allegorical interpreta¬ 
tions were added to them, it is said, by a 
Petrus Bercorius or Pierre Bercaire of Poi¬ 
tou, a Benedictine prior. After the Refor¬ 
mation the book fell into oblivion. 

Gestation (Latin, gestare, to bear), in 
physiology, the name given to the interval 
which elapses between the impregnation of 
any of the mammalia and the period of 
birth. This period varies from 25 days, 
in the case of the mouse, to 620, in that of 
the elephant. 

Geste, Chansons de. See France — 
Literature. 

Getse, an ancient people of Europe, 
dwelling at first in Thrace; afterwards a 
part of them moved west on the north bank 
of the Danube, where they were known to 
the Romans as the Daci. (See Dacia.) 
Another portion moved east into Asia. 

Gethsemane (geth-sem'a-ne; ‘oil-press’), 
an olive garden or orchard in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Jerusalem, memorable as the scene 
of the last sufferings of our Lord. The tra¬ 
ditionary site of this garden places it on the 
east side of the city, a very little beyond the 
Kedron, near the base of Mt. Olivet. It 
contains some very old olive-trees, piously 
regarded as having stood there in the time 
of our Lord. 


182 



GHATS. 


GETTYSBURG 


Gettysburg, the seat of Adams County, 
Pennsylvania. Here are the Pennsylvanian 
College (Lutheran), founded in 1832; the 
national cemetery for Union soldiers, and a 
national homestead for the orphans of Union 
soldiers. At Gettysburg a battle was fought 
(July 1, 2, and 3, 1863) between the Union 
forces under General Meade and the Con¬ 
federate forces under General Lee, in which 
the latter suffered defeat. Pop. 3180. 

Geum (je'um), a genus of hardy herbaceous 
perennials, belonging to the nat. order Rosa- 
cese, chiefly natives of the northern parts of 
the world. Two of them are common British 
plants known by the name of avens. G. 
canadcnse, chocolate-root, or blood-root, a 
North American species, has some reputa¬ 
tion as a tonic. A species of saxifrage is 
also called Geum. 

Geysers, a slight alteration of the Ice¬ 
landic name gey sir, from geysa, to gush or 
rush forth, and applied to natural springs of 
hot water of the kind that were first observed 
in Iceland. The geysers of Iceland, about 
a hundred in number, lie about 30 miles 
N.w. of Mount Hecla, in a plain covered by 
hot-springs and steaming apertures. The 
two most remarkable are the Great Geyser 
and the New Geyser or Strokkur (churn), 
the former of which throws up at times a 
column of hot water to the height of from 
80 to 200 feet. The basin of the Great 
Geyser is about 70 feet across at its greatest 
diameter. The New Geyser, which is only 100 
yards distant, is much inferior in size. The 
springs are supposed to be connected with 
Mount Hecla, and the phenomenon of erup¬ 
tion has been explained by Tyndall as due 
to the heating of the walls of a fissure, 
whereby the water is slowly raised to the 
boiling point under pressure, and explodes 
into steam, an interval being required for 
the process to be repeated. The geysers of 
Iceland, however, have been surpassed by 
those discovered in the Rocky Mountains 
in the Yellowstone Region of Wyoming 
Teri’itory, the largest of which throw up jets 
of water from 9U to 250 feet high. (See 
Yellowstone.) The hot-lake district of Auck¬ 
land, New Zealand, is also famous in possess¬ 
ing some of the most remarkable geyser 
scenery in the world. These phenomena 
are of three kinds: the puias (fire-springs), 
geysers continually or intermittently active; 
mgawhas or inactive puias, which emit 
steam, but do not throw up columns of 
water; and waiariki or hot-water cisterns. 
This region was remarkable for the number 

183 


of natural terraces containing hot-water 
pools or cisterns, and its lakes all filled at 
intervals by the boiling geysers and thermal 
springs, but the configuration of the country 
was considerably altered by the disastrous 
volcanic outbreak of 1886. Ngahapu or 
Ohopia, a circular rocky basin, 40 feet in 
diameter, in which a violent geyser is con¬ 
stantly boiling up to the height of 10 or 
12 feet, emitting dense clouds of steam, 
is one of the natural wonders of the southern 
hemisphere. 

Ghadames (gha-da'mes), a town of North 
Africa, in the south-west of Tripoli. It is 
about 310 miles s.w. of the town of Tripoli,'* 
is situated in the midst of an oasis, and is 
the centre of caravan routes to Tunis, Tripoli, 
&c. Figs, dates, barley, wheat, &c., are 
grown in the gardens, which are watered by 
a hot-spring. Pop. about 7000. 

Ghagra, or Ghogra. See Gogra. 

Ghara, or Garra, a river in the Punjab, 
being the name b}’^ which the united streams 
of the Bias and Sutlej are known, from 
their confluence at Endrisa to the junction 
with the Chenab, after which the united 
waters flow under the name of the Punjnad 
to the Indus. The Ghara is about 300 miles 
long. 

Ghats (gats), or Ghauts, a Hindu term 
employed to designate landing-stairs on a 



Bathing GhS-ts on the River Jumna at Muttra. 

river, especially w’hen large and substantially 
constructed. These ghats are very numerous 
on the Ganges, and are great places of resort 
by the people of the towns where they are 
situated. Some of them are noteworthy 
from an architectural point of view, having 
temples, bathing-houses, &c., at the top« 














































GHATS - 

Ghats, or Ghauts, Eastern and W estern, 
two ranges of mountains in the peninsular 
portion of Hindustan, the former running 
down the east side of India, but leaving 
broad tracts between their base and the coast; 
the latter running down the west side, but 
leaving only a narrow strip between them 
and the shore. Both meet near Cape Co¬ 
morin. The general elevation of the West¬ 
ern Ghats varies from 4000 to 7000 feet. Its 
best known portion is the Neilgherries, with 
Dodabetta Peak, their highest point 8760 
feet above the sea. The Western Ghats 
form a watershed, and the rain collected on 
its eastern slopes makes its way right across 
India to the Bay of Bengal. They are 
covered with fine forests, and have most 
picturesque scenery. The Eastern Ghats 
are of considerably less elevation, on the 
average about 1500 feet, and have none of 
the.beauty of the western range. They 
are, however, rich in metals. 

Ghazipur, a town in Hindustan, head¬ 
quarters of the Ghazipur District, North¬ 
western Provinces, about 44 miles north-east 
of the town of Benares. It stretches along 
the banks of the Ganges; has a trade in 
sugar, tobacco, rose-water, and otto of roses; 
and is a healthy place. The ruins of the 
Palace of the Forty Pillars, and a monu¬ 
ment to Lord Cornwallis, who died here in 
1805, are here. Pop. 32,885. The district, 
one of the hottest and dampest in the N.W., 
has an area of 1473 sq. miles, and a popu¬ 
lation of 1,014,099 persons. 

Ghazna, Ghuznee, or Ghizni, an ancient 
and celebrated city and fortress in Afghan¬ 
istan, 84 miles s.s.w. Cabul, on an eminence 
7726 feet above sea-level. The wall em¬ 
braces the whole of the hill; the houses are 
of mud; the streets, dark, narrow, and 
irregular. The country round Ghazna is 
very productive in grain, fruits, tobacco, &c. 
Three miles north-east are the ruins of the 
ancient city, which, under the celebrated 
Sultan Mahmud (999-1030) (see Ghazna- 
vides), was the capital of a great empire. It 
has been twice taken by British forces (1839 
and 1842). 

Ghaznavides (-vidz), a dynasty founded in 
961 by Alepteghin, originally a slave belong¬ 
ing to the Ameer of Bokhara. Ghazna was 
the seat of his power, and became, under his 
successors, the capital of an empire which 
reached from the Tigris to the Ganges, and 
from the Sihon to the Indian Ocean. The 
most brilliant period of the dynasty was 
that of Sultan Mahmud (999-1030). It 


- GHENT. 

became extinct towards the end of the 12th 
century after having lost most of its posses¬ 
sions. 

Ghebers (ge'berz). See Guehers. 

Ghee (ge), or Ghi, a peculiar kind of but¬ 
ter in use among the Hindus. It is made 
from the milk of the buffalo or the cow. The 
milk is boiled for an hour or so, and cooled, 
after which a little curdled milk is added. 
Next morning the curdled mass is churned 
for half an hour; some hot water is then 
added, and the churning continued for 
another half-hour, when the butter forms. 
When, after a few days, it becomes rancid, 
it is boiled till all the water is expelled, and 
a little more curdled milk added with some 
salt or betel-leaves, after which it is put 
into pots. In this state it will keep for a 
long time. It is too strong for European 
taste, but is a favourite article of consump¬ 
tion amongst rich Hindus. 

Gheel (gal), a village and commune in Bel¬ 
gium, 26 miles e.s.e. of the town of Antwerp 
and in the province of that name. It is situ¬ 
ated in a fertile spot in the midst of a sandy 
waste, and is inhabited by a class of peasant 
farmers. It has manufactures of cloth, hats, 
wax and tallow candles, &c.; tanneries, dye- 
works, ropeworks, &c., and a considerable 
trade in butter. The commune has been 
long remarkable for containing a colony of 
deranged persons, numbering at present 
about 1600, who are lodged and boarded in 
the houses of the country people, who make 
use of their services, when available, in field 
and other labour. Little or no restraint is 
employed, and the best effects thence ensue. 
Lately a hospital has been erected, with a 
medical staff, for the supervision of the rela¬ 
tions between the insane and their custo¬ 
diers. Patients are sent hither from all 
parts of Belgium. Pop. 10,916. 

Ghent (gent; French, Gand; Flemish, 
or Gent), a town in Belgium, capital of the 
province of East Flanders, in a fertile plain 
at the confluence of the Lys with the Scheldt. 
It is upwards of 6 miles in circumference, 
and is divided by canals into a number of 
islands connected with each other by bridges. 
Except in some of the older parts it is well 
built, and has a number of fine promenades 
and many notable buildings. Amongst the 
latter are the cathedral of St. Bavon, a vast 
and richly-decorated structure, dating from 
the 13th century; the church of St. Nicholas, 
the oldest in Ghent; the church of St. 
Michael, with a celebrated Crucifixion by 
Vandyk; the university, a handsome modern 

184 



GHERARDESCA-GHIKA. 


structure, with a library of about 100,000 
volumes and 700 MSS.; the Hotel-de-Ville; 
the Belfry, a lofty square tower surmounted 
by a gilded di’agon, and containing a fine 
set of chimes consisting of forty-four bells, 
one of which is the famous ‘ Roland of 
Ghent’; the new Palais-de-Justice ; the 
Marche du Vendredi, an extensive square, 
interesting as the scene of many important 
historical events; and Les B«^guinages, ex¬ 
tensive nunneries founded in the 13th cen¬ 
tury, the principal occupation of whose 
members is lace-making. Ghent has long 
been celebrated as a manufacturing town, 
^especially for its cotton and linen goods and 
lace. Other industries of importance are 
sugar-refining, hosiery, thread, ribbons, in¬ 
struments in steel, carriages, paper, hats, 
delft-ware, tobacco, &c. There are also 
machine - works, engine - factories, roperies, 
tanneries, breweries, and distilleries. The 
trade is very impoi'tant. A canal, 16 feet 
deep and 11 yards wide, connects it with 
the Scheldt at Terneuzen, but is less used 
than it might be on account of the heavy im¬ 
posts levied by Holland on vessels passing 
through. Another canal connects the Lys 
with the canal from Bruges to Ostend. A 
new dock, capable of holding 400 vessels, was 
opened in 1881. Pop. 1891, 153,740. It is 
mentioned as a town in the 7th century. 
In the 9th century Baldwin, the first count 
of Flanders, built a fortress here against 
the Normans. Under the counts of Flan¬ 
ders Ghent continued to increase, and in the 
14th century could send 50,000 men into 
the field. The wealth and liberty of its 
citizens disposed them to a bold maintenance 
of their privileges against the encroachments 
of feudal lords like the Dukes of Burgundy 
and the kings of Spain. Two great revolts 
took place under the leadership of the Van 
Arteveldes (1338 and 1369) against Bur¬ 
gundy, and again in the 16th century against 
Charles V. But by this time the great 
municipalities of the middle ages were de¬ 
caying in power and vigour, and the citizens 
of Ghent, besides losing their privileges, had 
to pay for the erection of a citadel intended 
to keep them in bondage. In 1792 the 
Netherlands fell under the power of France, 
and Ghent became the capital of the depart¬ 
ment of Escaut (Scheldt). In 1814 it be¬ 
came, along with Flanders, part of the Ne¬ 
therlands, till the separation of Belgium 
and Holland. See Belgium. 

Gherardesca (ga-rar-des'ka), a family of 
Tuscan origin which plays an important part 

185 


in the history of the Italian republics of the 
middle ages. Historically the most pro¬ 
minent member of the family is Ugolino, 
whose death, and that of his two sons and 
grandsons, by starvation in the ‘Tower of 
Hunger,’ is described in one of the celebrated 
yjassages of Dante’s Divina Commedia. Ugo¬ 
lino had made himself master of Pisa, and 
had behaved in the most cruel and arbitrary 
manner for four years, when, in 1288, he 
was overthrown by a conspiracy. 

Ghetto (get'to), a name used in different 
towns of Italy, Germany, and other countries 
to indicate the quarter set apart for the resi¬ 
dence of Jews. 

Ghibellines (gib'el-linz), the name of a 
political party in Italy, which, in general, 
favoured the claims of the emperor against 
those of the pope. The name is said to be 
derived from Waiblingen, a small estate be¬ 
longing to the Hohenstaufen princes. See 
Quelfs and Ghibellines. 

Ghiberti (ge-ber'te), Lorenzo, Italian stat¬ 
uary, born about 1378 at Florence. He 
early learned from his stepfather Bartoluccio, 
an expert goldsmith, the arts of drawing and 
modelling, and that of casting metals. ' He 
was engaged in painting frescoes at Rimini, 
in the palace of Pandolfo Malatesta, when 
the priori of the society of merchants at 
Florence invited artists to propose models 
for one of the bronze doors of the baptistery 
of San Giovanni. The judges selected the 
works of Donatello and Ghiberti as the best 
(according to Vasari, also that of Brunel¬ 
leschi, who is not mentioned by Ghiberti 
himself as one of the competitors); but the 
former voluntarily withdrew his claims, 
giving the preference to Ghiberti. After 
twenty-one years’ labour Ghiberti completed 
the door, and, at the request of the priori, 
executed a second, after almost as long a 
period. Michael Angelo said of these, that 
they were worthy of adorning the entrance 
to paradise. During these forty years Ghi¬ 
berti also completed other works, bas-reliefs, 
statues, and some excellent paintings on 
glass, most of which may be seen in the 
cathedral and the church of Or San IMichele 
at Florence. He died about 1455. 

Ghika, Helena, Princess Koltzofp- 
Massalsky, better known by the pseudonym 
of Dora d’Istria, a writer of travels, histori¬ 
cal studies, and novels. She was the daughter 
of Prince Michael Ghika, and niece of Gre¬ 
gory Ghika X., hospodar of Wallachia, and 
was born at Bukarest in 1828. She was 
carefully educated, and acquired by frequent 



GHILAN 


GIANTS. 


travels an extensive knowledge of modern 
languages and literature. In 1849 she was 
married to Prince Koltzolf-Massalsky. Her 
first important work, La Vie Monastique 
dans I’Eglise Orientale, was published at 
Paris in 1855. La Suisse Allemande, Les 
Femmes en Orient, Des Femmes par une 
Femme, represent social and political studies 
on modern civilization. In An bord des Lacs 
Helv(itiques (1864) she collected a number 
of stories written for the Revue des Deux 
Mondes. Amongst her other works are 
Eli Albanesi in Rumenia; La Po^sie des 
Ottomans (1877). She died in 1888. 

Ghilan (gi-lan'), a province of Persia, on 
the south-west shore of the Caspian Sea; area, 
about 4250 square miles. The lofty range of 
the Elburz Mountains forms its southern 
boundary. The whole province, except where 
cleared for cultivation and on the mountain 
summits, is covered with woods, and the 
excessive rain and dense vegetation render 
much of the level country a morass. The 
climate is consequently unhealthy. The pro¬ 
vince is rich in metals and very fertile. The 
capital is Resht. Pop. about 150,000. 

Ghirlandaio (gir-lan-dii'yo), or Corradi 
Domenico, one of the older Florentine 
painters, born at Florence in 1450, died 1495. 
He was the son of a goldsmith known as 
II Ghirlandaio (the garland-maker), from 
his skill in making garlands. He was dis¬ 
tinguished by fertility of invention, a more 
natural rendering of life, and a more accu¬ 
rate perspective than his predecessors. 
Amongst his best works are the frescoes in 
the Sassetti Chapel of the Trinity Church 
and in the choir of Santa Maria Novella at 
Florence, and the pictures in the Uffizi and 
the academy at Florence. 

Ghizeh. See Gizeh. 

Ghiznevides. See Ghaznavides. 

Ghizni. See Ghazna. 

Ghoorkas. See GoorTcas. 

Ghost, Holy. See Holy Ghost. 

Ghost-moth, a nocturnal lepidopterous 
insect {Hepialus hiimuli), so called from the 
male being of a white colour, and from its 
habit of hovering with a pendulum-like 
motion in the twilight over one spot (often 
in churchyards), where the female, which 
has gray posterior wings and red-spotted 
anterior wings, is concealed. 

Ghur, or Giior, a mountainous district of 
Afghanistan, between H«-at and Candahar, 
peopled by Mongol tribes who are practi¬ 
cally independent. It was the original seat 
di the second Mohammedan dynasty in 


Hindustan, the princes of Ghur, who, in the 
11th and 12th centuries, included in their 
kingdom of Ghur, Afghanistan, Lahore, 
Sind, and Khorasan. 

Ghuznee. See Ghazna. 

Giallo antico (jal'o an-te'ko), the Italian 
name of a kind of fine yellow marble, used 
in ancient Roman architecture and obtained 
from Numidia. 

Gianibelli, or Giambelli (jan-i-belTe, 
jam-belTe), Federico, an Italian military 
engineer, born at Mantua about 1530. After ^ 
having offered his services to Philip II. of 
"Spain without much result, he went to Eng¬ 
land, where Elizabeth gave him a pension 
and sent him to help the Netherlanders in 
their defence of Antwerp against the Span¬ 
iards (1585). Here he made himself famous 
by the damage which his inventions did to 
the enemy. After this he returned to Eng¬ 
land, where he fortified the coast-line against 
the Spanish invasion, and suggested the use 
of fire-ships, which was so disastrous to the 
Armada. 

Giannone (jan-o'na), Pietro, Italian au¬ 
thor equally celebrated by his fate and by 
his writings, born in 1676. He studied law 
in Naples, and after winning a high place as 
an advocate retired to give himself up to 
the execution of his great work, the Civil 
History of the Kingdom of Naples (1723). 
The severitv with which Giannone treated 
the church, and the attacks which he made 
on the temporal power of the popes, drew 
upon him the persecutions of the court of 
Rome, and of the clergy in general. The 
offensive publication was burned, and the 
author excommunicated. Giannone there¬ 
fore quitted Naples, 1723, and took refuge 
in Vienna, where, for a time, he w'as pro¬ 
tected by the influence of powerful friends, 
but had ultimately to leave and betake him¬ 
self to Venice in 1734. Expelled from 
Venice by the suspicious republic, he finally 
took refuge in Geneva. Here he wrote his 
Triregno, a bitter attack on the papal pre¬ 
tensions. In 1736, having been enticed by 
a government emissary to enter the Sar¬ 
dinian States, he was seized and imprisoned 
in the citadel of Turin, where he died in 
1748. 

Giant Powder, a name in America for 
dynamite. 

Giants, people of extraordinary stature. 
History, both sacred and profane, makes 
mention of giants, and even of races of 
giants, but this in general occurs only at an 
early stage of civilization when the national 

186 



GIANTS - 

mind is apt to exaggerate anything unusual. 
Hence the Cyclopes and Liestrygones of the 
ancients and the Cornish and Welsh giants 
of English folk-lore. The first mention of 
giants in the Bible is in Gen. vi. 4; where 
the Hebrew word used is nephilim, a word 
which occurs in only one other passage, 
where it is applied to the sons of Anak, 
who dwelt about Hebron, and who were de¬ 
scribed by the terrified spies as of such size 
that compared with them they appeared in 
their own sight as grasshoppers. A race of 
giants called the Rephaim is frequently men¬ 
tioned in the Bible, and in Gen. xiv. and xv. 
appear as a distinct tribe, of whom Og, king 
of Bashan, is said to have been the last. 
Other races of giants are mentioned, such 
as the Emim, the Zuzim, and the Zamzum- 
mira. The giants of old Greek or of Norse 
mythology have, of course, merely a sym¬ 
bolic existence, representing benignant or 
adverse forces of nature on which man 
might count in his struggle to reduce the 
world around him into some kind of order. 
The tales of old writers regarding gigantic 
human skeletons have now no importance, 
it being mostly certain that these bones do 
not belong to giants, but to animals of the 
primitive woidd which, from ignorance of 
anatomy, were taken for human bones. The 
ordinary height of men is between 5 and 6 
feet; amongst the Patagonians of South 
America, however, the average seems to be 
considerably higher, though not so high as 
to entitle them to be considered a race of 
giants. Notable deviations from thismedium 
height are not at all uncommon, especially 
among the Teutonic peoples. The following 
are amongst authentic instances, ancient 
and modern, of persons who attained to the 
stature of giants: The Roman Emperor 
Maximin, a Thracian, nearly 9 feet high; 
Queen Elizabeth’s Flemish porter, 7 feet 
6 inches; C. Munster, a yeoman of the 
guard in Hanover, who died in 1676, 8 feet 
6 inches high; Cajanus, a Swedish giant, 
about 9 feet high, exhibited in London in 
1742; C. Byrne, who died in 1783, attained 
the height of 8 feet 4 inches; Patrick Cotter 
O’Brien, who lived about the same time, 
was 8 feet 71 inches; a Swede in the cele¬ 
brated grenadier guard of Frederick William 
I. of Prussia stood 8^ feet. In 1844 died 
Pauline Wedde (called Marian), over 8 feet 
2 inches at the age of eighteen. The fol¬ 
lowing are still or were quite recently ex¬ 
hibiting ; Anna Swan, a native of Nova 
Sootia, above 8 feet high; her husband, 

187 


- GIBBON. 

Captain Bates, a native of Kentucky, of the 
same height; Chang-wu-gon, the Chinese 
giant, 7 feet 9 inches high. As a rule giants 
are comparatively feeble in body and mind, 
and are short-lived. Gigantic stature is 
generally accompanied by a want of propor¬ 
tion in parts, some parts growing too quickly 
for others, or continuing to grow after the 
others have ceased. The relation between 
the upper and lower half of the body is not 
disturbed; but the skull, brain, and fore¬ 
head are relatively small, the jaws very 
large, the shoulders, breast, and haunches 
very broad, and the muscular system com¬ 
paratively weak. 

Giant’s Causeway, an extensive and ex¬ 
traordinary assemblage of polygonal basaltic 
columns on the north coast of Ireland, in 
the county of Anti’im, between Bengore 
Head and Port Rush. The name is some¬ 
times given to the whole range of basalt 
cliffs along the coast, some of which reach 
the height of 400 or 500 feet; but it is more 
properly restricted to a small portion of it 
whei'e a platform of closely-arranged basalt 
columns from 15 to 36 feet in height runs 
down into the sea in three divisions, known 
as the Little, the Middle, and the Grand 
Causeway. The last is from 20 to 30 feet 
wide, and stretches some 900 feet into the 
sea. The Giant’s Causeway derives its name 
from the legend that it was built by giants 
as a road which was to stretch across the 
sea to Scotland. There are similar forma¬ 
tions on the west coast of Scotland, on the 
island of Staff a. 

Giaour (jour), a Turkish word from Per¬ 
sian gawr, an infidel, used by the Turk* to 
designate the adherents of all religions ex¬ 
cept Mohammedan, more particularly Chris¬ 
tians. The use of it is so common that it is 
often applied without intending an insult. 

Giarre (ji-ar'ra), a Sicilian town near the 
coast, in the province of Catania. In the 
neighbourhood are what is left of the famous 
chestnut trees of yEtna. Pop. 7891. 

Gibbon, a name common to the apes of 
the genus Hglobdtes, but more particularly 
restricted to the species Hylobdtes lar, which 
inhabits the islands of the Indian Archi¬ 
pelago. It is distinguished from other 
quadrumanous animals by the slenderness 
of its form, but more particularly by the 
extraordinary length of its arms, which, 
when the animal is standing, reach nearly 
to the ankles, and which enables it to swing 
itself from tree to tree with wonderful agil¬ 
ity. Its colour is black, but its face is com- 



gibbon-GIBRALTAR. 


monly surrounded with a white or gray 
beard. 

Gibbon, Edward, an eminent English 
historian, was born at Putney in Surrey, 
April 27,1737. He was the son of a gentle¬ 
man of an ancient Kentish family. He en¬ 
tered Magdalen College, Oxford, where he re¬ 
mained fourteen months. Having declared 
himself a Roman Catholic, his father placed 
him under the care of M. Pavillard, a 
learned Calvinistic minister at Lausanne, 
by whom he was reconverted to the Pro¬ 
testant faith. His residence at Lausanne 
was highly favourable to his progress in 
knowledge and the formation of regular 
habits of study. The belles-lettres and the 
history of the human mind chiefly occupied 
his attention. In 1758 he returned to Eng¬ 
land, and immediately began to lay the 
foundation of a copious library; and soon 
after composed in the French language his 
Essai sur I’^ltude de la Littdrature (1761). 
In 1763 he visited Paris and Lausanne, and 
he journeyed in Italy during 1764. It was 
here that the idea of writing his great his¬ 
tory occurred to him as he sat musing among 
the ruins of the capitol at Rome, while the 
barefooted friars were singing vespers in the 
Temple of Jupiter. In 1770 he published 
a pamphlet entitled Critical Observations on 
the Sixth Book of the JEneid. In 1774 he 
obtained a seat in parliament for Liskeard, 
and was a silent supporter of the North ad¬ 
ministration and its American politics for 
eight years. In 1776 the first quarto volume 
of his Decline and Fall of the Roman Em¬ 
pire was published, and at once made a 
public reputation for its author. In 1778 
he drew up on behalf of the English govern¬ 
ment a M^moire JastiBcatif in answer to 
the manifesto of the French court, and for 
this service he was made one of the lords of 
trade. On the retirement of North he lost 
his appointment, and soon after withdrew to 
Lausanne (1783), where, in the course of 
four years, he completed the three remain¬ 
ing volumes of his history, which were pub¬ 
lished together in 1788. In 1793 he returned 
to England, where he died Jan. 16, 1794. 

Gibbon, James, Cardinal, Archbishop 
of Baltimore, one of the broadest and ablest 
of living cliurchmen, was born in Balti¬ 
more, July 23,1834. Ordained July, 1861. 
Consecrated Bishop and Vicar Apostolic of 
N. C., 1868; Bishop of Richmond, 1872; 
Archbishop of Baltimore, 1877; created 
Cardinal 1886. As an author he is best 
known by “ The Faith of our Fathers.” 


Gibbon, John, Gen., born in Pennsylva¬ 
nia, 1826. Distinguished for service dur¬ 
ing civil war. Promoted brigadier-general 
in 1886. Placed on retired list 1891. 

Gibbons, Orlando, English musical com¬ 
poser, born in 1583, died in 1625. At the 
age of twenty-one he was appointed organ¬ 
ist of the Chapel Royal, and in 1622 he 
received the degree of Doctor of Music from 
the University of Oxford. Thi'ee years later 
he died of small-pox at Canterbury, where 
he had gone to be present at the marriage 
of Charles I. with Henrietta of France. He 
was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, where 
his wife caused a magnificent tomb to be 
erected to him. He is the author of Mad¬ 
rigals and Anthems (Hosanna to the Son of 
David! Almighty and Everlasting God! 
&c.). 

Gibel (jib'el), a fish of the carp genus, 
Cyprinus gihclio^ generally known in Eng¬ 
land as the Prussian carp, and belonging to 
that section of the genus having no barbulea 
at the mouth. It is a good table fish, but 
seldom weighs more than | lb. It is said 
to be able to live so much as thirty hours 
out of water. 

Gibeon, one of the ancient royal cities of 
the Canaanites, a ‘great city’ of the Hivites, 
who at an early stage of Joshua’s conquests, 
by disguising themselves in old clothes and 
professing to come from a far country, ob¬ 
tained an alliance and covenant with the 
Israelites. When the stratagem was dis¬ 
covered, the Israelites resolved to observe 
the covenant, but condemned them to be 
‘ hewers of wood and drawers of water unto 
all the congregation’ (Jos. ix. 21). It was 
during the battle here between Joshua and 
the five kings of the Amorites that the sun 
‘stood still upon Gibeon, and the moon in 
the valley of Ajalon.’ Gibeon has been 
identified with the modern El-Jib. 

Gibraltar (jib-ral'tar), atownandstrongly- 
fortified rocky peninsula near the southern 
extremity of Spain, belonging to Great Bri¬ 
tain. It is connected with the mainland by 
a low sandy isthmus, 1^ mile long and f 
mile broad, known as the ‘ neutral ground,’ 
and has Gibraltar Bay on the west, the 
open sea on the east and south. The high¬ 
est point of the rock is about 1400 feet 
above sea-level; its north face is almost 
perpendicular, while its east side exhibits 
tremendous precipices. On its south side it 
is almost inaccessible, making approach from 
seaward impossible; the west side, again, 
although very rugged and precipitous, slopes 

188 



GIBRALTAR-GIDDINGS. 


towards the sea; and here the rock is secured 
by extensive and powerful batteries, render¬ 
ing it apparently impregnable. Vast sums 
of money and an immense amount of labour 
have been spent in fortifying this celebrated 
stronghold, which, as a coaling station, depot 
for war material, and a port of refuge in case 
of war, would form one of the most import¬ 
ant points of support for British naval opera¬ 
tions and British commerce eastwards. Nu¬ 
merous caverns and galleries, extending 2 
to 3 miles in length, and of sufficient width 
for carriages, have been cut in the solid 
rock, with port-holes at intervals of every 
12 yards bearing upon the neutral ground 
and the bay, and mounted with more than 
1000 guns, some of them of the largest size. 
The garrison numbers about 5000. The 
town of Gibraltar is situated on the west 
side of the peninsula, terminating in Europa 
Point, and thus fronts the bay. It consists 
chiefly of one spacious street about ^ mile 
in length, lined with shops, and paved and 
lighted. The principal buildings are the 
governor’s and lieutenant-governor’s houses, 
the admiralty, naval hospital, victualling 
office, and barracks, and a handsome theatre. 
Its water supply is derived from the rainfall. 
Gibraltar is a free port, and has a consider¬ 
able shipping trade, being an entrepot for the 
distribution of British manufactures. The 
chief export is wine. The administration is 
vested in the governor, who is also com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the troops. Every pre¬ 
caution is taken to prevent the immigration 
into the town of new residents. The civil 
population amounts to about 18,000.—Gib¬ 
raltar, known to the Greeks as Calpe, was 
first fortified as a strategic point by the 
Saracen leader Tarik Ibn Zeiad in 711-12, 
from whom it was thenceforward called 
Gebel-al-Tarik, the rock of Tarik. It was 
ultimately taken by the Spaniards from the 
Moors in 1462, fortified in the European 
style, and so much strengthened that the 
engineers of the 17th century considered it 
impregnable. It was taken, however, after 
a vigorous bombardment in 1704 by a com¬ 
bined English and Dutch force under Sir 
George Rooke and Prince George of Darm¬ 
stadt, and was secured to Britain by the 
Peace of Utrecht in 1713. Since then it has 
remained in British hands, notwithstanding 
some desperate efforts on the part of Spain 
and France to retake it. In 1704-5 it was 
closely besieged; in 1727 it was hard pressed 
by a Spanish force when Admiral Wager, 
with eleven ships of the line, relieved it. In 

189 


1779, Britain being then engaged in a war 
with its revolted colonies and with France, 
a last grand effort was made by Spain to 
recover Gibraltar. The siege lasted for 
nearly four years, the fire being for the 
great part of that time very harassing, and 
rising on several occasions into a fierce and 
prolonged bombardment. It was heroically 
and successfully defended, however, by Gen¬ 
eral Elliot (afterwards Lord Heathfield) 
and the garrison. Since that time, in the 
various British and Spanish, and also French 
wars, Gibraltar has only been blockaded on 
the land side. 

Gibraltar, Straits of, the channel which 
forms an entrance from the Atlantic into the 
Mediterranean. Thenarrowest part is a little 
to the west of Gibraltar, and 15 miles across. 
A strong and constant current flows into the 
Mediterranean from the Atlantic Ocean, in 
the middle of the Straits, but the under¬ 
current as w'ell as two feeble lateral currents 
along the coast set towards the ocean. 

Gibson, John, one of the most distin¬ 
guished English sculptors of modern times, 
born near Conway, in Wales, in 1790, died 
at Rome in 1866. He was the son of a 
landscape-gardener, and was apprenticed to 
a wood-carver at Liverpool, where he at¬ 
tracted attention by a figure of Time mo¬ 
delled in wax \\ hich he exhibited at the age 
of eighteen. The patronage of Mr. W. 
Roscoe assisted him to go to Rome, where 
he was cordially received by Canova. On 
the death of Canova in 1822 Gibson entered 
the studio of Thorwaldsen. His reputation 
was now widely spread, and his works were 
eagerly sought after by his countrymen. In 
1836 he was made a Royal Academician; 
but to the end of his life he continued to 
make Rome his chief place of residence. 
Most of Gibson’s subjects are taken from 
classical mythology, and are executed with 
anoble severity and purity of style. Amongst 
his best works are: The Wounded Amazon; 
The Hunter and his Dog; Hylas and the 
Nymphs, Helen, Proserpine, Sappho, &c. 
One of his peculiarities as an artist was the 
practice of colouring his statues. 

Gibson, Thomas Milner, English pol¬ 
itician, born 1807, died 1884. Liberal 
member of parliament; president Board 
of Trade from 1859 to 1866. 

Giddings, Joshua Reed, American 
statesman, was born at Athens, Pa., Oct. 
6, 1795; died May 27, 1864. Successfully 
practising as a lawyer, in 1839 he was 
elected to congress,serving for twenty years 



GIERS 


GILBERT. 


An advocate of the abolition of slavery in 
the territories be seized every opportunity 
to aid in the formation of a public senti¬ 
ment hostile to its further extension. His 
life was often threatened, and twice he was 
assaulted by armed men on the floor of the 
House, and once mobbed in Washington. 
For anti-slavery resolutions introduced by 
him he was censured by vote of the House. 
He was a forcible speaker and able writer. 

Giers (gerz), Nicholas Caklovitch de, a 
Russian statesman descended from a Swedish 
family settled in Finland, was born in 1820. 
After holding various posts, in 1875 he be¬ 
came adjunct to Prince Gortschakoff, the 
minister of foreign affairs, whom he suc¬ 
ceeded in 1882, His policy in general is 
understood to be of peaceful tendencies, and 
in particular opposed to Panslavistic ideas 
of development. In Central Asia, however, 
M. de Giers has continued the policy of ad¬ 
vance, and in 1885 the Russian occupation 
of positions within the Afghan frontier 
nearly brought about a war with Britain. 

Giessen (ge'sen), a town of Germany, 
capital of the province of Upper Hesse, in 
the Grand-duchy of Hesse-Uarmstadt, on 
the Lahn. It was once fortified, and is still 
entered by four gates, but its ramparts have 
been converted into pleasant walks. It has 
a castle, now converted into government 
offices, and a university founded in 1607, 
and possessing valuable apparatus, an ob¬ 
servatory, and a botanical garden. Pop. 
19,001. 

Gifford, William, a critic and satirist, 
born at Ashburton, in Devonshire, in 1757. 
He was apprenticed to a shoemaker, but 
possessing a strong taste for study he was 
enabled by the kindness of some friends to 
go to school and afterwards to Oxford Uni¬ 
versity. After being some time tutor in 
Earl Grosvenor’s family he published in 
1794 The Baeviad, a satire directed against 
the poetasters of the Della Crusca school; 
and in 1795 The Maeviad, a severe satire on 
the contemporary drama. In 1797 he became 
editor of the Anti-Jacobin; and he published 
a translation of Juvenal in 1802. On the 
foundation of the Quarterly Review in 1809 
he became its editor, conducting it with 
much ability. He also edited the works of 
Massinger, Ford, Jonson, and Shirley. He 
died in 1826, and was interred in Westmin¬ 
ster Abbey. 

Gifford Lectures, lectureships endowed 
by I^ord Gifford, one of the judges of the 
Court of Session, Edinburgh, from 1870 to 


1881, who left £80,000 for the purpose. 
They were founded in connection with the 
Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aber¬ 
deen, and St. Andrews, and are for the 
exposition of natural religion in the widest 
sense of that term: the lecturers to be sub¬ 
jected to no test of any kind: to belong to 
any denomination whatever, or to no deno¬ 
mination. The appointments are for two 
years, but may be held for six. The lec¬ 
turers are to deliver a yearly course of about 
twenty original lectures open to all. The first 
lecturers were: Glasgow, Max Muller; Edin¬ 
burgh, Hutchinson Stirling; St. Andrews, 
Andrew Lang; and Aberdeen, E. B. Tylor. 

Gijon (^e-Aon'), a seaport in Spain, on the 
Bay of Biscay. It consists of an old and a 
new town, the former on the upper part of 
a slope and the latter below. It contains 
a cigar manufactory, employing about 1400 
persons, and has various other industries 
and a good trade. Pop. 30,591. 

Gila (je'la), Rio, a North American river, 
which rises in New Alexico and flowr west¬ 
ward for 450 miles, and then unites with 
the Colorado. Curious ruins of stone-built 
houses occur all along its banks. In these 
are found fragments of pottery. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, English naviga¬ 
tor of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, born 
in Devonshire about 1539. In 1578 he ob¬ 
tained from the queen a patent, empower¬ 
ing him to discover and colonize in North 
America any land then unsettled, and made 
an unsuccessful voyage to Newfoundland. 
In 1583 he sailed to it again, and took pos¬ 
session of the harbour of St. John’s. Shortly 
after he embarked in a small sloop to explore 
the coast, and was lost in a storm. 

Gilbert, Sir John, R.A., English painter, 
born in 1817. He first exhibited in 1836. 
Kis first notable work was The Arrest of 
Lord Hastings by the Protector Richard, 
Duke of Gloucester, in water-colour. He 
has also painted in oil, and among his more 
notable productions in that branch of the 
art are Don Quixote giving Advice to Sancho 
Panza, The Education of Gil Bias, and a 
series of tableaux of the principal characters 
in Shakspere. He possesses especial merit 
in depicting old English scenes. He was 
the most prominent artist engaged on the 
Illustrated London News for a number of 
years after its commencement in 1842, and 
during the same period did a great amount 
of book illustration. In 1871 he became 
president of the Society of Water-Colours. 
In the same year he was knighted, and in 

190 



GILBERT - 

1872 he became an A.R.A., becoming R.A, 
in 1876. 

Gilbert, William Schwenk, English dra¬ 
matist, born in London in 1836. In 1857 
he became a clerk in the Education Office; 
in 1862 he was called to the bar, but he has 
since devoted his time almost exclusively to 
literature. In 1875 he entered into partner¬ 
ship with Arthur Sullivan the composer, and 
in conjunction with him produced a series of 
comic operas, Trial by Jury (1876), H.M.S. 
Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance 
(1880), Patience (1882), lolanthe (1883), 
Princess Ida (1884), The Mikado (1885), 
&c. 

Gilbertine Order, an order of canons 
founded in England by Gilbert of Semp- 
ringham in the 12th century. They fol¬ 
lowed the Augustinian rule, and their nu¬ 
merous monasteries were suppressed by 
Henry VIII, There was also a Gilbertine 
order of nuns. 

Gilbert Islands, or Kingsmill Group, a 
group of sixteen islands in the Pacific Ocean, 
on the Equator, between Ion. 172'’ 0' and 
174° 30' E, They are of coral formation, 
and all low and not fertile. Their chief 
products are mostly the cocoa-nut, pan- 
danus, taro, and the bread-fruit tree. The 
islanders differ from the Polynesians, and 
more nearly resemble the Malays. The 
women are much smaller in proportion than 
the men, with delicate features and slight 
figures. Pop. of the group 60,000, of whom 
a certain number are Christians. 

Gilbo'a (Hebrew, ‘Bubbling Fountain’), 
a range of hills in Palestine, bounding the 
plain of Esdraelon on the N.E. One of them 
is identified with the ancient Gilboa, the 
scene of Saul’s last fatal battle (1 Sam. 
xxix. 1), 

Gild, a corporation. See Guild. 

Gildas (gil'das), the Wise (Sapiens), a 
British ecclesiastic and historian of the 6th 
century, of whom little is known. There 
is extant a Latin treatise or diatribe ascribed 
to Gildas which bears the title of Epistola 
de Excidio Britanniee (on the Destruction 
of Britain), but the violent invective which 
it employs against the Britons has led to 
doubts respecting its authenticity. 

Gilding is the art of applying gold-leaf 
or gold in a finely-divided state to surfaces 
of wood, stone, or metals, a very ancient 
art, being practised among the Egyptians, 
Greeks, Romans, and Ancient Persians. 
The processes employed at the present day 
(ire very varied. Metals are gilded either 

191 


- GILDING. 

by what is called chemical gilding, mercurial 
gilding, by electro-gilding Electro-Metal¬ 
lurgy), or by the application of gold-leaf. 
Copper and brass, for instance, may be gilded 
by the process called xvash or neater gUding, 
with an amalgam of gold and mercury. 
The surface of the copper, freed from oxide, 
is covered with the amalgam, and after¬ 
wards exposed to heat till the mercury is 
driven off, leaving a thin coat of gold. Gild¬ 
ing is also performed by dipping a linen 
rag in a saturated solution of gold, and 
burning it to tinder, the black powder thus 
obtained being rubbed on the metal to be 
gilded, with a cork dipped in salt water, 
till the gilding appears. Iron or steel is 
often gilded by applying gold-leaf, after the 
surface has been well cleaned, and heated 
until it has acquired the blue colour which 
at a certain temperature it assumes. Several 
leaves of gold are thus applied in succession, 
and the last is burnished down cold. One 
process of chemical gilding is by dipping the 
article into a solution of gold, what is termed 
Elkington’s solution being composed as fol¬ 
lows:—5oz.(troy)of fine gold; nitro-muriatic 
acid, 52 oz. (avoirdupois); dissolve by heat, 
and continue the heat until the cessation of 
red or yellow vapours; decant the clear li¬ 
quid; add 4 gals, of distilled water, pure 
bicarbonate of potassa 20 lbs., and boil for 
two hours. Gilding on wood, plaster, leather, 
parchment, or paper, is performed by dif¬ 
ferent processes of mechanical gilding. The 
first of these is oil-gilding, in which gold- 
leaf is cemented to the work by means of 
oil-size. In the case of paper or vellum the 
parts to be gilt receive a coat of gum-water 
or fine size, and the gold-leaf is applied be¬ 
fore the parts are dry. They are afterwards 
burnished with agate. Lettering and other 
gilding on bound books are applied without 
size. The gold-leaf is laid on the leather 
and imprinted with hot brass types. Brass 
rollers with thin edges are employed in the 
same way for lines, and similar tools for 
other ornaments. When the edges of the 
leaves of books are to be gilt they are first 
cut smooth in the press, after which a solu¬ 
tion of isinglass in spirits is laid on, and the 
gold-leaf is ajjplied when the edges are in a 
proper state of dryness. Japanner's gilding 
is another kind of mechanical gilding, which 
is performed in the same way as oil-gilding, 
except that instead of gold-leaf a gold dust 
or powder is employed. Frames of pictures 
and mirrors, mouldings, &c., are gilt by the 
application of gold-leaf; or by the cheaper 



GILEAD 


GILOLO. 


process of ‘German gilding,’ that is, by 
tin-foil or silver-leaf, with a yellow varnish 
above. Porcelain and other kinds of earthen- 
w'are, as well as glass, may be gilt by fixing 
a layer of gold in a powdered state by the 
action of fire. The gold-dust or powder 
required in this operation may be obtained 
by precipitating it from a solution in aqua 
regia, either by means of sulphate of iron or 
proto-nitrate of mercury. In order that the 
gold powder may be applied to the surface 
of the article to be gilt it must be well mixed 
with some viscous vehicle, such as strongly- 
gummed water. It is then laid on with a 
fine camel’s-hair brush. 

Gil'ead, a mountain region on the east of 
Palestine, having Bashan on the north and 
Moab and Ammon on the south. It was 
noted for its balm, as well as for its pasturage. 

Giles (jilz), St. (St. jEgidim), a native of 
Greece, who, according to the legend, lived 
in the 6th centiiry, and was descended from 
an illustrious family. He is said to have 
worked miracles, and founded a convent in 
France. He became patron saint of Edin¬ 
burgh. ■ His festival falls on the 1st of Sep¬ 
tember. 

Giles, St., name of a parish in London, 
with which is incorporated that of St. George, 
Bloomsbury, both in the borough of Fins¬ 
bury. The wretchedness of St. Giles is 
often contrasted with the luxury of St. 
James in London. 

Gilfillan, George, writer, born in 1813, 
died in 1878. He studied at Glasgow Uni¬ 
versity, in 1835 he became a licentiate of 
the Secession (Presbyterian) Church, and in 
1836 was ordained to the School Wynd 
Church, Dundee. His numerous writings, 
among which may be mentioned A Gallery 
of Literary Portraits, and The Bards of 
the Bible, possess a vigorous style and great 
powers of fancy. 

Gilfil'lan, Robert, Scottish poet, born in 
Dunfermline 1798, died 1850. He learned 
to be a cooper, and after trying one or 
two other trades he was latterly collector 
of police rates in Leith. He has some 
reputation as a song-writer, his subjects 
being chiefly of a domestic cast. In 1831 
he published a small volume entitled Origi¬ 
nal Songs. Enlarged editions appeared in 
1835 and 1839. 

Gilghit, or Gilgit (gibgit), a valley and 
district in Cashmere state, situated on the 
southern slope of the Hindu Kfish, and 
watered by the Gilgit, or Ya&m, a tributary 
of the Indus. 


Gill (jil), a measure of capacity equal to 
^ of a pint, and tjV of a gallon. 

Gilles (zhel), St., a town in Southern 
France, dep. Gard, in a country rich in vine¬ 
yards. Pop. 5268. 

Gillies (gil'iz), John, Scottish historian 
and scholar, born at Brechin in 1747, died 
at Clapham in 1836. He was educated 
at the University of Glasgow, and finally 
settled in London, where he applied him¬ 
self to literature. He published the Ora¬ 
tions of Lysias and Isocrates, translated 
from the Greek; History of Ancient Greece; 
a translation of Aristotle’s Ethics and Poli¬ 
tics, with other works upon Aristotle; and a 
View of the Reign of Frederick II. of Prus¬ 
sia. 

Gillray', James, an English caricaturist, 
born about the middle of the 18th century, 
died in London in 1*815. Some clever 
sketches, published about 1785, first at¬ 
tracted attention to him. From this time 
till about 1810 he kept his position before 
the public by a succession of caricatures in 
which the king (George III.) and the mem¬ 
bers of the House of Lords, and afterwards 
the French and the French celebrities of 
the day, were the chief objects of ridicule. 
In his closing years he was attacked by a 
mental malady which continued till his death. 

Gills, the respiratory organs of animals 
which respire by obtaining oxygen from 
water, as crustaceans, molluscs, fishes, and 
amphibians. In fishes they consist of cartila¬ 
ginous or bony arches attached to the bones 
of the head, and furnished on the exterior 
convex side with a multitude of fleshy leaves 
or fringed vascular fibrils resembling plumes, 
and of a red colour in a healthy state. The 
water is admitted by the gill-opening, and 
acts upon the blood as it circulates in the 
fibrils. 

Gill 3 dlower (jibi-), a name bestow'ed on 
such cruciferous flowers as the \vall-flower 
or carnation, &c. The clove-pink {Diantkus 
Caryophgllus) is termed clove gillyflower. 

Gilolo, JiLOLO, an island in the Indian 
Archipelago, the lai’gest of the Moluccas; 
area, 6500 square miles. It is of singular 
form, consisting of four peninsulas, radiating 
N., N.E., E.S.E., and s., from a common centre, 
and having large bays between. It is rug¬ 
ged and mountainous, the mountains being 
Volcanic. The principal productions are 
sago, cocoa-nuts, spices, fruits, edible birds’- 
nests, useful timber, &c.; horses, cattle, and 
sheep abound. Deer, wild boars, and other 
game are likewise plentiful. The original 

192 






GIL POLO 


GINGER. 


inhabitants, called Alfoories, have been gra¬ 
dually pressed into the interior by the Ma¬ 
lays. The greater part of Gilolo is under 
the Sultan of Ternate; pop. 23,000; the 
other is nominally under the Sultan of Ti- 
dor, pop. about 4500. 

Gil Polo. See Polo. 

Gilthead {Chri/sophrys aurdta), an acan- 
thopterygious fish of the Sparidae or sea- 
bream family common in the Mediterranean. 
It has strong grinding teeth for crushing 
the shells of the molluscs on which it feeds; 
a yellow band stretches from eye to eye 
(whence its generic name, signifying, ‘gol¬ 
den eye-brows’). Its'colour is a mixture of 
silver and sky-blue, its dorsal and caudal 
fins are black, while brown lines pass along 
the sides. It is a fine fish, and sometimes 
reaches a weight of 18 to 20 lbs. 

Gilt Toys, the trade term for trinkets of 
copper or German-silver, with a thin coat¬ 
ing of gold or silver spread over its surface. 
Gilt toys are thus cheaper than gold and 
silver jewelry, but they may be equally 
brilliant and as little liable to tarnish. In 
Britain this industry is chiefly carried on 
at Birmingham; and in France at Paris 
and Lyons. 

Gimbals (gim'balz), the name of the pair 
of rings within which the mariner’s com¬ 
pass is slung, or any pair of similar rings. 
The gimbals maintain the compass-bowl and 
the compass-card in a horizontal position, 
there being two concentric rings, the outer 
turning about a horizontal axis, and the 
inner turning about a similar axis at right 
angles to the other. Ship chronometers are 
often suspended the same way. 

Gimlet, a small tool with a pointed screw 
at the end, used for boring holes in wood or 
other substances by turning. A larger in¬ 
strument of this nature is termed an auger. 

Gimp (gimp), a silk, woollen, or cotton 
twist stiffened by a fine wire, or sometimes a 
coarse thread running through it, and much 
used in trimmings for dresses, &c. 

Gin, a spirit distilled from grain, and fla¬ 
voured with juniper-berries, and sometimes 
with oil of turpentine and common salt, 
and other substances. The name is from 
genihvre, the French for ‘juniper.’ It is 
largely manufactured in Holland, particu¬ 
larly in Schiedam, and the gin thence im¬ 
ported is thus often called Schiedam as well 
as Hollands. In Great Britain gin is largely 
manufactured in London, where it often 
goes by the name of Old Tom, and to a less 
extent at Plymouth and Bristol. What is 
VOL. IV. iy3 


termed ‘gin’ in Great Britain differs mate¬ 
rially from Hollands and even from the best 
English gin, as it is a plain corn spirit, 
which derives its flavour from oil of turpen¬ 
tine, with certain aromatics in small quan¬ 
tities. 

Gin, the name of certain machines em¬ 
ployed in raising weights. One form con¬ 
sists of three poles, 12 to 15 feet long, often 
tapering from the lower extremity to the 
top and united at their upper extremities, 
whence a block and tackle is suspended. 
A space of 8 or 9 ft. separates the lower ex¬ 
tremities planted in the ground, and a kind 
of windlass is attached to two of the legs. 
Another kind of gin is a sort of whim or 
windlass for raising coal, &c. It is worked 
by a horse, which turns a cylinder, and 
winds on it a rope, by which the weight is 
raised. 

Gingal, (jin'gal), a kind of large musket 
used in some parts of Asia. It is fired from 
a rest, and may be mounted on a light car¬ 
riage. 

Gingelly Oil (jin-jel'i). See Benne Oil. 

Ginger {Zingiber officinale), an East In¬ 
dian plant of the order Zingiberacese. It 
grows in moist places 
in various parts of 
tropical Asia and the 
Asiatic islands, and 
has been introduced 
into the West Indies, 
particularly Jamaica, 
as also into S. America 
and W. Africa. The 
kind most esteemed 
is Jamaica ginger. 

The rhizome, or under¬ 
ground stem, is what is 
used, being employed 
in various ways. It 
has an aromatic, pun¬ 
gent taste, and when 
young is candied, and 
makes an excellent 
preserve. It is a fa¬ 
vourite condiment, and is used medicinally 
as a carminative, and in debility of the 
stomach and alimentary canal. It is often 
useful in cases of toothache, relaxation of 
the uvula, and paralytic affections of the 
tongue. It enters into the composition of 
a great number of confections, infusions, 
pills, &c. The special preparations are the 
tincture and the essence of ginger; sgrup, 
prepared by mixing twenty-five parts of 
syrup with one of the strong tincture. In- 



Ginger Plant [Zingiber 
officinale ). 










uijnGER-ALE 


GIORDANO. 


fusion of ginger is a preparation useful for 
flatulence. 

Ginger-ale, an aerated water made in the 
same way as lemonade, but flavoured with 
ginger instead of lemon. 

Ginger-beer, a pleasant, non-alcoholic, 
effervescing beverage, made by mixing to¬ 
gether ginger, cream of tartar, sugar, yeast, 
and water, and allowing the whole to ferment 
for a time, then bottling. Ginger-beer may 
also be prepared thus: Add to each gallon 
of water 1 lb. of refined sugar, and ^ oz. of 
ground ginger. Boil for an hour, add the 
Avhite of two eggs, remove the scum. Strain 
into a vessel to cool, cask it up with the 
juice and peel of a lemon. Add a very 
small amount of brewer’s yeast, and bung 
up tightly for a fortnight. 

Ginger-bread, a well-known cake made 
in many ways, the chief ingredients being 
flour and treacle, with ginger, butter, eggs, 
&c. 

Ginger-cordial, or Ginger-wine, a bev¬ 
erage made from raisins, lemon rind, ginger, 
sugar, and water, with some whisky or 
brandy. 

Gingham (ging'am), a cotton fabric dis¬ 
tinguished from calico by having the colours 
woven with the fabric, not printed on it. The 
patterns are various; sometimes fancy de¬ 
signs, sometimes chequered, and sometimes 
striped. Umbrella ginghams are all of one 
colour. 

Gingko, the Japanese name of coniferous 
trees of the genus Salisburia belonging to 
the yew family. The Salisburia adianti- 
folia is a tree which sometimes rises nearly 
100 feet in height. It is destitute of resin. 
It is a native of China and Japan, and was 
introduced into Europe in 1754, when it 
was brought to England. Its fruit incloses 
a kernel which, when roasted, may be used 
as food, and which tastes like maize. 

GinsbUrg (gins'burA), Christian D., rab¬ 
binical scholar, born at Warsaw in 1830. 
He is the author of Historical and Critical 
Commentary on the Song of Songs; The 
Karaites, their History and Literature; The 
Essenes; The Kabbalah, its Doctrines, De¬ 
velopment, and Literature, and other works 
of similar character. His greatest work is, 
however, the Massora. He was one of the 
scholars engaged on the revised version of 
the Old Testament. 

Ginseng (jin'seng), a plant of Northern 
Asia, Panax schinseng, order Araliaceae, 
herbaceous, and about 1 foot high. Its 
root is regarded as a sort of panacea among 


the Chinese, and is largely imported, but it 
appears to lie really of very little efficacy; 
the taste is sweet and mucilaginous, ac¬ 
companied with some bitterness, and also 
slightly aromatic. Another species of gin- 



American Ginseng (Panax quinqiiefolium ). 


seng, Panax quinqaefolium, inhabits Ca¬ 
nada and the north-eastern parts of the 
United States. Quantities of its root are 
sent to China. 

Gioberti (jb-ber'te), Vincenzo, an Italian 
philosopher and statesman, born at Turin 
1801, died at Paris 1852. Having been edu¬ 
cated for the church, he was appointed chap¬ 
lain to Charles Albert, king of Sardinia, but 
having rendered himself obnoxious by his 
republican sentiments, he was first im¬ 
prisoned, and, in 1833, banished. The first 
few years of his exile he spent at Paris, and 
afterwards became a teacher of philosophy 
in a school at Brussels. There he published 
two works, one of which was an attempt to 
reconcile philosophy and Roman Catholicism. 
In 1843 appeared his Primato Morale e 
Civile degli Italian!, a defence on liberal 
principles of the Papacy, a work Avhich 
brought over the majority of the priests to 
the national party. In 1847 he published 
a work entitled II Gesuita Moderno (the 
Modern Jesuit). When Charles Albert 
in 1848 granted a constitution to Sardinia, 
Gioberti returned to his native country, but 
he soon after withdrew to Paris. 

Giobertine Tincture, a preparation for 
restoring illegible writings or faded pictures. 
The inventor of it was Giovanni Antonio 
Gioberti (1761-1824), a native of Piedmont. 

Gioja Del Colie (jo'ya del kol'la), a town 
in Southern Italy, province of Bari, on a 
slope of the Apennines. Pop. 17,016. 

Giordano (jor-da'no), Luca, Italian 
painter, born at Naples about 1632, a scholar 
of Spagnoletto, studied the great Italian 
masters at Rome, and became the pupil of 
Peter of Cortona. Paul Veronese had after- 
w'ards great influence on his manner. He 
imitated the greatest masters so well that 

194 






GIORGIONE 


GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS. 


even connoisseurs were imposed upon. In 
1679 he was employed by Charles II. to or¬ 
nament the Escurial, and at the court of 
Spain he became a great favourite. Gior¬ 
dano was especially successful in imitating 
the manner of Bassano, and of the Chevalier 
Massimo Stanzioni. After the death of 
Charles II. he returned to his native coun¬ 
try, where he died about 1705. His most 
celebrated pieces are his frescoes, in the 
Escurial, at Madrid, Florence, and Rome. 
Some of his finest paintings are at Dresden. 

Giorgione (jor-jo'na), properly Giorgio 
Barbarelli, born in 1477 at Castelfranco, 
one of the most celebrated painters of the 
Venetian school. In Venice he ornamented 
the fa 9 ades of several large buildings with 
frescoes, which have mostly perished. He 
found in Titian a formidable rival in this 
branch of his art. His portraits are reckoned 
among the finest of the Italian school. His 
pieces are rare, but some are to be seen at 
Milan, and in the galleries at Vienna and 
Dresden. He died in 1511. 

Giotto (jot'to), properly Ambrogiotto or 
Angiolotto Bondone, a celebrated Italian 
painter. He was born probably about 1276, 
at the Florentine village of Vespignano, 
and in his boyhood tended cattle. But 
having been seen by Cimabue, as he was 
drawing figures of his sheep upon a piece of 
slate, that artist carried him to Florence 
and taught him painting. His natural 
talent and gracefulness developed so rapidly 
that he soon surpassed all his contemporaries. 
He represented human figures with truth 
and nature, and surpassed all others in the 
dignity and pleasing arrangement of his 
figures, and a regard to the proportions and 
disposition of the drapery. His figures have 
more life and freedom than those of Cima¬ 
bue, as he particularly avoided the stiff 
style. Among his most celebrated pieces is 
t)ie Navicella (ship), at Rome (a picture of 
Peter Walking upon the Waves), some 
fresco paintings at Florence, also the history 
of St. Francis, at Assisi, and several minia¬ 
tures. He was equally successful as a statu¬ 
ary and architect. He died in 1336. 

Giovinazzo (jo-ve-nat-s6), a seaport of 
South Italy, province of Bari, on the-Adri¬ 
atic, the seat of a bishop. Pop. 9797. 

Gipsy. See Gypsies. 

Giraffe (ji-raf; Camelopardalis (jiraffa), a 
ruminant animal inhabiting Africa, and con¬ 
stituting the only species of its genus and 
family. It is the tallest of all animals, a 
full-grown male reaching the height of 18 or 

195 


20 feet. This great stature is mainly due 
to the extraordinary length of the neck, in 
which, however, there are but seven vertebrae, 
though these are extremely elongated. It 
has two bony excrescences on its head re¬ 
sembling horns. Its great height is admir¬ 
ably suited with its habit of feeding on the 
leaves of trees, and in tliis the animal is 
further aided by its tongue, which is both 
prehensile and capable of being remarkably 
elongated or contracted at will. When it 
browses the herbage on the ground it 



stretches out its fore-legs as wide as possible 
till it can reach the ground by means of its 
long neck. Its colour is usually light fawn, 
marked with darker spots. It is a mild and 
inoffensive animal, and in captivity is very 
gentle and playful. The giraffe is a native 
of a great part of Africa, from Abyssinia 
and Sennaar to Senegal and the regions ad¬ 
jacent to the Cape Colony. 

Giral'dus Cambren'sis, an early English 
historian, born about 1146. His proper name 
was Gerald de Barry, and he was son of 
William de Barry, a Norman noble of Pem¬ 
brokeshire. He was educated under his uncle, 
the Bishop of St. David’s, and afterwards at 
the University of Paris. He returned in 1172, 
and was appointed Archdeacon of St. Da¬ 
vid’s. His uncle dying soon after, Gerald was 
elected to succeed him, but the king refused 
to confirm the appointment, and Gerald 
withdrew to Paris, where he was ajipointed 
professor of canon law. In the following 










GIRARD 


GIRGENTI. 


year (1180) he returned to England, where 
he was required to administer the bishopric 
of St. David’s, the proper bishop having 
proved himself incompetent. He discharged 
this office for four years, and was then ap¬ 
pointed a royal chaplain. As companion to 
the king’s son. Prince John, he went to Ire¬ 
land in 1185, where he collected the ma¬ 
terials for his Topography of Ireland (’I'opo- 
graphia Hibernite). Pie afterwards drew 
up a similar work on Wales (Itinerarium 
Cambriae. When he died is uncertain. 

Girard, Stephen, plutocrat and philan¬ 
thropist, was born near Bordeaux, France, 
in 1750. In 1769 he establislied himself in. 
business in Phihuielphia. In 1782 he laid 
the foundation of his fortune, in the West 
India trade. In tlie war of 1812 he was the 
financial mainstay of the U. S. govern¬ 
ment, at one time advancing $5,000,000. 
At his death, in 1831, his property 
amounted to $9,000,000, the bulk of which 
was left for charitable ])urposes. The 
Girard College, Philadelphia, was founded 
by him, costing $2,000,000, an institution 
for the education of orphan boys, between 
the ages of six and fourteen. 

Girardin (zhe-riir-dan), Emile de, French 
journalist and politician, born in Switzerland 
in 1802, and educated in Paris. He was con¬ 
nected as projector, editor, or otherwise with 
a number of newspapers and periodicals, 
the most- successful being La Presse, a Con¬ 
servative organ established in 1836. A 
controversy in its columns led to a duel 
between Girardin and Armand Carrel, 
which proved fatal to the latter. In politics 
Girardin played many parts. He was fined 
5000 francs in 1867 for attacks on the im¬ 
perial government in La Liberte. He wrote 
numerous political pamphlets, and a few 
pieces for the stage. He died in 1881.—His 
first wife, Delphine Gay, daughter of the 
novelist Madame Sophie Gay, was a well- 
known authoress; born 1804, died 1855. 
She wrote the novels Le Lorgnon, Le Mar¬ 
quis de Pontanges, La Canne de M. de 
Balzac, II ne faut pas jouer avec Douleur, 
and Marguerite; contributed to the Presse 
newspaper, and wrote for the stage Lady 
Tartuffe and La Joie fait peur, and other 
pieces. 

Girasol (ji'ra-sol), a precious opaline stone, 
which, under strong lights, reflects a bril¬ 
liant reddish light. It is usually of a milk- 
white or bluish-white colour. The brightest 
are brought from Brazil and Siberia. The 
name is sometimes bestowed on the Asteria 


sapphire. One variety is known as the fire 
opal. 

Girder, a main beam, either of wood or 
iron, I'esting upon a wall or pier at each end, 
employed for supporting a superstructure, 
or a superincumbent weight, as a floor, the 
upper wall of a house when the lower part 
is sustained by pillars, the roadway of a 
bridge, and the like. Wooden girders are 
sometimes cut in two longitudinally and an 
iron plate inserted between the pieces, and 
the whole bolted together. This species of 
girder is called a sandwich-girder. For 
bridges cast-iron girders are sometimes cast 
in lengths of 40 feet and upwards, but when 
the span to be crossed is much greater than 
40 feet, recourse is had to wrought-iron, or 
to trussed, lattice, or box girders, and cast- 
iron is now little used. A trussed-girder 
is a wooden girder strengthened with iron. 
A lattice-girder is a girder consisting of 
two horizontal beams united by diagonal 
crossing bars, somewhat resembling wooden 
lattice-work. A box-girder is a kind of 
girder resembling a large box, such as those 
employed in tubular bridges. There are 
also bowstring-girders, which are varieties 
of the lattice-girder, and consist of an arched 
beam, a horizontal tie resisting tension and 
holding together the ends of the arched rib, 
a series of vertical suspending bars by which 
the platform is hung from the arched rib, 
and a series of diagonal braces between the 
suspending bars. 

Girdle of Venus {Cestum Veneris), an 
animal belonging to the actinozoa, found in 
the Mediterranean. In shape it resembles 
a ribbon, and it is apparently propelled by 
the cilia which fringe its edge. The mouth 
is situated on the inferior edge. It is irid¬ 
escent by day, and brilliantly phosphorescent 
at night. 

Girgeh (jir'je), town, formerly capital, of 
Upper Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile. 
It possesses a Roman Catholic convent, the 
oldest in Egypt. Pop. 10,000. 

Girgenti (jir-jen'te), a town in the south¬ 
west of Sicily, capital of the province of 
same name, 58 miles s.s.E. of Palermo, a few 
miles from the sea, on an elevated site, with 
a cathedral, library, museum, &c. It ex¬ 
ports wheat, oil, fruit, and sulphur, its port 
being Porto Empedocle. Near the town 
are the extensive and remarkable ruins of 
the ancient Agrigentum. Pop. 19,380.— 
The province has an area of 1490 square 
miles, and is rather mountainous in char- 
actei’. Pop. 312,487. 

196 





GIVET. 


GmODET-TRTOSON 


Girodet-Trioson (zhe-ro-da-tre-o-son), 
Anne Louis Girodet de Rousst, French 
historical painter, born in 1767, died 1824. 
Among his famous pictures are Endymion, 
Hippocrates, The Deluge, Atala, Napoleon 
receiving the keys of Vienna, and St. Louis 
in Egypt. 

Gironde (zhe-rond), a department of 
France, on the Bay of Biscay, named from 
theGironde estuary; area, 3610 square miles. 
The surface is generally flat, and almost the 
whole department belongs to the basin of 
the Gironde, which is formed by the junction 
of the Dordogne and Garonne. The climate 
is generally mild and extremely moist. One- 
third of the surface is waste, and about 
one-fourth is arable land. The staple pro¬ 
duction is wine, Medoc, Graves, Cotes, and 
Entre-deux-Mers being the most-celebrated 
growths, Bordelais Wines.) The forests 
of oak and pine are extensive. The minerals 
are unimportant, but much salt is obtained 
from lagoons. The manufactures are varied; 
the trade, which has its centre at Bordeaux, 
is very important. Bordeaux is the capital. 
Pop. 1891, 793,528. 

Gironde, River. See Garonne. 

Girondists (Girondins), one of the great 
political parties of the first French revolu¬ 
tion. The Girondists were republicans, but 
w'ere more distinguished for visionary ideals 
than for a well-defined policy; hence they 
fell an easy prey to the pai’ty of the Moun¬ 
tain. Their leaders were three of the de¬ 
puties of the Gironde—Vergniaud, Guadet, 
and Gensonn^, hence the name. Louis XVI. 
was obliged, in 1792, to select a ministry 
from among the Girondists, but it was short¬ 
lived. In the convention their struggles 
wdth the Montagnards forced them into ex¬ 
treme measures which they would otherwise 
have avoided. They wished to save the 
king, but many of them, from a mistaken 
policy, voted for his death. Their fall dates 
from their unsuccessful impeachment of 
Marat (1793), soon after which a large 
number of them were proscribed, and twenty- 
one of them were condemned and executed. 

Girton College, Cambridge, the most noted 
college for women in England. Opened in 
1869 at Hitchin, it was removed to Girton, 
and opened in 1873. Newnham Hall, Cam¬ 
bridge (opened 1875), is also connected with 
it. Candidates (sixty in number) must have 
attained their eighteenth year, and they are 
obliged to pass an entrance examination, 
held in London and other centres. The 
ordinary course consists of three years, or 

197 


nine terms, one-half of each year being 
spent in the institution. The studies em¬ 
brace the principal branches of university 
culture. The ‘degree certificate’ corresponds 
to the Cambridge B.A. degree; the ‘college 
certificate’ covers a somewhat different 
group of subjects. 

Girvan (gir'van), a seaport of Scotland, 
county of Ayr, situated at the head of a 
fine bay, on the Girvan. The winter her¬ 
ring fishery is the most important industry. 
Pop. 4505. 

Gisors (zhe-sor), a town of Northern 
France, department of Eure, with a well- 
preserved castle of the 12th century. Pop. 
3500. 

Gitschin(yit'shin),a walled town of North¬ 
eastern Bohemia, in a fine valley, on the 
Cidlina. It has a castle built by Wallen¬ 
stein, whose residence it was. Pop. 8071. 

Giulio Romano (jo'le-o ro-mii'no), or 
Giulio Pippi, Italian painter, architect, and 
engineer, the most distinguished of Raphael’s 
scholars, born at Rome near the end of the 
15th century. During the lifetime of Ra¬ 
phael he painted with him and under his 
direction, and many of his productions are 
quite in his manner. After having finished 
the fresco-work in the Hall of Constantine 
in the Vatican at Rome, under Clement 
VII., he went to Mantua, where he executed 
a series of remarkable works in architecture, 
painting, and engineering. The Palazzo del 
T (palace of the T) was rebuilt and orna¬ 
mented entirely by him, or under his direc¬ 
tion. After the death of San Gallo in 1546 
the building of St. Peter’s was committed 
to him, but he died the same year. After 
the death of Raphael he gave himself up to 
his own imagination, and astonished all by 
the boldness of his style, by the grandeur 
of his designs, by the fire of his composition, 
by the loftiness of his poetical ideas, and his 
power of expression. 

Giurgevo (jur-ja'vo), a town inRoumania, 
on the Danube, opposite Rustchuk, the most 
important shipping port on the Roumanian 
side of the river. The Russians were de¬ 
feated here by the Turks, 1854. Pop. 21,000. 

Giusti (jus'te), Giuseppe, Italian satirical 
and political poet, born in 1809, died in 
1850. He is considered by his countrymen 
as the rival of Beranger in popular lyrical 
poetry. 

Givet (zhe-va), town of North-eastern 
France, in the Awlennes, with leather manu¬ 
factories and other industries. It is a place 
of great strategic importance, and its citadel 








GTVORS 


GLACIERS. 


of Charlemont is of great strength. Pop. 
7370. 

Givors (zhe-vor), a town of South eastern 
France, department of the Rhdne, and on 
that river, a centre of the coal trade, with 
iron-works, glass-works, silk weaving and 
dyeing works, &c. Pop. 10,820. 

Gizeh (ge'ze), a town of Egypt, on the 
left bank of the Nile, opposite Old Cairo. 
Some miles off are the celebrated pyramids, 
which have been named from it. Pop. 10,500. 

Gizzard, a strong muscular part of the 
alimentary canal of birds, which enables 
them to grind their food. A gizzard occurs 
also in many gasteropods, and in certain 
cephalopods and crustaceans. In birds it is 
lined by a thick muscular coat, and usually 
contains pieces of gravel, &c., to facilitate 
the grinding process. 

Glacial Period, or Ice Age, in geology, 
denotes that portion of the post - tertiary 
period, in which Britain, Europe, and, in short, 
all parts of the Old and the New World 
north of latitude 50°-40° were subjected to in¬ 
tense cold, and covered with ice and glaciers. 
This phenomenon has been demonstrated 
from a study of the actual effects of glaciers 
in the Alps, &c. The traces of ancient glacial 
action are abundantly discoverable in the 
Highlands of Scotland, in England, in the 
Scandinavian range, the Jura, the Black 
Forest, &c. In Asia they are perceptible 
in the Himalaya, while N. America abounds 
with them. See Geology. 

Glaciers, icy masses of great bulk, harder 
than snow, yet not exactly like common ice, 
which cover the summits and sides of moun¬ 
tains above the snow-line. They are found 
in Switzerland, Scandinavia, the Andes, &c. 
They extend down into the valleys often far 
below the snow-line, and bear a considerable 
resemblance to a frozen torrent. They take 
their origin in the higher valleys, where they 
are formed by the congelation and com¬ 
pression of masses of snow in that condition 
called by French writers nive, by German 
authors/rn. The ice of glaciers differs from 
that produced by the freezing of still water, 
and is composed of thin layers filled with 
air-bubbles. It is likewise more brittle and 
less transparent. The glaciers are continu¬ 
ally moving downwards, and not unfre- 
quently reach the borders of cultivation. 
The rate at which a glacier moves gener¬ 
ally varies from 18 to 24 inches in twenty- 
four hours. At its lower end it is gener¬ 
ally very steep and inaccessible. In its 
middle course it resembles a frozen stream 


with an undulating surface, broken up by 
fissures or crevasses. As it descends it 
experiences a gradual diminution from the 
action of the sun and rain, and from the 
heat of the earth. Hence a phenomenon 
universally attendant on glaciers—the issue 
of a stream of ice-cold turbid water from 
their lower extremity. The descent of 
glaciers is shown by changes in the posi¬ 
tion of masses of rock at their sides and 
on their surface. A remarkable glacier 
phenomenon is that of moraines, as they are 
called, consisting of accumulations of stones 



Glacier of Zermatt, Switzerland. 


and detritus piled up on the sides of the 
glacier, or scattered along the surface. They 
are composed of fragments of rock detached 
by the action of frost and other causes. The 
fissures or crevasses by which glaciers are 
traversed are sometimes more than 100 feet 
in depth, and from being often covered with 
snow are exceedingly dangerous to travellers. 
One of the most famous glaciers of the Alps 
is the Mer de Glace, belonging to !Mont 
Blanc, in the valley of Chamouni^ about 
5700 feet above the level of the sea. It is 
more especially, however, in the chain of 
Monte Rosa that the phenomena of gla¬ 
ciers are exhibited in their greatest sublim¬ 
ity, as also in their most interesting phases 
from a scientific point of view. Glaciers 
exist in all zones in which mountains rise 
above the snow-line. Those of Norway are 
well known, and they abound in Iceland 
and Spitzbergen. Hooker and other travel¬ 
lers have given accounts of those of the 
Himalaya. They are conspicuous on the 
Andes, while the Southern Alps of New 
Zealand rival in this respect the Alpine 
regions of Switzerland. 

198 
















GLACTEK TABLES-GLADIOLUS. 


The problem of the descent of the glaciers is 
of extraordinary interest, and various theories 
have been put forward to account for it. It 
was shown by Professor J. D. Forbes, of 
Edinburgh, that a glacier moves very much 
like a river; the middle and upper parts 
faster than the sides and the bottom; and he 
showed that glacier motion was analogous 
to the way in which a mass of thick mortar 
or a quantity of pitch flows down in an in¬ 
clined trough. His theory is known as the 
viscous theory of glaciers, which presupposes 
that ice is a plastic body, and this plasticity 
has been satisfactorily explained by Pro¬ 
fessor James Thomson of Glasgow by the 
phenomenon of the melting and refreezing 
of ice. Water, he discovered, when sub¬ 
jected to pressure, freezes at a lower tem¬ 
perature than when the pressure is removed. 
Consequently when ice is subjected to pres¬ 
sure it melts; if it is relieved of pressure 
the water again solidifies. Therefore if two 
pieces of ice are pressed together, they tend 
to relieve themselves by melting at their 
points of contact, and the water thus pro¬ 
duced immediately solidifies on its escape. 
If ice is strained in any way it similarly 
relieves itself at the strained parts, and a 
similar regelation follows. This, when ap¬ 
plied to the glaciers, gives a complete ex¬ 
planation of their plasticity. Pressed down¬ 
wards by the vast superincumbent mass, 
the ice gradually yields. Alelting and re¬ 
freezing takes place at some parts, at others 
the gradual yielding at strained points goes 
on. In the latter process there is no visible 
melting, but there is the gradual yielding 
from point to point to the pressure above, 
and there is the transference relatively to 
each other of the molecules that constitute 
the, at first sight, solid mass. If, however, 
at certain points the strain is intense, the 
ice becomes extremely brittle. The latter fact 
disposes of I'yndall’s objection to Forbes’ 
theory, which was based on the fact that 
crevasses proved the brittleness, and not 
the viscosity of ice. 

Glacier Tables, large stones found on 
glaciers supported on pedestals of ice. The 
stones attain this peculiar position by the 
melting away of the ice around them, and 
the depression of its general surface by the 
action of the sun and rain. The block, like 
an umbrella, protects the ice below it from 
both; and accordingly its elevation measures 
the level of the glacier at a former period. 
By and by the stone table becomes too 
heavy for the column of ice on which it 

199 


rests, or its equilibrium becomes unstable, 
whereupon it topples over, and falling on 
the surface of the glacier defends a new 
space of ice, and begins to mount afresh. 

Glacis, in fortification, is the sloping sur¬ 
face of the outermost portion of a fortified 
line, descending from the parapet of the 
covered way to the level ground or open 
country in front. It must be so placed that 
the guns of the fort will rake it at every 
point. 

Gladbach (Bekgtsch-) (berg'ish-glad- 
ba/i), a town of Prussia, province of Bhein- 
land, 8 miles north-east of Cologne. Pop. 
8557. 

Gladbach (Monchen-) (meun'Aen - glad- 
ba/i), a town of Prussia, province of Rhein¬ 
land, 16 miles west of Diisseldorf, with ex¬ 
tensive manufactures of cotton and mixed 
cotton goods, &c. Pop. 44,230. 

Gladia'tors, combatants who fought at 
the public games in Rome for the entertain¬ 
ment of the spectators. The first instance 
known of gladiators being exhibited was in 
B.c. 264, by Marcus and Decimus Brutus at 
the funeral of their father. They w'ere at 
first prisoners, slaves, or condemned crimi¬ 
nals; but afterwards freemen fought in the 
arena, either for hire or from choice; and 
latterly men of senatorial rank, and even 
women, fought. The regular gladiators 
were instructed in schools {ludi), and the 
overseer {lanista) purchased the gladiators 
and maintained them. Men of position 
sometimes kept gladiatorial schools and la- 
nistse of their own. The gladiators fought 
in the schools with wooden swords. In the 
public exhibitions, if a vanquished gladiator 
was not killed in the combat, his fate was 
decided by the people. If they wdshed his 
death, perhaps because he had not shown 
sufficient skill or bravery, they held up 
their thumbs; the opposite motion was the 
signal to save him. The victor received a 
branch of palm or a garland. The gladia¬ 
tors were classified according to their arms 
and mode of fighting; thus there were re- 
tiarii who carried a trident and a- net (L. 
rete) in which they tried to entangle their 
opponent; Thracians, who were armed with 
the round Thracian buckler and a short 
sword; secutores, who were pitted against 
the retiarii; &c. 

Gladi'olus, a genus of plants of the iris 
order, having a bulbous root with a reticulated 
covering, natives of Europe and N. Africa, 
but especially S. Africa. The leaves are 
ensiform, the flowers brilliantly coloured. 










GLADSTONE. 


I'here are many species, some of them popu¬ 
lar garden plants, others grown in hothouses. 

Gladstone, Right Hon. William Ewart, 
celebrated living statesman, son of Sir John 
Gladstone, born at Liverpool 1809. He 
entered Eton 1821, and left it in 1827. He 
became a student of Christ Church, Oxford, 
in 1829, and left college in 1831, having 
taken high honours. After leaving Oxford 
he sftent six months in Italy. In 1832 the 
first Reform Act was passed, and Mr. Glad¬ 
stone’s public career commenced by his being 



Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone 


returned for Newark, and when Peel assumed 
office in 1834 he accepted the post of Junior 
Lord of the Treasury. At this period he 
was a Tory, and as his party quickly went 
out it was not until 1841 that he again held 
any public office, in which j'ear he became, 
under Peel, Vice-president of the Board of 
Trade and Master of the Mint. In 1842 
great fiscal reforms were inaugurated, some 
of which were understood to be due to Mr. 
Gladstone, Having become President of 
the Board of Trade, he carried, in 1843, a 
measure for the abolition of restrictions on 
the exportation of machinery, and in 1844 
he carried a railway bill, establishing cheap 
trains. He took part with Peel in the repeal 
of the corn-laws, a course which cost him 
his seat for Newai^<. In 1847 he was re¬ 
turned for Oxford University, and he then 
supported the bill for the removal of Jew¬ 
ish disabilities, the repeal of the Navigation 
Laws, &c. He now began to develop re¬ 
markable ability as a financier, and fiercely 
attacked IMr. Disraeli’s Budget of 1852. 
The same year he became Chancellor of the 


Exchequer under the Earl of Aberdeen, a 
j)ost which he also held for a short time in 
1855 under Lord Palmerston. In 1858 he 
became High Commissioner Extraordinary 
to the Ionian Islands, and his Studies on 
Homer appeared about the same time. In 
1859 he again took office as Chancellor of 
the Exchequer under Lord Palmerston. At 
the genei'al election of 1865 Mr. Gladstone 
was returned for South Lancashire, and on 
the decease of Lord Palmerston he be¬ 
came the Liberal leader in the Commons 
in the Russell administration, still continu¬ 
ing to hold the Chancellorship of the Ex¬ 
chequer. The Government, being defeated 
on the reform question, went out in 1866, 
and Lord Derby came into power. In 1867 
a Reform Bill, establishing household suf¬ 
frage in burghs, was carried by the Con¬ 
servatives, but to the final shape of it Mr. 
Gladstone and Mr, Bright materially contri¬ 
buted. In 1868 Mr, Gladstone succeeded 
in abolishing compulsory church rates, and 
he also carried his resolutions dealing with 
the Irish Church, but his Irish Church Sus¬ 
pensory Bill was rejected by the Lords, At 
the general election of 1868 he lost his seat 
for South Lancashire, but was returned by 
Greenwich. There being a great Liberal 
majority in the new parliament Mr. Dis¬ 
raeli was soon forced to resign, and Mr. 
Gladstone became premier. Next year he 
carried his bill for the disestablishment of 
the Irish Church, and in 1870 his Irish 
Land Act. In 1871 army purchase was 
abolished. The Ballot Act was passed in 
1872, the Alabama claims were settled, and 
the Scottish Education Act enrolled on the 
statute-book. Paidiament was dissolved in 
1874, and the Conservatives ousted ]\Ir. 
Gladstone from office, as they had secured 
a good majority. During Lord Beacons- 
field’s tenure of office Mr. Gladstone de¬ 
nounced the Bulgarian atrocities, the Anglo- 
Turkish Treaty, and the Afghan War, and 
his speeches during his candidature for ]\lid- 
lothian greatly helped to render the gov¬ 
ernment unpopular. In 1880 the general 
election reinstated Mr. Gladstone firmly 
into power (Midlothian being now his con¬ 
stituency), and his second Irish Land Bill 
became law in the following year. In 1882 
a Prevention of Crimes and an Arrears Act 
for Ireland were passed, and in 1883 mea¬ 
sures relating to bankruptcy, &c., were also 
carried. In 1884 the bill extending house¬ 
hold suffrage to the counties was carried, 
and the Gladstone ministry fell the next 

200 




GLAGOLITIC ALPHABET-GLANVIL. 


year. Lord Salisbury, who had formed an 
administration, got the Redistribution of 
Seats Bill passed, and under it took place the 
general election of 1885, Mr. Gladstone still 
continuing to represent Midlothian. Next 
year Lord Salisbury resigned after an ad verse 
vote in the Commons, and Mr. Gladstone 
again came into power. He soon startled 
the country by introducing a measure of 
Home Rule for Ireland (April 8, 1886). It 
failed to pass the Commons, and an appeal 
1 was made to the country, the result of which 
I was emphatically adverse to Mr. Gladstone’s 
■ ’'(>T)()sals. He had to make way for Lord 
Salisbury. In 1892 the result was again 
reversed; Gladstone once more resumed 
authority; he resigned March 2,1894. Died 
May 19,1898; interred with a State funeral 
at Westminster Abbey. 

Glagolitic Alphabet, an ancient Slavonic 
alphabet. The Slavonic languages have 
from very ancient times been written with 
two alphabets, the glagolitic and cyrillic. 
The latter is the modern Slavonic and Rus¬ 
sian alphabet; the former is still used in 
Istria, Croatia, and Dalmatia, and its use 
has been authoidzed in the Ronaan Catholic 
liturgies of those districts. 

Glair, the white of eggs, used as a var¬ 
nish for preserving paintings. Bookbinders 
also use it for finishing the backs of books. 

Glaisher, James, born 1800, celebrated 
aeronaut and meteorologist. His balloon 
ascent of 37,000 ft. is the highest on record. 
He is president of the Meteorological De¬ 
partment of the Board of Trade. 

Glamor'gan, or Glamorganshire, a 
county in South Wales; area, 516,959. acres. 
The north and north-east parts of the county 
are extremely mountainous, and often ex¬ 
hibit scenes of the most romantic beauty. 
The southern portion is comparatively level 
and very fertile, particularly the vale of Gla¬ 
morgan. The climate in this part is remark¬ 
ably mild, as snow does not lie long on the 
ground, and tender shrubs thrive in the open 
air. Glamorganshire belongs wholly to the 
basin of the Severn; and all its streams, 
of which the Taff is the largest, flow in a 
south direction. The cattle are reckoned 
among the best in Wales. The mineral 
wealth of Glamorganshire is of incalculable 
value. Its coal-fields, its stores of ironstone 
and limestone, are most extensive, and the 
ironworks of Dowlais and Cyfarthfa are 
among the largest in the world. The wool¬ 
len manufacture is carried on to some ex¬ 
tent. Principal towns—Cardiff, the capital; 

201 


Merthyr-Tydfil, Swansea, and Neath. The 
county returns five members to the House 
of Commons. Pop. 1891, 687,147. 

Glance, a name given to some minerals 
which possess a metallic or pseudo-metallic 
lustre; as antimony glance, bismuth glance, 
cohalt glance, &c. 

Glance-coal. See Anthracite. 

Glanders, one of the most formidable 
diseases to which horses are subject, indi¬ 
cated by a discharge of purulent matter from 
one or both nostrils, with a hard enlarge¬ 
ment of the submaxillary glands. In acute 
glanders the discharge, by its copiousness, 
impedes respiration and ultimately produces 
suffocation. The disease is highly infectious, 
and may even be communicated to man by 
the purulent matter coming in contact with 
any part where the skin is broken. The 
disease is rarely if ever cured. See also the 
article Farcy. 

Glands, a certain class of structures in 
animals, some of them forming organs which 
are the seat of an excretion, and provided 
with an excretory canal. In man there are 
two lachrymal glands, situated at the external 
angle of the eyes under the upper eyelid; 
six salivary, of which three are on each side, 
behind and under the lower jaw; two parotid, 
two submaxillary, two sublingual, two mam¬ 
mary, confined to the female (the breasts in 
women); the liver, the pancreas, the two 
kidneys, &c. The lymphatic glands, which 
take up and elaborate the lymph, are some¬ 
what different from these in character; and 
still more different are certain other bodies 
so denominated, as the spleen, thymus, 
pineal, &c. Botanists have given the name 
of glands to small bodies observed upon the 
surfaces of plants, and many of which seem 
to secrete certain fluids. 

Glanvil, or Glanville, Ranulph de, 
English lawyer and warrior of the 12th cen¬ 
tury. In the reign of Henry II. he held the 
office of justiciary, and repelled the invasion 
of William the Lion, king of Scotland, who 
was taken prisoner as he was besieging the 
Castle of Alnwick. Richard I. is said to 
have imprisoned Glanvil, and obliged him to 
purchase his freedom with £15,000 towards a 
crusade to the Holy Land. He accompanied 
his master on this expedition, and perished 
at the siege of Acre in 1190. To Glanvil 
is attributed a treatise on the laws and cus¬ 
toms of England (de Legibus et Consuetu- 
dinibus Angliae), written about 1181, and 
first printed in the year 1554, being the 
earliest treatise on English law. 



GLAEUS — 

Glams (glii'ros), a Swiss canton, sur¬ 
rounded by St. Gall, the- Orisons, Uri, and 
Schwyz, area 266 sq. miles. On all sides, 
except towards the north, Glarus is walled 
in by lofty mountains; lakes are numerous, 
and the scenery in their neighbourhood is 
magnificent. The inhabitants are chiefly 
engaged in the cotton manufacture and in 
agricultural pursuits, rearing sheep and 
cattle, and exporting cheese, butter, &c. 
The constitution is a pure democracy. Pop. 
34,213. The capital, Glarus, situated on 
the Linth amid grand scenery, is a well- 
built town, with a good trade. Pop. 5330. 

Glas'gow, the largest city in Scotland, 
and probably the second largest in Britain, 
is situated mainly in the county of Lanark 
(a small portion being in Eenfrew), on both 
banks of the Clyde, the larger and more 
important part of it on the right or north 
bank. The southern portion is built on 
low-lying level ground, the northern portion 
to a great extent on a series of elevations 
of varying heights. The river is crossed by 
bridges and ferries, the former being eight 
in all including railway bridges. The streets 
are in general wide and straight, running 
mostly at right angles east and west, and 
north and south. Of the former may be 
mentioned as a great thoroughfare the Tron- 
gate and its continuation Argyle Street, of 
the latter Buchanan Street. The houses are 
built almost wholly of freestone, and as a 
whole Glasgow is now excelled by few cities 
in the kingdom in architectural beaiity and 
amenity of appearance. Of the buildings the 
Cathedral, situated in the north-east of the 
city, is the most noteworthy. It is supposed 
to have been begun about 1240, and com¬ 
pleted within the next two centuries. It is 
a large Gothic edifice in the early Pointed 
style, with tower and spire from the centre; 
length of interior 319 feet; width 63 feet; 
height of nave 90 feet, of choir 85 feet, spire 
225 feet. It is especially distinguished for 
the beauty of its crypt, one of the most per¬ 
fect in Britain. The windows are filled 
with painted glass on a uniform plan. The 
new University buildings, in the west end of 
the city, cover about 4 acres of ground on a 
splendid site. They form an oblong rectan¬ 
gular pile in the Collegiate Gothic style of 
the 14th century, 600 feet long by 300 broad, 
divided into two quadrangles of 180 feet 
square, united by a centre building, and 
with a tower nearly 300 feet high. Con¬ 
nected with the university is the Hunterian 
Museum of anatomy, natural history, &c., 


■ GLASGOW. 

left by Dr. William Hunter. The Muni¬ 
cipal Buildings, in the centre of the city, in 
George Square, form an imposing pile in the 
Renaissance style. They wei-e completed in 
1887. A new infirmary, the Western, has 
been built near the new university. The 
old infirmary is near the cathedral. Other 
noteworthy buildings are the Free Church 
College, the Royal Exchange, the Stock 
Exchange, the Post Office, the St. Enoch 
Station and Central Station Hotels, several 
club-houses, banks, and insurance offices. 
Most of the public monuments are collected 
in George Square, the finest square in the 
city. Glasgow has several public parks, the 
largest, the Green, containing 140 acres. 
There are also Botanic Gardens with ex¬ 
tensive hot-houses. There is a collection 
of pictures belonging to the city, and con¬ 
taining a number of very valuable works 
especially of the Venetian school. The prin¬ 
cipal libraries are the University Library, 
the Mitchell Free Library, the libraries of 
the Faculty of Medicine and of the Faculty 
of Procurators, and the combined Glasgow 
and Stirling’s Libraries. St. Andrew’s Halls 
are the finest suite of {lublic halls. There 
are five theatres. The principal cemetery 
is the Necropolis, on a rising ground near 
the cathedral, and full of fine monuments. 
Among educational institutions after the 
university are Anderson’s College Medical 
School, St. Mungo’s College, the Glasgow 
and West of Scotland Technical College, the 
Free Church College, Queen Margaret Col¬ 
lege for women, the normal institutions of 
the Established Church and Free Church, 
the Glasgow School of Art, the Veterinary 
College, the High School, under the manage¬ 
ment of the School Board, and the Glasgow 
Academy. The industries are unequalled for 
variety by any town in the kingdom, with 
the exception, perhaps, of London. They 
embrace cotton, linen, woollen, silk, and jute, 
in all the processes of manufacture; calico- 
printing, dyeing, and bleaching; pig and 
malleable iron and steel, and machinery and 
metal goods of all descriptions; shipbuilding, 
which might almost be called a staple, over 
400,000 tons of shij)pinghavingbeen launched 
in some years on the Clyde; extensive chem¬ 
ical works, potteries, glass-works, brick¬ 
works, breweries, distilleries, tanneries, 
tobacco - works, sugar-refining works, &c. 
The commerce is commensurate in extent 
with the manufactures. The river itself, 
the chief highway of this commerce, has 
been made navigable for large vessels up 

202 




GLASGOW-GLASGOW UNIVERSITY. 



to the heart of the city, and the harbour episcopacy in Scotland met in Glasgow 
accommodation has been and is still being Cathedral in 1638. In 1715 and 1745 Glas- 
extended by the construction of docks, gow was conspicuously loyal to the reigning 
quays, and other improvements. The value family. Up till the Union its trade was 
of foreign and colonial produce imported in chiefly with the European Continent. The 
1887 amounted to £i 1,346,347, that of the Union opened up the trade with the Ame- 
home produce exported was £12,746,899. rican colonies, and tobacco became a source 
The improvement of the navigation of the of wealth to the Glasgow merchants. Lat- 
Clyde, which within the present century was terly commerce began to take other direc- 


fordable at and 
below the present 
harbour of Glas¬ 
gow, has been of 
immense service 
to the city, though 
the total cost of 
deepening, widen¬ 
ing, straighten¬ 
ing, and the 
construction of 
quays, docks, &c., 
has exceeded 
£10,000,000. The 
railways and the 
Forth and Clyde 
and Monkland 
Canals form im¬ 
portant auxiliary 
means of commu¬ 
nication. Horse 
tramways pass 
along the princi¬ 
pal streets. In a 
sanitary point of 
view Glasgow has 
greatly improved 
in recent times, 
but it still re¬ 
mains less heal¬ 
thy than it might 
be. During the 
years 1896-97 the whole municipal ex¬ 
penses were defrayed without any direct 
taxation ; the profits made by the city in 
street-cleaning, gas, water, tramways, &c., 
leaving a margin over all costs of govern¬ 
ment. The city is well supplied with 
water from Loch Katrine. The works are 
capable of supplying 50,000,000 gallons 
daily, and operations are in progress for 
largely increasing the supply.—The origin 
of the city may be traced back to the foun¬ 
dation of the bishopric by St. Mungo about 
560. It was erected into a royal burgh in 
1180. The first bridge was built in 1345. 
In 1546 the shipping of Glasgow is men¬ 
tioned in an order of the privy-council. 
The General Assembly which abolished 


The Trongate, Glasgow. 


tions, and the pro¬ 
gress made with¬ 
in the present 
century has been 
very remarkable. 
In 1816 the first 
vessel was de¬ 
spatched to the 
East Indies. Pre¬ 
vious to 1832 
Glasgow joined 
Rutherglen, Ren¬ 
frew, and Dum¬ 
barton in sending 
a member to par¬ 
liament ; it then 
got two members 
to itself, another 
being added in 
1868; in 1885 its 
representatives 
w'ere increased to 
seven. Pop. in 
1610, 7644; 1712, 
13,832; 1801, 

77,385; popula¬ 
tion of the muni¬ 
cipal borough in 
1881, 510,816; in¬ 
cluding suburban 
districts, 704,436; 
ofllcial popula¬ 
tion with suburbs in 1891, 792,728. 

Glasgow University was founded by a 
bull of Pope Nicholas V., 1450-51, which 
conferred not only the power of creating 
masters and doctors, but privileges and im¬ 
munities identical with those of the Univer¬ 
sity of Bologna. In 1577 James VI. pre¬ 
scribed rules for the government of the Uni¬ 
versity, giving it a new charter. In 1858 it 
was reconstituted by the Scottish Universi¬ 
ties Act, the constitution being similar to that 
of the other Scottish universities. (See Edin- 
huryli University.) The old University build¬ 
ings and ground w^ere sold to the Glasgow 
Union Railway Co. in 1864 for £100,000, 
a sum which, supplemented by University 
funds, government grant, public subscrip- 


203 




































GLASS. 


tions and donations, has enabled upwards of 
£600,000 to be expended on fine new build¬ 
ings in the west end of Glasgow. The 
University comprises four faculties, viz., 
those of arts, theology, law, and medicine, 
each of which embraces a suitable equip¬ 
ment of chairs and professors, the latter 
numbering 28 in all, besides several lectu¬ 
rers. The exhibitions, scholarships, bur¬ 
saries, and prizes have an annual value of 
about £8000. The most valuable are the 
George A. Clark scholarships, four in num¬ 
ber, tenable for four years, and each about 
£200 in annual value. The examinations 
for these are in classical literature, mental 
philosophy, mathematics, and naturalscience. 
The Snell Exhibitions, each at present about 
£80 in annual value, and tenable for five 
years, are intended to assist students study¬ 
ing at Oxford University. There are also 
a Black Theological Fellowship, value £140; 
the Luke Fellowship, value £120; the Met¬ 
calfe Fellowship, value £100; and two Eg- 
linton Fellowships, value £100 each. The 
degrees conferred are: M.A., B.Sc., B.D., 
D.D., B.L., LL.B., LL.D., M.B., C.M., 
M.D. The matriculated students usually 
number about 2200. Along with the Uni¬ 
versity of Aberdeen Glasgow University re¬ 
turns a member to parliament. The Uni¬ 
versity library numbers about 110,000 
volumes, and is constantly being augmented. 
It has a grant of £707 annually from the 
treasury. 

Glass, an artificial substance, hard, brittle, 
and in its finest qualities quite transparent, 
formed by the fusion of silicious matters 
with an alkali. Of the origin of its manu¬ 
facture nothing is known, but the ancient 
Egyptians carried the art to great perfec¬ 
tion, and are known to have practised it as 
early as 2000 b.c., if not earlier. The As¬ 
syrians, the Phoenicians, the Greeks and 
Etruscans were all acquainted with the 
manufacture. The Romans attained pecu¬ 
liar excellence in glass-making, and among 
them it was applied to a great variety of 
purposes. Among the most beautiful speci¬ 
mens of their art are the vases adorned with 
engraved figures in relief; they were some¬ 
times transparent, sometimes of different 
colours on a dark ground, and very deli¬ 
cately executed. The Portland or Barberini 
vase is almost the only surviving specimen 
of this kind. The mode of preparing glass 
was known long before it was thought of 
making windows of it. The first mention 
of this mode of using glass is to be found in 


Lactantius, in the 3d century after Christ. 
St. Jerome also speaks of it being so used 
(422 A.D,). Benedict Biscop introduced glass 
windows into Britain in A.D. 674. In church 
windows it was used from the 3d century. 
The Venetians were long celebrated for their 
glass manufacture, which was established 
before 700 a.d. Britain did not become 
distinguished for glass until about the com¬ 
mencement of the 16th century. The ex¬ 
cise laws relative to the glass manufac¬ 
ture were at one time complicated in the 
extreme, and tended to check improvements 
in glass-making. These laws were repealed 
in 1845 by Sir Robert Peel, as part of his 
free-trade policy, and beneficial effects were 
immediately apparent in the improved qua¬ 
lity, cheapness, and greater variety of de¬ 
scriptions of glass produced. Britain both 
exports and imports glass, the value of the 
imports being usually above that of exports. 
Glass is largely made in France, Germany, 
Belgium, and the U. States. For coloured 
glass Bohemia has long had a high reputa¬ 
tion. 

Glass is formed by the fusion of silicious 
matter, such as powdered flint or fine sand, 
together with some alkali, alkaline earth, 
salt, or metallic oxide. The nature of the 
glass will depend upon the quality and pro¬ 
portion of the ingredients of which it is 
formed; and thus an infinite variety of 
kinds of glass may be made, but in com¬ 
merce five kinds are usually recognized: 
1. Bottle or coarse green glass. 2. Broad, 
spread, or sheet window-glass. 3. Crown- 
glass, or the best window-glass. 4. Plate- 
glass, or glass of pure soda. 5. Flint-glass, 
or glass of lead. Coloured glass may be 
mentioned as a sixth kind. The physical 
properties of glass are of the highest im¬ 
portance. Perhaps the chief of these is its 
transparency, and next to that its resistance 
to acids (except hydrofluoric). It preserves 
its transparency in a considerable heat, and 
its expansibility is less than that of any 
other known solid. Its great ductility, 
when heated, is also a remarkable property. 
It can, in this state, be drawn into ail shapes, 
and even be spun into the finest threads. 
It is a bad conductor of heat, and is very 
brittle. It is usually cut by the diamond. 

The works in which glass is made are 
called glass-houses. They are commonly 
constructed of brick, and made of conical 
form. A large vault is made in the inte¬ 
rior of the cone, extending from side to side, 
and of sufficient height to allow workmen 

204 




GLASS. 


to wheel in and out rubbish from beneath 
the furnace, which is placed over the vault, 
and separated from it by an iron grating. 
The materials used for the formation of the 
glass are sometimes calcined in a calcar or 
fritting furnace, and a chemical union be¬ 
tween the ingredients commenced, forming 
a frit. But this process is not essential, 
and the materials, after being ground and 
thoroughly mixed up together, are now usu¬ 
ally placed at once in melting pots or cru¬ 
cibles made of Stourbridge fire-clay, or other 
similar material, the melting-pots being then 
placed in the melting furnace or oven. This 
is a kind of reverberatory furnace, is often 
circular in form, arched or domed above, 
and capable of keeping up an intense heat. 
The crucibles are placed in .the furnace at 
equal distances from each other round the 
circumference, each pot being opposite to 
an opening in the wall of the furnace in 
order that the crucible may be charged or 
discharged by the workman from without. 
In recent times a furnace called a tank 
furnace has come into use and enables melt¬ 
ing pots to be dispensed with, as the mate¬ 
rial can be melted in and worked from the 
furnace directly. The use of the annealing 
furnace, is also essential in glass-making, 
the process of allowing the glass to cool 
there being called annealing. Unless this 
process be carefully managed, the articles 
formed in the glass-house can be of no use, 
from their liability to break by the slight¬ 
est scratch or change of temperature. 

Sheet glass is the commonest description 
of glass. It is composed of various ingre¬ 
dients in varying proportions, usually of 
sand, chalk, or limestone, sulphate of soda, 
and cullet or broken glass. A coarse va¬ 
riety of it may be made of a mixture 
of Wo parts by measure of soap-boilers’ 
waste, one of soda-ash and one of cleaned 
sand. In France the materials employed 
are commonly:—sand 100 parts, sulphate 
of soda 30, carbonate of lime 30, coke to 
aid in the reduction of the sulphate of soda 
5, with some bioxide of manganese to cor¬ 
rect the greenish tinge that glass with a 
soda base possesses. When the materials 
are properly melted a quantity is taken 
out of the pot on the end of an iron tube 
about 5 ft. long, and the workman by blow¬ 
ing into and swinging the tube while heat¬ 
ing and reheating the glass, imparts a cylin¬ 
drical shape to the newly-formed product. 
The rounded extremity of the cylinder (which 
may be 4 ft. long or more) is softened in 

205 


the furnace in order to enable the workman 
to blow a hole in it. This opening may be 
made by heating the cylinder and then 
stopping up the tube with the thumb, when 
the expansion of the air causes the cylinder 
to bui’st open at the end. The other rounded 
end is detached after cooling by winding 
round its circumference a thread of red hot 
glass, which causes a clear fracture. The 
cylinder is now split open parallel to its 
axis by a diamond, and then conveyed to 
ihQ flattening furnace where it is heated and 
opened out into a flat sheet of glass. It is 
afterwards placed in the annealing furnace. 

Crown glass is differently formed by dif¬ 
ferent makers, but its composition is essen¬ 
tially the same as the best sheet glass. It 
used to be the only window-glass made in 
Britain, but its manufacture has been almost 
or altogether superseded by that of sheet 
glass. The ingredients being melted and at 
the proper temperature, a quantity of the 
glass is withdrawn by the tube (to the 
amount, by successive addition, usually of 
10 lbs. in all). By various manipulations 
this from having the form of a hollow ob¬ 
late spheroid is made to assume the form of 
a thin circular plate, with a thick part called 
the buWs eye in the centre, being the point 
at which an iron rod was attached to it for 
the purpose of causing it to revolve rapidly 
and spread out into a sheet before the fur¬ 
nace. The bull’s eye used to be commonly 
seen in the windows of humble dwellings, 
the pieces of glass containing them being 
cheap. 

Flint-glass or Crystal is one of the kinds 
largely made, being employed especially for 
table utensils, globes, ornaments, &c. Pow¬ 
dered flint was formerly employed in its 
manufacture, but fine white sand has been 
substituted. The other materials are red- 
lead or litharge, and pearl-ash (carbonate 
of potash). The following is said to be a 
good mixture ;—Fine white sand, 300 parts; * 
red-lead or litharge, 200; refined pearl-ash, 
86; nitre, 20; with a small quantity of ar¬ 
senic and manganese. The furnace is kept 
at a very high temperature until the whole 
of the materials are fused. When the glass 
becomes translucent the temperature is di¬ 
minished until it becomes a tenacious mass. 
Suppose a glass vessel is to be made, the 
iron tube is put into the crucible, and 
the required quantity of glass lifted out, 
which after certain adjustments is rolled 
into a cylindrical form on an iron table 
called the merver or rnarver. The workman 





GLASS. 


then blows the glass into the form of a 
hollow globe, and re-heats and blows until 
the globe becomes of the required thinness. 
An iron rod called ihepunty is now attached 
to the end of the glass fui'thest from the 
tube, and the tube detached. The workman 
now heats the glass on the punty, and sitting 
down upon a chair with smooth arms, he lays 
the punty upon them, and rolling it with his 
left hand he gives the glass a rotatory mo¬ 
tion, while with an instrument in his right, 
somew'^hat like a pair of sugar-tongs, he en¬ 
larges or contracts the different parts of the 
vessel until it assumes the requisite shape. 
A pair of shears is also made use of in certain 
cases. The article is then detached from the 
punty, and carried to the annealing furnace. 
Many of the articles, after coming from 
the annealing furnace, are sent to the cutter 
or grinder. The operation of grinding is 
performed by w^heels of various diameter 
and of various edges, some of iron, others of 
stone, and some of wood. Rich and delicate 
designs may be cut upon the articles bv 
means of small wheels of copper and steel 
upon which emery is kept constantly falling. 
Ornamental figures may also be engraved, 
or rather etched, upon articles of glass by 
means of hydrofluoric acid, care being taken 
to place a coating of some substance over 
the parts not to be acted upon. Various 
ornamental forms are given to the surface 
of glass vessels by metallic moulds. The 
mould is usually of copper, wdth the figure 
cut on its inside, and opens with hinges to 
permit the glass to be taken out. The angles 
of moulded objects are always less sharp 
than those of cut-glass. 

Green or bottle-glass is formed of the 
coarsest materials, such as coarse sea or 
river sand, lime, and clay, and the most in¬ 
ferior alkalies, as soap-boilers’ waste, and 
the slag of iron ore. A cheap mixture 
for this kind of glass may be made of com¬ 
mon sand and lime, with a little clay and 
sea salt. I’he manipulations of the glass- 
blower in fashioning bottle-glass into va¬ 
rious forms are in general the same as those 
performed by the flint-glass blower. Wine 
and beer bottles, which are required to 
be all of a certain capacity, are blown in 
moulds, so that their containing portion 
may be as nearly as possible of the requi¬ 
site size. When the articles are made they 
are carried to the annealing furnace. Green 
bottle-glass is preferable to all other kinds 
for vessels required to contain corrosive sub¬ 
stances; it is less fusible than flint glass, and 


thus is better calculated for many chemi¬ 
cal purposes. 

Plate-glass is a fine and thick glass cast 
in sheets. One maker’s ingredients are as 
follow's:—w'hite sand, 300 lbs.; soda, 200; 
lime, 30; oxide of manganese, 2; oxide of 
cobalt, 3 oz.; and fragments of glass (cullet) 
equal to the w’eight of sand. After being 
melted in large crucibles, and the liquid 
glass having been thoroughly skimmed, it 
is transferred by a copper ladle to smaller 
pots (cuvettes). When the glass in the smaller 
crucible is ready for casting it is poured 
upon an iron casting'table, and a large metal 
cylinder moved along spreads the glass into 
a broad uniform sheet. The subsequent 
stages of the process are concerned with the 
discovery of flaws, the squaring of the edges, 
the grinding of the surfaces plane, the grind¬ 
ing of the sides, and the polishing. Before 
grinding and polishing the glass is what is 
called common ‘rough plate,’ and in this 
state it is much used for roofing, cellar¬ 
lighting, &c., being non-transparent. ‘ Rolled 
plate,’ which is cast on a table that imparts 
a surface of grooves, flutings, lines, &c., is 
extensively used for the same purposes. 

There are several other kinds of glass 
that may be noticed. Pressed glass is flint- 
glass formed into articles by pressing into 
moulds of iron or bronze, a fine surface 
being afterwards attained by heating so that 
a thin film on the surface melts. Slag glass 
is glass from the slag of blast-furnaces mixed 
with other ingredients; it is largely used for 
bottles. Optical' glass is made of special 
varieties of flint and crown glass. Strass, 
which is used for imitating gems, is a very 
dense flint-glass, colours being imparted by 
metallic oxides. Sjmn glass is glass in the 
form of very fine threads, in which state it 
may be woven into textile fabrics of great 
beauty. Toughened or hardened glass, hav¬ 
ing certain properties owing to its being 
heated to the melting point and plunged 
into an oleaginous mixture, was introduced 
some time ago, but has not answered the 
expectations formed of it. 

Coloured Glass .—Coloured glass is of two 
kinds—entirely coloured, the colouring mat¬ 
ter being melted along with the other in¬ 
gredients ; or partially coloured, a quantity 
of white glass being gathered from one pot, 
and dipped into the other containing the 
coloured glass, by which the whole receives 
a skin of coloured glass. The colouring 
matters are chiefly the metallic oxides. A 
beautiful yellow colour is inipartod by silver 

20G 




ULASSITES- 

in union with alumina (powdered clay and 
chloride of silver being used), also by uranium 
and by glass of antimony; red colours by 
oxide of iron, copper, and gold; green by 
protoxide of iron, oxide of copper, oxide of 
chromium, &c.; blue by cobalt; orange by 
peroxide of iron with chloride of silver. 
Bohemia is particularly famous for its manu¬ 
factures of articles in coloured srlass. 

Glassites, a religious body founded in 
Scotland in the last century by John Glass, 
a minister of the Established Church. They 
maintain certain practices, such as weekly 
communions, love - feasts, washing each 
other’s feet, and mutual exhortations. They 
disapprove of all games of chance, and of 
all use of the lot except for sacred purposes. 

Glass-painting, the art of producing pic¬ 
tures upon glass with colours that are burned 
in, or by the use of pieces of coloured glass, 
in which the colour forms part of the com¬ 
position of the glass itself. Originally there 
was but one method of making ornamental 
glass windows, which was by the latter pro¬ 
cess : the pieces of stained or coloured glass 
were cut to the desired shape, and let into 
the grooves of finely-made leaden frames 
which formed the pattern in outline, so 
that the pictures resembled mosaic work. 
In the sixteenth century, the enamel colours 
having been discovered, a new process came 
into vogue, the designs being now painted 
on the glass and burned in. At the present 
day the two methods, or a combination of 
the two, are chiefly employed, the mosaic- 
enamel method being the most common, 
and consisting of a combination of these two. 
The chief seats of the art in Britain are 
Birmingham and Edinburgh; in France, 
Paris and Sbvres; and in Germany, Munich 
and Nurnberg. 

Glass Paper, or Cloth, is made by strew¬ 
ing finely pounded glass on a sheet of paper 
or cloth which has been besmeared with a 
coat of thin glue, the glue being still wet. 
It is much used for polishing metal and 
wood-work. 

Glass Snake, a lizard, genus Opltiosaurits, 
in form resembling a serpent, and reaching 
a length of 3 feet. The joints of the tail 
are not connected by caudal muscles, hence 
it is extremely brittle, and one or more of 
the joints break off when the animal is even 
slightly irritated. 

Glass-sponges. See Sponges. 

Glass'wort, a name given to the plants of 
the genus Salicornia, nat. order Cheno[)o- 
diacese,succulent marine herbs growing abun- 

207 


— GLAZING. 

dantly on the coasts in the south of Europe 
and north of Africa, and yielding by burn¬ 
ing ashes containing soda, formerly much 
employed in making both soap and glass. 
Two or three species are natives of Britain. 

Glastonbury, a town of England, county 
of Somerset, which derives interest from the 
ruins of its once magnificent Benedictine 
abbey, now consisting of some fragments of 
the church, the chapel of St. Josej>h of 
Arimathea, and what is called the abbot’s 
kitchen. Its abbots sat among the barons 
in Parliament. The last was hanged on a 
neighbouring eminence by order of Henry 
VIII. for refusing to surrender the abbey. 
Pop. 3719. 

Glatz, a town of Prussia, province of 
Silesia, on the Neisse, 51 miles s.s.w. of 
Breslau ; manufactures of linen, cotton, and 
woollen goods, leather, carpets, &c. It has 
a fortress or citadel, now of little importance. 
Pop. 13,588. 

Glauber, John Hudolph, a German 
chemist, born in 1603 or 1604. His life 
seems to have been somewhat unsettled—at 
least he resided in many different places— 
Vienna, Saltzburg, Frankfort, Kitzingen, 
Cologne, and Basel, and finally in Amster¬ 
dam, where he died in 1668. He is chiefly 
remembered for his discovery of sulphate of 
soda or Glauber's Salt, which he termed sal 
rnirabile, in consequence of his great faith 
in its medicinal qualities. 

Glauber’s Salt, sulphate of sodium, so 
called because of the importance attached 
to its chemical and medicinal properties by 
Glauber. It forms large colourless mono¬ 
clinic prisms, which effioresce on exposure 
to the air. It is soluble in water, and when 
heated melts in its water of crystallization. 
It is found in many localities, both dissolved 
in the water of mineral-springs and of salt 
lakes, round which it effloresces. 

Glauchau (glou'Aou), a manufacturing 
town of Saxony, on the Mulde, 54 miles 
w.s.w. of Dresden. It has manufactures of 
woollens, carpets, linens, leather, dye-works, 
print-fields, and worsted mills. Pop. 21,715. 

Glauco'ma, in med. an almost incurable 
disease of the eye, in which the eyeball be¬ 
comes of stony hardness by the accumulation 
of fluid within, and the consequent increase 
of pressure causes disorganization of all the 
tissues. Loss of sight is sometimes very 
rapid. Called also Glaucosis. 

Glazing, is the covering of earthenware 
vessels with a vitreous coating in order to 
prevent their being penetrated by fluicb. 








GLEANING-GLENDOWER. 


The materials of common glass would afford 
the most perfect glazing were it not that a 
glazing of this sort is liable to cracks when 
exposed to changes of temperature. A mix¬ 
ture of equal parts of oxide of lead and 
ground flint is found to be a durable glaze 
for the common cream-coloured ware, and is 
generally used for that purpose. See Pot¬ 
tery. 

Gleaning, the gathering by poor people 
of the loose ears of corn left uncared for by 
reapers. This is a common practice in Eng¬ 
land, and it used to be believed that the 
poor could legally claim to be allowed to do 
so; but it has been decided otherwise at law. 

Glebe, in the established churches of Eng¬ 
land and Scotland, the land possessed as part 
of the revenue of an ecclesiastical benefice, 
usually along with a dwelling-house. The 
incumbent may be regarded as the proprietor 
of the glebe for the time being, but he can¬ 
not alienate it. In Scotland, where lands 
are arable, the glebe must consist of 4 acres 
at least. The glebe must be taken as near 
the manse as possible. 

Gleditsch'ia, a genus of plants, order Le- 
guminosse, to which G. triacanthos, the 
honey-locust, belongs. 

Glee, in music, a composition in three or 
more parts, generally consisting of more than 
one movement, the subject of which may 
vary greatly, from grave to gay, &c. In¬ 
strumental accompaniment is illegitimate. 

Gleemen, itinerant singers in the Anglo- 
Saxon period of English history. After the 
Norman conquest they were termed min¬ 
strels. 

Gleiwitz (gli'vits), a town, Prussia, pro¬ 
vince of Silesia, on the Klodnitz. It has 
an extensive government iron-work, foun¬ 
dries, machine-works, glass-works, worsted 
and other mills, &c. Pop. 17,660. 

Glencoe (glen-ko'), a romantic Scottish 
valley in the county of Argyle, near the 
head of Loch Etive. It is bounded on both 
sides by almost perpendicular mountains 
over 3000 feet high, and is traversed by a 
mountain stream, Ossian’s ‘dark torrent of 
Cona.’ The valley was the scene of a tragedy 
known as the IMassacre of Glencoe. The 
state of the Highlands after 1690 was a 
subject of great anxiety to the government. 
Although the Highlanders had ceased any 
important operations since the death of 
Dundee at Killiecrankie, they had not laid 
down their arms. In 1691 a proclamation 
was issued promising ])ardon to all who 
should swear allegiance on or before 31st 


December, 1691. All the chiefs, with the 
exception of. one Ian of Glencoe, complied. 
The latter had unfortunately exceeded the 
prescribed period, and a certificate which he 
produced to prove that he had offered to take 
the oaths at Fort-William was suppressed, 
as is thought, by Stair. The king’s signa¬ 
ture was obtained to an order to extirpate 
the MacDonalds. On the 1st of February 
a party of soldiers, 120 in number, com¬ 
manded by Captain Campbell of Glenlyon, 
marched up the glen and took quarters as 
friends. The soldiers belonged mostly to 
the clan Campbell, enemies of the Mac¬ 
Donalds ; but they were well treated, and 
all went merrily on for twelve days. At 
five in the morning of the 13th Glenlyon 
and his men suddenly fell on the Mac¬ 
Donalds. Thirty-eight men were murdered, 
but many who had escaped perished in the 
snow, sank into bogs, or died for lack of 
food. Much obloquy has been heaped upon 
King William on account of his share in 
the massacre, but the utmost of what he 
would seem to have been guilty was care¬ 
lessness in signing without investigation the 
order mentioned above. 

Glendower, Owen, a distinguished figure 
in Welsh history, born about 1350. At an 
early age he was sent to London, and studied 
for the bar, but relinquished the profession 
on being appointed an esquire to Richard II., 
whom he supported to the last. He carried 
on a contest with Lord Grey de Ruthyn re¬ 
specting an estate, and the latter being 
charged with the delivery of a summons to 
Owen from Henry, to attend him on his 
Scottish expedition, purposely neglected to 
deliver it. Glendower was outlawed for 
disaffection, and his enemy seized upon his 
lands. Glendower dispossessed Grey of his 
lands, and, having raised a considerable force, 
caused himself to be proclaimed Prince of 
Wales, Sept. 20, 1400. He defeated the 
king’s troops, and retiring to the moun¬ 
tains foiled all subsequent attempts to bring 
him to action. He afterwards joined the 
coalition of the Percys, against Henry, 
and was crowned ‘sovereign of Wales.’ 
Glendower arrived with his force too late 
for the battle of Shrewsbury; and, seeing all 
was lost, retreated, and continued his maraud¬ 
ing warfare. This he kept up with various 
success, occasionally assisted by Charles VI. 
of France. Finding it impossible to subdue 
him, Henry V., in 1415, condescended to 
treat with him; but Owen died during the 
negotiation. 


208 





GLENLIVET — 

Glenliv'et, a valley or district of Scotland 
in the county of Banff. Whisky of a parti¬ 
cularly fine flavour has long been made in 
the district. In Glenlivet the Protestant 
army, under the Earl of Argyle, was de¬ 
feated by a Roman Catholic force under 
the Earl of Huntly in 1594. 

Glenroy', a deep valley in the Highlands 
of Scotland, parallel to Glenmore (the Great 
Glen), in Lochaber, Inverness-shire. It is 
nearly 14 miles in length, and little more 
than ^ mile in breadth, and is celebrated 
•for its so-called Parallel Roads, which are 
three parallel terraces running along either 
side of the glen. Not only do the lines on 
the same side run parallel to each other, 
but on both sides they respectively occupy 
the same horizontal level. These terraces 
project, at some parts only a few feet from 
the hill-side, and at others widen out so as 
to be a number of yards in breadth. The 
lowest terrace is 850 to 862 feet above the 
sea-level; the middle, 1062 to 1077 feet; 
and the highest 1144 to 1155 feet. Their 
origin has been much disputed, but accord¬ 
ing to Macculloch, Agassiz, Buckland, and 
Geikie, the roads are shore-lines of fresh¬ 
water lakes. As, however, no land barrier 
is discoverable in the vicinity, they refer the 
lake or lakes to the glacial period, holding 
that glaciers must have descended from Ben 
Nevis and dammed up the water in Glenroy. 
As these glaciers did not disappear simul¬ 
taneously, the surface of the lake had differ¬ 
ent elevations successively, and thus distinct 
shore-lines or beaches were formed at dif¬ 
ferent times. 

Glentilt', a mountain valley in Scotland, 
Perthshire, traversed by the Tilt, having 
its southern extremity at Blair Castle, and 
there opening into the valley of the Garry. 
Beautiful marble has been here quarried. 

Glen’s Falls, Warren co., N. Y. A pict¬ 
uresque summer resort. Pop. 9509. 

Globe, a sphere, a round solid body, which 
may be conceived to be generated by the 
revolution of a semicircle about its diameter. 
An artificial globe, in geography and astro¬ 
nomy, is a globe of metal, plaster, paper, 
pasteboard, &c., on the surface of which is 
drawn a map, or representation of either 
the earth or the heavens, with the several 
circles which are conceived upon them, the 
former being called the terrestrial globe, and 
the latter the celestial globe. In the ter¬ 
restrial globe the wire on which it turns 
represents the earth’s axis, the extremities 
of it representing the poles. The brazen 
VOL, IV 209 


GLOBIGERINA. 

meridian is a vertical circle in which the 
artificial globe turns, divided into 360 de¬ 
grees, each degree being divided into minutes 
and seconds. The brass meridian receives 
the ends of the axis on which the globe 
revolves. At right angles to this, and con¬ 
sequently horizontal, is a broad ring of 
wood or brass representing the horizon; that 
is, the true horizon of the earth which lies 
in a plane containing the earth’s centre. 
The horizon and brass meridian are con¬ 
nected with the stand on which the whole 
is supported. On the surface of the globe, 
as on other maps, are marked parallels of 
latitude, meridians, &c. On a globe of some 
size the meridians are drawn through every 
15“ of the equator, each answering to an 
hour’s difference of time between two places. 
Hence they are called the hour circles. A 
number of problems or questions, many of 
them more curious than useful, maybe solved 
by means of a terrestrial globe. Among the 
most important are such as to find the lati¬ 
tude and longitude of a place, the difference 
of time between two places, the time of the 
sun’s rising and setting for a given day at a 
given place, &c. 

Globe-fish, the name given to several 
fishes of the genera Diodon and Tetrabdon, 



Pennant’s Globe-fish (Tetraddon Icevig & tus ). 


order Plectognathi, remarkable for possess¬ 
ing the power of suddenly assuming a glob¬ 
ular form by swallowing air or water, which, 
passing into a ventral sac, inflates the 
whole animal like a balloon. 

Globe-flower, a popular name of Trollius 
europceus (nat. order Ranunculacese), a com¬ 
mon European plant in mountainous regions, 
having deeply five-lobed serrated leaves and 
round pale-yellow blossoms, the sepals of 
which are large and conspicuous, while the 
petals are very small. It is often cultivated 
in gardens, and is common in mountain pas¬ 
tures in Great Britain. It is represented 
in America by only one species. 

Globigeri'na, one of the Eoraminifera, a 
microscopic animal having a many-celled 
shell found fossil in the chalk and tertiary 
formations, and still so abundant in our 

110 







GLOBULIN 


GLOUCESTER. 


seas that its shells after death form vast cal¬ 
careous deposits of mud or ooze known as 
‘ globigerina ooze.’ 

Glob'-ulin, a substance forming a consider¬ 
able pi’oportion of the blood globules, and 
also occurring, mixed with albumen, in the 
cells of the crystalline lens of the eye. It 
resembles albumen. 

Glockner, or Gross Glockner, a moun¬ 
tain in Austria belonging to the Noric Alps, 
on the frontiers of the Tyrol, Carinthia, and 
Salzburg. It is 12,3.50 feet in height, and 
takes its name from the resemblance of the 
principal summit to a large bell. 

Glogau, or Gross-Glogau, a Prussian 
town and fortress in Silesia, on the Oder,. 
54 miles N.w. of Breslau. It has a Lutheran 
and a Catholic gymnasium, some manufac¬ 
tories and a brisk inland trade. Its principal 
edifices are four churches, one of them 
formerly a cathedral. Pop. 20,027. 

Glommen, the largest river in Norway, 
issues from Lake Oresund, about 2417 feet 
above the sea-level, in the south-east of 
South Trondhjem, flows generally s., and 
after a course of above 370 miles falls into 
the Skagerrack at Prederikstadt. 

Gloria in Excelsis Deo, ‘glory to God in 
the highest,’ the initial words (sung by the 
angels when the birth of Christ was an¬ 
nounced to the shepherds) of a short Latin 
hymn known as the greater doxology, and 
used in the service of many Christian 
churches. 

Gloria Patri, ‘glory be to the Father,’ the 
initial words of a short formula or hymn of 
praise to the Trinity known as the lesser 
doxology. 

Glorio'sa, a genus of tuberous - rooted 
climbing herbs of the nat. order Liliacese, 
so named from the splendid appearance of 
its flowers. They have branched stems and 
flowers mostly of a beautiful red and yellow 
colour, with six long lanceolate undulated 
segments, which are entirely reflexed. G. 
superba, a native of India and tropical 
Africa, is cultivated in hothouses. 

Glory Pea, a name given to Cliantkus 
Dampiert, a leguminous plant, native of the 
desert regions of Australia, a low straggling 
shrub with light-coloured, hairy, pinnate 
leaves, and large, brilliant scarlet flowers, 
the standard or banner petal of which ap¬ 
pears in the form of an elongated shield 
with a dark brown boss in the centre. 

Gloss, an explanation of some verbal 
difficulty in a literary work, written at the 
passage to which it refers. The earliest 


glosses as those in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew 
MSS. were interlinear; they were afterwards 
placed in the margin, and extended finally 
in some instances to a sort of running com¬ 
mentary on an entire book. 

Glos'sary, a limited or partial dictionary, 
a vocabulary of words used by any author, 
especially in an old author, or one writing 
in a provincial dialect, or of words occurring 
in a special class of works, of the technical 
terms of any art or science, of a dialect, and 
the like. 

Glossic, a phonetic system of spelling in¬ 
vented by Mr. A. J. Ellis, intended to be 
used concurrently with the existing English 
orthography (Nomic) in order to remedy 
some of its defects without changing its 
form or detracting from its value. The 
following is a specimen of Glossic:—Ing- 
glish Glosik konvai'z whotever proanunsiai'- 
shon iz in ten vied bei dhi reiter. Glosik 
buoks kan dhairfoar bee maid too impaar't 
riseewd aurthoaflpi too aul reederz. 

Glossop, a municipal borough of England, 
in Derbyshire, 30 miles from Sheffield. It 
is the principal seat of the Derbyshire cotton 
manufacture, and there are also woollen and 
paper mills, iron foundries, dyeing, bleach¬ 
ing and print works, &c. Pop. 22,414. 

Glottis, the opening at the upper part of 
the trachea or windpipe, and between the 
vocal chords, which, by its dilatation and 
contraction, contributes to the modulation 
of the voice. See Larynx. 

Gloucester (glos'ter), a city, county of itself, 
parliamentary borough, and river port, Eng¬ 
land, capital of the county of same name, 
on the left bank of the Severn, here divided 
into two channels inclosing- the Isle of Alney 
and crossed by two fine bridges, 33 miles 
north by east of Bristol, and 95 miles west 
by north of London. It carries on a con¬ 
siderable shipping trade, the Gloucester and 
Berkeley canal giving access to the docks. 
The most remarkable public edifice is the 
cathedral; it was originally the church of a 
Benedictine abbey, dating from 1058, and 
was converted into a cathedral at the Refor¬ 
mation. It is cruciform, 444 feet in length, 
154 in breadth, and 85^ in height, with a 
tower 230 feet high. It exhibits a great 
variety of styles, the choir, with its roof of 
fan-tracery being a fine example of Perpen¬ 
dicular Gothic. Other buildings are several 
handsome old churches, the shire hall, the 
guildhall, the Ifishop’s palace, county schools 
of art and science, &c. The schools include 
the collegiate school founded by Henry VIII., 

210 





GLOUCESTER - 

the theological college, the blue-coat school 
founded in 1666 (and now known as Sir 
Thomas Rich’s school), and the grammar- 
school of St. Mary de Cryi>t, founded in the 
time of Henry VIII. The industries are 
rather varied. Gloucester, which formerly 
returned two, now sends one member to 
parliament. Pop. 39,444.—The county is 
bounded by the Severn, Monmouth, Here¬ 
ford, Worcester, Warwick, Oxford, Berks, 
Wilts, and Somerset; area, 804,977 acres, of 
which five-sixths are under crops and pasture. 
The county is naturally divided into three 
distinct districts, the Hill or Cotswold in the 
E. ; the Severn valley in the middle; and the 
Forest of Dean in the w. The principal rivers 
are the Severn, with its affluents the Wye, 
the Leden, and Lower and Upper Avon; and 
the Isis or Thames, with its affluents the 
Colne, Churnet, and Windrush, Iron and 
coal are found in the Forest of Dean, and the 
collieries employ a large number of hands. 
Coal is also found and extensively worked in 
the south part of the count}’^; and lead ore is 
found in various parts. Limestone and free¬ 
stone are also met with. Agriculture is in 
a flourishing state, especially in the vale 
districts of the county. Gloucester is, how¬ 
ever, much more of a dairy than an agri¬ 
cultural county. The celebrated cheese, 
known as double and single Gloucester, is 
produced chiefly in the Vale of Berkele 3 ^ 
Orchards are numerous, from the produce of 
which large quantities of cider are made. 
Gloucester is a considerable manufacturing 
county, and has been long famous for its 
fine broad-cloths. For parliamentary pur¬ 
poses the county is divided into five divi¬ 
sions, one member to each. Pop. 599,974. 

Gloucester, a town and port of Essex 
county, Massachusetts, near the extremity 
of Cape Ann, 28 miles n.n.e. of Boston. It 
is a popular summer resort; and fisheries and 
granite quarrying are the chief industries. 
About two miles distant is Norman’s Woe, 
the scene of the wreck of the ‘Hesperus’ 
celebrated by Longfellow. Pop. 24,651. 

Gloucester, Robert of, a monk of the 
abbey of Gloucester, flourished in the latter 
half of the 13th century; wrote a chronicle 
of England extending from the siege of 
Troy to the year 1270. 

Gloucester, Camden co., N. J., 5 m. s. 
of Philadelphia, on the Delaware river. 
A favorite summer resort. Pop. 6563. 

Glover, Richard, an English poet, born 
1712; died 1785. Though engaged in mer¬ 
cantile pursuits he devoted much of his at- 

211 


- GLOW-WORM. 

tention to literature, and acquired a high 
reputation as a scholar and a poet. In 1760 
he entered parliament, where his abilities 
gained him considerable influence. He was 
the author of two epics, Leonidas and the 
Atheniad; London, or the Progress of Com¬ 
merce; two tragedies, Boadicea and Medea, 
&c. 

Gloversville, a town, Fulton co.. New 
York, 44 miles N.w. of Albany. Glove¬ 
making is the principal business, hence the 
name of the place. Pop. 13,864. 

Gloves, are coverings for the hand, or for 
the hand and wrist, with a separate sheath 
for each finger. They are made of leather, 
fur, cloth, silk, linen thread, cotton, wor¬ 
sted, &c. The chief leathers used in glove 
manufacture are doe, buck, and calf-skins; 
sheep-skin for military gloves; lamb-skin 
for much of the so-called kid gloves; true 
kid for the best and finest gloves; dog, rat, 
and kangaroo skins, &c. The leather in all 
cases undergoes a much lighter dressing 
than when used for boots and shoes. Leather 
gloves are usually cut out by means of dies, 
and sewed by a machine of peculiar con¬ 
struction. The best woollen, thread, and 
silk gloves are made by cutting and sewing, 
but commoner gloves are made by knitting 
and weaving. In England leather gloves are 
manufactured at London, Worcester, and 
elsewhere. Limerick was formerly celebrated 
for gloves of a peculiarly delicate kind. 
Gloversville, in New York, is the chief 
American seat of the mamifacture. Italy, 
Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany 
all manufacture excellent gloves, but France 
supplies the world with most of the finer 
and more expensive kinds. Large quantities 
of cotton gloves are manufactured at Not¬ 
tingham and Leicester; and the greater part 
of the woollen gloves is made in Wales, 
Scotland, and the North of England. Gloves 
are a very ancient article of dress, and many 
curious customs and usages are connected 
with them. Throwing the glove down before 
a person amounted to a challenge to single 
combat. The judges in England used to be 
prohibited wearing gloves on the bench; and 
it was only in case of a maiden assize that 
the sheriffs were allowed to present a judge 
with a pair of gloves. 

Glow-worm, an insect of the genus Lam- 
pyris (L. noctUiica), of the order Coleoptera, 
or beetles, the name being strictly applicable 
only to the female, which is without wings, 
somewhat resembles a caterpillar, and emits 
a shining green light from the extremity of 




GLOXINIA-GLUCK. 


the abdomen. The male is winged, and 
flies about in the evening, when it is at¬ 
tracted by the light of the female, but gives 
out no light itself. It would seem that the 
glow-worm possesses the power of moderat¬ 
ing or increasing the light at will. Decapi- 



Glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca). 


1, Male. 2, Female, upper side. 3, Female, under side, 
showing the three posterior segments (a) from which the 
light proceeds. 


tated specimens retain their power of giving 
out light for a considerable time. In pure 
oxygen, warm water, or when crushed, the 
light of the luminous organs is increased in 
intensity. The larvye are very voracious, 
living on snails, which they attack and kill. 

Gloxin'ia, a genus of plants, nat. order 
Gesneracese, distinguished by the corolla 
approaching to bell-shaped, the upper lip 
shortest and two- 
lobed, the lower 
three-lobed, with 
the middle lobe 
largest, and also 
by the summit of 
the style being 
rounded and hol¬ 
lowed. The spe¬ 
cies are natives of 
tropical America, 
whence they were 
introduced into 
Britain early last 
century. They are 
valued as among 
the greatest ornaments of our gardens, 
owing to their richly coloured leaves and 
their ample, graceful, delicately tinted 
flowers. 

Gluchov, or Gloukhov (gld'Aov), a town 
of Russia, government of, and 148 miles 
east by north from Tchernigov. Pop. 16,440. 

Glucic (or Glucinic) Acid (Ci2H,809), an 
acid produced by the action of alkalies or 
acids on sugar. It is a colourless, amorphous 
substance, is very soluble in water, attracts 
rapidly tlie moisture of the air, and its solu¬ 
tion has a decidedly sour taste. All its neu¬ 
tral salts are soluble. 

Gluci'na, the only oxide of the metal 



glucinum or beryllium. It is white, taste¬ 
less, without odour, and quite insoluble in 
water, but soluble in the liquid fixed alka¬ 
lies. 

Gluci'num. Same as Beryllium. 

Gluck (gluk), Christoph Wilibald, 
Ritter von, German musical composer, 
born in Bavaria in 1714; died at Vienna 
1787. When a boy he became a chorister, 
and acquired some skill on the harpsichord 
and organ. At eighteen years of age he 
went to Prague to enter the university, 
where he maintained himself by the exercise 
of his musical gifts. By degrees he attracted 
the attention of several Bohemian nobles, 
and Prince Lobkowitz assisted him when he 
went to Vienna to pursue his musical studies. 
The Lombardian prince di Melzi then took 
him to Milan, where he studied under Gio¬ 
vanni Battista Sammartini, a famous organ¬ 
ist and composer. In 1740 he was employed 
to compose an opera for the court theatre of 
Milan. The text chosen for him w^as the 
Artaxerxes of Metastasio, and the opera 
was a triumph, in spite of the innovations 
of style which the author introduced. In 
1742 he wrote Demofoonte for Milan; De- 
metrioand Ipermnestra for Venice; in 1743 
Artamene for Cremona, and Sifaee for 
Milan; in 1744 Fedra for the same theatre; 
and in 1745 Allessandro nell’ Indie for 
Turin, all founded on classical subjects. 
Invited to London, he produced La Caduta 
de Giganti (Fall of the Giants), which was 
not a success. In Ijondon Gluck became 
deeply impressed with the majestic character 
of Handel’s airs and choruses, and wnth the 
simple but natural dramatic style of Dr. 
Arne. This visit to London, and a short 
trip to Paris, helped to develop that lyric 
genius which was destined to create a new 
order of musical composition. After pro¬ 
ducing many pieces of the usual class of 
opera at Paris, Vienna, Rome, and Naples, 
he returned to Vienna. The Trionfo di 
Clelia (1762) was the last of his operas in 
his first style. However well pleased the 
public was with his music, he was not so. 
He felt himself continually cramped by the 
character of the libretti of IMetastasio, who 
had hitherto furnished him with texts, which 
were rather lyrical dramatic poems than 
genuine dramas. The composer at last 
found a poet in the person of Raniero Cal- 
zabigi, who sympathized with him in his 
ideas, and the result of their co-opei’ation 
was the Orfeo ed Euridice, performed pub¬ 
licly for the first time in 1762. This opera 

212 





GLUCKSTADT-GLUTEN. 


marked a new era. The fame it acquired 
at once it never lost. Various works of 
lighter character filled up the interval be¬ 
tween this year and 1766, when his second 
great opera of Alceste was produced, which 
raised public feeling to the point of enthu¬ 
siasm. In his dedication of this work to the 
Urand-duke Leopold of Tuscany he enun¬ 
ciates the principles of the new school, which 
shortly were that the opera should be a 
musical drama, not a concert in costume; 
that the text must be descriptive of real 
passion; that the music must voice fully 
the spirit of the text; that in accompani¬ 
ments the instruments must be used to 
strengthen the expression of the vocal parts 
by their peculiar characters, or to heighten 
the general dramatic effect by employing 
them in contrast to the voice. Gluck now 
became convinced that his system must be 
tested on a wider field, and believed that 
the Royal Opera in Paris offered all a com¬ 
poser could demand. A Frenchman of cul¬ 
ture and genius, Bailly du Rollet, adapted 
Racine’s Iphig^nie en Aulide for musical 
treatment, and after a considerable amount 
of opposition from the musical critics of the 
old Italian and French school, at that time 
represented in Paris by Piccini, the piece 
was brought out in 1774. The intensest 
excitement prevailed; all Paris took sides, 
and for a long time the Gluckists and Pic- 
cinists contended with much bitterness, but 
ultimately the victory remained with the 
Gluckists. Shortly after the production of 
the Iphigenie, the Orfeo was adapted for 
and put on the French stage, and was fol¬ 
lowed by the Armide in 1777, by the Iphi- 
g^nie en Tauride in 1779, Gluck’s last im¬ 
portant work, and by many considered his 
greatest. It ends the series of works which 
gave a direction to the operatic genius of 
Mehul and Cherubini in France, and of 
Mozart and Beethoven in Germany. 

Glfickstadt (gluk'stat), a town of Prus¬ 
sia, in Holstein, on the Elbe, 28 miles N.w. 
Hamburg. Formerly important as a fort¬ 
ress, it is now a sort of sub-port to Ham¬ 
burg. Fishing is carried on to a considerable 
extent. Pop. 5483. 

Glu'cose (CeHioOc), a variety of sugar, 
less sweet than cane-sugar, existing in grapes, 
and produced from cane-sugar,starch,dextrin, 
cellulose, &c., by the action of acids, certain 
ferments, and other reagents. There are two 
varieties of it, distinguished by their action 
on polarized light, viz. dextro-ylucose which 
turns the plane of polarization to the right: 

213 


and Irero-ylucose, which turns it to the left. 
When heated up to 4()(J° it becomes cara¬ 
mel, and is used by cooks and confectioners 
as a colouring matter. It is called also 
Grape-suyar and Starch-suyar, and is pro¬ 
duced both in the solid and in the liquid 
form, its manufacture being now of con¬ 
siderable importance. In the United States 
the liquid sugar, as prepared from Indian 
corn starch, is what is generally known as 
gluco.se, and it is used for various purposes, 
as for confectionery, canning fruits, making 
artificial honey, for table syrup, in brewing, 
&c. 

Glu'cosides, a large class of substances 
occurring in animal or vegetable products, 
possessing the common property of yielding 
glucose and other products when they are 
boiled wdth dilute acids, or are acted on by 
certain ferments. 

Glue, a gelatinous substance obtained 
from different tissues of animals, and used 
as a cement for uniting pieces of wood or 
other material. The best quality is ob¬ 
tained from fresh bones, freed from fat by 
previous boiling, the clippings and parings 
of ox-hides, the older skins being preferred; 
but large quantities are also got from the 
skins of sheep, calves, cows, hares, dogs, cats, 
&c., from the refuse of tanneries and tawing 
w’orks, from old gloves, from sinew’s, tendons, 
and other offal of animal origin. By a pro¬ 
cess of cleaning and boiling the albuminoid 
elements of the animal matter are changed 
into gelatine. This in a soft jelly-like state 
constitutes size; dried into hard, brittle, 
glassy cakes, which before use must be 
melted in hot w'ater, it forms the w'ell- 
known glue of the joiner, &c. When a 
solution is mixed with acetic or nitric acid 
it remains liquid, but still retains its power 
of cementing; in this state it is called liquid 
ylue. Marine Glue is a cement made by 
dissolving india-rubber in oil of turpentine 
or coal-naphtha, to which an equal quantity 
of shellac is added. 

Glume, in bot. the imbricate scale-like 
bract inserted on the axis of the spikelet in 
Graminese (grasses) and Gyperaceae (sedges). 
The glume forms the husk or chaff of grain, 
called also the palea or p(de. 

Gluten, a tough elastic substance of a 
grayish colour, which becomes browm and 
brittle by drying, found in the flour of 
wheat and other grain. It contributes much 
to the nutritive (juality of flour, and gives 
tenacity to its paste. A similar substance 
is found in the juices of certain plants. 




GLUTTON - 

Glutton, the Gulo arcticm^, a caniivorors 
quadruped, about the size of a large badger, 
and intermediate between the bear family 
(Ursidae) and the weasels (Mustelidae), re¬ 
sembling the former family in general struc¬ 
ture and the latter in dentition. It inhabits 
Northern Europe and America, and is known 
also by the name of Wolverene or Wolverine. 
The glutton is slow and deficient in agility, 
but persevering, cunning, fierce, and of great 
strength. It prefers putrid flesh, and has 
an extremely fetid odour. The fur is valu¬ 
able, that from Siberia being preferred from 
its being of a glossy black. The animal 
receives its name from its voracity, which, 
however, has been greatly exaggerated. 

Glycerine (CyHsOa), a transparent colour¬ 
less liquid, chemically described as a tria- 
tomic or trihydric alcohol, obtained from 
the bye-products of candle and soap fac¬ 
tories by saponification with alkalies or by 
the action of superheated steam. It has a 
sp. gr. 1'267, and sometimes solidifies at a 
low temperature to a crystalline mass. It 
absorbs moisture from the air, and dissolves 
in or mixes with water and alcohol in all 
proportions, but is insoluble in ether. It 
acts' as a solvent both on inorganic and 
organic bodies. The uses of glycerine are 
very numerous. Its applications in phar¬ 
macy are almost endless; as an external 
application in chaps, rough skin, chafing, 
&c., it is much used. Internally it is fre¬ 
quently prescribed in combination with iron, 
and-also as a substitute for cod-liver oil, and 
in cases of diabetes. In the arts it is used 
wherever a substance requires to be kept 
more or less moist, for example modelling 
clay, tobacco, paper for printing, &c.; also 
in spinning, weaving, rope-making, and 
tanning. It is an excellent preservative 
medium for meat, and for natural history 
specimens; and its property of lowering the 
freezing-point of water makes it useful in 
gas-meters, floating-compasses and the like. 
It is also the starting-point of certain valu¬ 
able chemical products, one of the chief of 
which is nitro-glycerine. 

Gly'cogen, in organic chemistry and phy¬ 
siology, a proximate non-nitrogenous prin¬ 
ciple occurring in the epithelial cells of the 
liver, where it exists as an amorphous mat¬ 
ter. In properties it seems to be interme¬ 
diate between starch and dextrine, and in 
contact with saliva, pancreatic juice, dias¬ 
tase, or wdth the blood or parenchyma of 
the liver, it is converted into glucose. 
Gly'col (C 2 H 0 O 2 ), the type of a class of 


- GMELTN. 

artihci 1 compounds intermediate in their 
properties and chemical relations betw^een 
alcohol and glycerine, or the bodies of which 
these are the types. Otherwise expressed, 
glycol is a diatomic acid, alcohol being a 
monatomic and glycerine a triatomic. It is 
liquid, inodorous, of a sw’eetish taste, and 
insoluble in water and alcohol. 

Gly'con, an Athenian sculptor known by 
his colossal marble statue of Heracles, com¬ 
monly called the ‘Farnese Hercules,’ now 
in the museum at Naples. He probably 
lived in the 1st century B.c. 

Glycyrrhiza (gli-si-rl'za), a genus of legu¬ 
minous plants, of which G. glabra, the li¬ 
quorice plant, is the type. 

Glyp'todon (Gr. glyptos, engraved, and 
odov.8, tooth—sonamed from its fluted teeth), 
a gigantic fossil edentate animal, closely 



Glyptodon (Glyptodon clavipes). 


allied to the armadilloes, found in the upper 
tertiary strata of South America. It was 
of the size of an ox, and was protected by a 
coat of mail formed of polygonal osseous 
plates united by sutures. 

Gmelin (gmel'in), Johann Georg, a Ger¬ 
man naturalist, born in Tubingen 1709, died 
1755 . On taking his medical degree he went 
to St. Petersburg, and became professor of 
chemistry and natural history. In 1733, at 
the expense of the Empress of Russia, he 
took part in an exploring expedition to Si¬ 
beria, returning to St. Petersburg in 1743, 
where he published his Flora of Siberia. 
He became professor of botany and chem- 
isti-y at Tubingen in 1749, and published 
Travels in Siberia (1752).—His nephew, 
Samuel Gottlieb, botanist and traveller, 
w'as born in 1744 at Tubingen, where he 
studied physic, and, in 1763, took the degree 
of doctor of medicine. He obtained a pro¬ 
fessorship of botany at St. Petersburg about 
1766, and published a Historia Fucorum, 
1768. He travelled in Asia, and being im¬ 
prisoned by the Khan of the Chaitaks, he 
died in confinement in 1774. His Travels 
appeared in 1770-84. — Another nephew, 
Johann Friedrich, was born 1748, died 
1804. He was professor of medical science 

214 




GMELINA - 

at Gottingen for about tlui’ty ^^ears; pub¬ 
lished a Dictionary of Botany, History of 
Natiu’al Sciences, and edited an edition of 
Linnaeus. 

Gmeli'na, an Asiatic genus of plants be¬ 
longing to the order Verbenaceas. All the 
species form shrubs or trees, some of the 
latter affording very valuable timber. 

Gmiind (gmunt), a town of Wtirtemberg, 
on the Rems, 28 miles e.n.e. of Stuttgart, 
formerly an imperial free city. It has three 
churches of great antiquity, and an exten¬ 
sive museum of industrial products. The 
manufactures are chiefly woollen and cotton 
goods, jewelry, and trinkets. Pop. 16,817. 

Gmunden (gmun'den), a town of Upper 
Austria, situated among magnificent scenery, 
on the Traun, where it issues from the nor¬ 
thern extremity of the lake of that name, 
35 miles south-west of Linz. Most of the 
inhabitants are employed in the neighbour¬ 
ing salt-mines. Gmunden is a favourite 
health-resort and summer residence. Pop. 
(commune), 6631. 

Gnapha'lium, a genus of widely-spread 
composite plants having their foliage usually 
covered with a white woolly down, and 
their flower-heads of the ‘ everlasting ’ kind. 
G. Leontopodimn is the edelweiss of the 
Alps (which see). G. polycephalum is the 
cotton-weed, common in tlie United States. 

Gnat, the name applied to several species 
of insects of the genus Culex. The common 
gnat {0. pipiens), type of the sub-family 
Culicidae, is of wide geographical distribu¬ 
tion, and is noted for its power of inflicting 
irritating wounds. The proboscis or sting 
of the female is a tube containing four spi- 
culae of exquisite fineness, dentated or edged; 
these are modified mandibles and maxillae. 
The males do not sting, and are further dis¬ 
tinguished by their plume-like antennae. 
These insects also feed on the juice of plants. 
The female deposits her eggs on the surface 
of stagnant water in a long mass. After 
having remained in the larva state for about 
twenty days, they are transformed into 
chrysalids, in which all the limbs of the per¬ 
fect insect are distinguishable, through the 
diaphanous robe with which they are then 
shrouded. After remaining three or four 
days wrapped up in this manner, they be¬ 
come perfect insects, fl'he troublesome mos¬ 
quito belongs to the same genus. 

Gneisenau (gni'zn-ou), August Wilhelm 
Anton, Count Neiothard von, Prussian 
general, born 1760, died 1831. He served 
with the German auxiliaries of England in 

215 


— GNOME. 

America; and as chief of Bliicher’s staff 
chiefly directed the strategy of the Prussian 
army at Waterloo. He was made field- 
marshal in 1831. 

Gneiss (nis), a species of rock, composed 
of quartz, felspar, and mica, arranged in 
layers. The layers, whether straight or 
curved, are frequently thick, but often vary 
considerably in the same specimen. Gneiss 
passes on one side into granite, from which 
it differs in its foliated structure, and on the 
other into mica slate. It is rich in metal¬ 
lic ores, gold, silver, cobalt, antimony, cop¬ 
per, iron, &c., occurring in this rock, but it 
contains no fossil remains. Porphyritic 
gneiss presents large distinct crystals of fel¬ 
spar which traverse several of the foliated 
layers. Gneiss often contains hornblende in 
place of mica, and then receives the name of 
syenitic gneiss. The only difference between 
this rock and granite consists in the folia¬ 
tion of gneiss, the materials of granite being 
crystallized promiscuously, those of gneiss 
being segregated in layers. It is the prin¬ 
cipal rock of very extensive districts; it 
predominates in Norway, and all the north 
of Europe. It abounds in the Southern 
Alps and the Pyrenees, and forms the lofti¬ 
est chains of the Andes of Quito. In the 
United States, also, gneiss is a common 
rock, especially in New England and the 
eastern and southern parts of New York. 

Gneist (gnist), Heinrich Rudolf Her¬ 
mann Friedrich, German jurist, born at 
Berlin 1816, studied at the university there, 
in which, in 1844, he became professor-extra¬ 
ordinary, and in 1858 ordinary professor. 
He has also taken part in politics as a mem¬ 
ber of the Prussian House of Deputies, and 
of the diet of the German Empire, ranging 
himself on the liberal side. He has writ¬ 
ten extensively on law, constitutional his¬ 
tory, &c., and has a specially thorough 
knowledge of English constitutional history, 
his History of the English Constitution 
having been translated and published in 
England in 1886. 

Gnesen (gna'zn), a town of Prussia, pro¬ 
vince of Posen, 45 miles south-west of Brom- 
bei’g. It is an ancient place; is the see of 
an archbishop, and has a cathedral, in which 
the kings of Poland used to be crowned. 
Pop. 15,787. 

Gnome (nom; Greek, gnome), a short, 
pithy saying, often expressed in figurative 
language, containing a reflection, a practical 
observation, or a moral maxim. Among 
the Greeks Theognis, Phocylides, and others, 









GNOME 


GNOSTICS. 


are called the Onomic poets, from their sen¬ 
tentious manner of writing. 

Gnome (nom), in the cabalistic and medi¬ 
aeval mythology, the name given to the 
spirits which dwell in the interior of the 
earth, where they watch over mines, quar¬ 
ries, and hidden treasures. They assume a 
variety of forms, but are generally gro¬ 
tesque dwarfs, ugliness being their appro¬ 
priate quality, though the females, (jnomides, 
are originally beautiful. 

Gnomon (no'mon), the style of a dial, or 
I a structure erected perpendicularly to the 
horizon, from whose shadow the altitudes, 
declinations, &c., of the sun and stars may 
be determined. The gnomon is usually a 
pillar or column or pyramid erected upon 
level ground. It was much used by the 
ancient astronomers, and gnomons of great 
height, with meridian lines attached to 
them, are still common in France and Italy. 

Gnomonics (no-mon'iks), the art and 
theory of making sun-dials on true scientific 
principles. 

Gnostics (nos'tiks; Greek, gnosis, know¬ 
ledge), a general name applied to early 
schools of speculators, which combined the 
fantastic notions of the oriental systems of 
religion with the ideas of the Greek philo¬ 
sophers and the doctrines of Christianity. 
They nearly all agreed on the points that 
God is incomprehensible; that matter is 
eternal and antagonistic to God; that crea¬ 
tion is the work of the Demiurge, an emana¬ 
tion from the Supreme Deity, subordinate 
or opposed to God; and that the human 
nature of Christ was a mere deceptive ap^ 
pearance. Certain forms of Gnosticism are 
mere adaptations of the Persian dualism to 
the solution of the problem of good and evil; 
while the pantheism of India seems to have 
been a pervading influence in others. Simon 
the magician (Simon Magus), of whom Luke 
speaks in the Acts of the Apostles, is gener¬ 
ally looked on as the first of the Gnostics. 
The dogmas of the earliest Gnostics may be 
reduced to the following heads:—God, the 
highest intelligence, dwells at an infinite 
distance from this world, in the Abyss, 
removed from all connection with every 
work of temporal creation. He is the 
source of all good; matter, the crude, chaotic 
mass of which all things were made, is, like 
God, eternal, and is the source of all evil. 
From these two principles, before time com¬ 
menced, emanated beings called ceons, which 
are described as divine spirits, inhabiting 
the Pleroma, or plenitude of light, which 


surrounds the Abyss. The world and the 
human race were created out of matter by 
one icon, the Demiurge, or, according to the 
later systems of the Gnostics, by several 
tEons and angels. The ueons made the bodies 
and the sensual soul of man of this matter; 
hence the origin of e^ il in man. God gave 
man the rational soul; hence the constant 
strufjgle of reason with sense. What are 
called gods by men (for instance, Jehovah, 
the God of the Jews) are merely such aeons 
or creators, under whose dominion man be¬ 
came more and more wicked and miserable. 
To destroy the power of these creators, and 
to free man from the power of matter, God 
sent the most exalted of all aeons, to which 
character Simon first made pretensions. The 
Nicolaitans mentioned in the Revelation of 
St. John, so called from Nicolas, a deacon 
of the church at Jerusalem, were one of 
the earliest sects, and are described as fore¬ 
runners of the Cerinthians. Cerinthus, a 
Jew, of whom John the evangelist seems to 
have had some knowledge, combined such re¬ 
veries with the doctrines of Christianity, and 
maintained that the most elevated aeon sent 
by God for the salvation of man, was Christ, 
who had descended upon Jesus, a Jew, in 
the form of a dove, and through him re¬ 
vealed the doctrines of Christianity, but 
before the crucifixion of Jesus separated 
from him, and at the resurrection of the 
dead will again be united with him, and 
lay the foundation of a kingdom of the most 
perfect earthly felicity, to continue 1000 
years. Carpocrates and the sect of the 
Ophites (beginning of the 2d century), to 
whom the term Gnostic was first applied, 
saw in the Serpent a wise and good being, 
and carried to its extreme form the inver¬ 
sion of the biblical story. The later Gnos¬ 
tics have been divided into thx’ee schools. 
The first was the Syrian, founded by Men¬ 
ander, a pupil of Simon. This school em¬ 
phasizes the conflict between Good and Evil 
—the Supreme Deity on the one hand, and 
the Demiurge and his angels or aeons on the 
other. The second was the school of Alex- 
andi'ia, represented by Basilides and Valen¬ 
tinus; the system of the latter being the 
most complete and ingenious of all. In 
that light or plenitude, which all the Gnos¬ 
tics speak of as surrounding the residence 
of the Supreme God, he has placed fifteen 
male and as many female aeons. The Su¬ 
preme God, the Unbegotten, the Original 
Father, whom he also calls the Deep (Bathos), 
is the first of these aeons; Thinking Silence 

216 



GOA. 


GNU 


was his wife, and Intelligence, a male, and 
Truth, a female, were their children. These 
produced The Word and Life, the latter a 
female, who gave birth to mankind and 
society. These eight constituted the first 
class of the thirty aeons. The second class, 
of five couples, at the end of which stood 
the Only Begotten, and the third, of six 
couples, at the head of which stood the 
Comforter, were, in a similar manner, de¬ 
scended from Mankind and Society, and 
consisted, like the first, of personified ideas. 
The officers of this heavenly state are four 
male aeons—Horus, who guards the boun¬ 
daries of the region of light; Christ and 
the Holy Ghost, who instruct the other 
aeons in their duties; and Jesus, whom all 
the aeons of the kingdom of light begat 
in common, and endowed with their gifts. 
Man and the world were formed by a demi¬ 
urge out of matter which was partly mate¬ 
rial, partly spiritual, partly soul-like. Christ, 
the Saviour of men, when he appeared on 
earth had a visible body made of the 
spiritual and the soul-like substance only. 
At his baptism the aeon Jesus united it¬ 
self with him, and instructed mankind. A 
third school of Gnosticism, whose centre 
was Asia Minor, was represented by Mar- 
cion of Pontus, the son of a Christian bishop, 
who flourished about the middle of the 2d 
century. Marcion assigned to Christianity, 
as the one absolutely independent religion, 
a complete isolation from the Old Testa¬ 
ment revelation, the author of which was, 
in his opinion, merely a just but not a good 
being. The true God begat many spirits, 
among which were the creator of the world, 
the righteous God, and the lawgiver of the 
Jews. The last, through the prophets, pro¬ 
mised Christ; but Jesus, who’actually ap¬ 
peared, and is the true Bedeemer, was the 
Son of the truly good God, and not the 
Jewish Messiah. Towards the end of the 2d 
century Tatian, a Syrian Christian, adopted 
Gnostic doctrines, and founded a sect. Bar- 
desanes, a Syrian, and Hermogenes, an Af¬ 
rican, who, in the reign of the Emperor 
Commodus, apostatized from Christianity, 
and established sects, bordered, in their hy¬ 
potheses concerning the origin of good and 
evil, upon Gnosticism. There have been 
no Gnostic sects since the 5th century; but 
many of the principles of their system of 
emanations reappear in later philosophical 
systems, drawn from the same sources as 
theirs. 

Gnu, the Wildebeeste (‘wild beast’) of the 

217 


colonists, the r.<ame given to two species of 
South African antelope {Caiohlephas gnu, 
and C. gorgon). The former species is now 
rarely found south of the Vaal; its form 
partakes of that of the antelope, ox, or 
horse. Both sexes have horns projecting 
slightly outwards and downwards, then 



Gnu {Catoblephas gnu ). 


forming an abrupt upward bend. They 
have bristly black hair about the face and 
muzzle, a white stiff mane, and horse-like 
tail. They attain a length of about nine 
feet, and stand about four feet high at the 
shoulder. They live in herds; are said to 
be fierce when attacked, but when taken 
young have been found to be capable of do¬ 
mestication. The brindled gnu {C. gorgon) 
is larger than the common gnu, has black 
stripes on the neck and shoulders, and a 
black tail. Both species wheel in a circle 
once or twice before setting off when alarmed. 

Goa, a city in Hindustan, on the Malabar 
coast, capital of the Portuguese territory 
of the same name. The name is applied to 
two distinct places, namely. Old Goa, and 
New Goa or Panjira. The former was once 
the chief emporium of commerce betw’een 
the East and West, and had a population 
of 200,000, but it is now nearly deserted, 
though some pains are taken to keep the 
ancient churches and convents in repair; 
pop. 1882. New Goa or Panjim was chosen 
as the residence of the Portuguese viceroy 
in 1759; and in 1843 it was made the capital 
of Portuguese India, It is situated on the 
left bank of the Mandavi, about 3 miles 
from its mouth, contains many fine public 
buildings, cathedral, viceregal palace, &c. 
The trade of Goa, at one time the most 
extensive of any place in India, is now in¬ 
considerable. Pop. 8440. The territory 








GOALANDA-GOATSUCKER. 


around Goa belonging to the Portuguese 
has an area of 1062 sq. miles. It is well 
watered and fertile. About two-thirds of 
the total population, numbering 445,449, 
are the descendants of Hindus converted 
to Christianity on the subjugation of the 
country by the Portuguese, 

Goalan'da, a river mart and municipality 
of Bengal, at the confluence of the main 
streams of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, 
Pop, 8652, 

Goalpa'ra, a district of British India, 
prov, of Assam; area 3897 sq. miles; pop. 
446,232. It lies on both sides of the Brah¬ 
maputra, and is exposed to river floods. 
Rice is the staple crop; and brass and iron 
utensils, gold and silver ornaments, &c., of 
an artistic character are manufactured. 
Goal para Town is the chief centre of trade. 
Pop. 6697. 

Goa Powder, a powder used in the treat¬ 
ment of certain skin diseases, obtained from 
the pith of a leguminous tree, a species of 
Centrolohium, and called also Araroba 
Powder. 

Goat, a well-known horned ruminant 
quadruped of the genus Capra. The horns 
are hollow, erect, turned backward, annular 
on the surface, and scabrous. The male is 



Goat of Cashmere 


generally bearded under the chin. Goats 
are nearly of the size of sheep, but stronger, 
less timid, and more agile. They fre(|^uent 
rocks and mountains, and subsist on scanty 
coarse food. Their milk is sweet, nourish¬ 
ing, and medicinal, and their flesh furnishes 
food. Goats are of almost interminable 
variety, and it is not certainly known from 
which the domestic goat is descended, though 
opinion favours the C. a’gagrus, or wild goat 
of Western Asia. Goats are generally sub¬ 
divided into ibexes and goats proper, d hey 
are found in all parts of the world, and ma,nv 


varieties are valued for their hair or wool. 
The skin is prepared for a variety of pur¬ 
poses, and yields the leather well known 
under the name of morocco. The Cashmere 
goat, as its name indicates, is a native of 
Cashmere; it is smaller than the common 
domestic goat, and has long, silky, fine hair. 
The Angora goat is also furnished with soft 
silky hair of a silver-white colour, hanging 
down in curling locks 8 or 9 inches long. 
Its horns are in a spiral form, and extend 
laterally. The Rocky Mountain goat is 
the Haploc^rus montdnus, or big-horn (which 
see). 

Goat Island, a small i.sland of 70 acres, 
which divides the current of the Niagara 
River at the Falls. It is connected with the 
American shore by a bridge. 

Goat-moth, a large British moth {Cossus 
ligniperda). The larvae, which are about 3 
inches in length, hollow out galleries in the 
wood of trees, which they first soften by a 
juice of a strong smell which they secrete. 
With the saw-dust made in the operation 
they form cocoons, in which the chrysalids 
are developed. The larval condition lasts 
for three years. C. robiniae, the locust-tree 
Carpenter-moth, an American species, ex¬ 
pands about three inches; gray colour. 

Goat’s-heard, the general name of plants 
of the genus Tragopogon, order Compositae, 
herbaceous perennials, chiefly natives of 
Europe. The seeds have feathery appen¬ 
dages ; hence the name. The yellow goat’s- 
beard {T. pratensis), greater goat’s-beard 
(T. major), and purple goat’s-beard ( T.por- 
rifoHus) are found in Britain. The latter 
species is commonly cultivated for its root 
as a culinary vegetable, under the title of 
salsify; called in the U. S. vegetable oyster. 

Goat’s-rue ( Galega officinalis), o, legumin¬ 
ous plant indigenous to the south of Europe. 
It is used as forage, and is supposed to 
increase the milk of cows that feed upon 
it. It is found in dry, sandy soil, from 
Canada to Florida. 

Goat’s-thorn, a name given to two hardy 
evergreen plants of the genus Astragal as. 
A. 2'ragacantha (great goat’s-tliorn), and A. 
Poterium (small goat’s-thorn). The former, 
long cultivated in Great Britain, is a native 
of the south of Europe, the latter of the Le¬ 
vant. American species, A. Canadiemis. 

Goatsucker, a name common to the birds 
of the genus Caprimulgus, as also to all 
belonging tothesame family—the Caprimul- 
gidte, given originally from the erroneous 
opinion that they suck goats. The Euro* 

218 




GOBELINS-GOD. 


pean goatsucker {C. europceus) feeds upon 
nocturnal insects, as moths, gnats, beetles, 
&c., which it catches on the wing, flying 
with its mouth open. Its mouth is com¬ 
paratively large, and lined on the inside 
with a glutinous substance to prevent the 
escape of those insects which fly into it. 
Like all birds which catch flies when on the 
wing, the gape is surrounded by stiff bristles. 
When perched, it iisually sits lengthwise on 
a bare twig, with its head lower than its 
tail, and in this attitude utters a jarring 
note, whence one of its common names— 
nufht-jar, or night-churr. It has a light, 
soft plumage, minutely mottled with gray 
and brown, and is about 10 inches in length. 
The American chuckwill’s widow, whip- 
poor-will, and night-hawk belong to the 
same family. 

Gobelins (gob-lan) Manufactory, a tapes¬ 
try manufactory at Pai’is, established by 
Colbert in 1667, on the site of a previously 
existing manufactory which had been set 
up by Gilles Gobelin, a celebrated dyer in 
the reign of Francis I. Colbert collected 
into it the ablest workmen in the divers 
arts and manufactures connected with house 
decoration and upholstery. The Gobelins 
has since then continued to be the first 
manufactory of the kind in the world. 
Many celebrated paintings of the old Italian, 
French, and Spanish schools have, in the 
most ingenious manner, been transferred 
to tapestry. 

Gobi, Desert of, the Shamo or ‘sand-sea’ 
of the Chinese, an immense tract of desert 
country, occupying nearly the centre of the 
high table-land of Eastern Asia, between 
lat. 3,5° and 45° N., and Ion. 90° and 110° e., 
and extending over a large portion of Mon¬ 
golia and Chinese Turkestan. Its length is 
probably about 1800 miles; mean breadth, 
between 350 and 400 miles; area, 300,000 
sq. miles. Its general elevation is over 4000 
feet above sea-level. The East Gobi is oc¬ 
cupied by different tribes of the Mongolian 
race, who have numerous herds of camels, 
horses, and sheep. In the West Gobi are 
some nomadic tribes of the I'artar race. 
This tract is supposed at one time to have 
been a great inland sea. 

Goblin, a spirit of popular superstition, 
generally malignant in nature and grotesque 
in appearance; much the same as a gnome. 

Goby, the general name of a family of acan- 
thopterous fishes (Gobiidce) characterized as 
follows:—Two dorsal fins nearly united into 
one, the anterior fin having flexible rays, not 

219 


spinous, as is usual in the Acanthoptery* 
gians; ventral fins thoracic, and united more 
or less by their bases; body scaly, the head 
unarmed. Like the blennies they can live for 
some time out of water. The family is very 
numerous, about 400 species being known, 
but does not include any important food 
fishes. The gobies are among the nest¬ 
building fishes, and live among the rocks 
near the shore. 

God, the self-existent, eternal, and Su¬ 
preme Being, the creator and upholder of the 
universe, worshipped by most civilized na¬ 
tions. The Christian God is an infinite and 
absolute being; a perfect personal spirit; 
eternal; immutable; omniscient; omnipotent; 
and perfectly good, true, and righteous. The 
arguments for the existence of God have been 
divided intothe'ontological, the cosmological, 
the psychological, the physico-teleological, 
and the moral. The ontological argument 
starts from the idea of God itself, and pro¬ 
fesses to demonstrate the existence of God as 
a necessary consequence from that idea. This 
form of argument is, in some shape or other, 
a very old one, but was first fully developed 
and applied by Anselm in the 11th century. 
The manner in which it was stated by An¬ 
selm is this: ‘God must be thought of as 
that being than whom none can be thought 
greater; but this being the highest and most 
perfect that we can conceive, may be thought 
as existing in actuality as well as in thought 
—that is to say, may be thought as some¬ 
thing still greater; therefore God, or what 
is thought as greatest, must exist not only 
in thought but in fact.’ This argument has 
been presented in other forms. Descartes, 
while refuting Anselm’s form of the onto¬ 
logical argument, revived it himself in an¬ 
other form. Applying the test of truth 
which he derived from his celebrated for¬ 
mula—‘I think, therefore I am,’ that what- 
e.ver we clearly and distinctly perceive to 
belonsr to the true and unalterable nature 
of a thing may be predicated of it, he found 
on investigating God that existence belongs 
to his true and unalterable nature, and 
therefore may legitimately be predicated of 
him. Another argument was adduced by 
Descartes to prove the existence of God, 
which, although not the same with the on¬ 
tological argument, appears to resemble it 
It is called the psychological argument. 
Like the ontological argument, it starts 
from the idea of a supreme and perfect 
being, but it does, not assert the objective 
existence of that being as implied in its 





GODAVARI 


GODIVA. 


idea, but infers such objective existence on 
the ground that we could have acquired the 
idea only from the being which corresponds 
to it. The cosmological argument starts 
not from an idea, but from a contingent 
existence, and infers from it an absolutely 
necessary being as its cause. Stated syllo- 
gistically the argument is; Every new thing 
and every change in a previously existing 
thing must have a cause sufficient and pre¬ 
existing. The universe consists of a system 
of changes. Therefore the universe must 
have a cause exterior and anterior to itself. 
The argument called the physico-teleological 
is that which is commonly known as the 
argument from design, which has been so 
fully illustrated by Paley in his Natural 
Theology. It is simply this, that in nature 
there are unmistakable evidences of the 
adaptation of means to ends, which lead us 
inevitably to the idea of one that planned 
this adaptation, that is, of God. The moral 
argument is derived from the constitution 
and history of man and his relations to the 
universe, being based on such considerations 
as our recognition of good and evil, right 
and-wrong, the monitions of conscience, and 
the fact that a moral government of the 
world may be observed. Another argument 
is based on the (alleged) fact that a belief 
in the existence of a Supreme Being is every¬ 
where found to be implanted in the breast 
of man. This argument is used among others 
by Cicero, and many thinkers are inclined 
to give a good deal of weight to it; still it is 
pronounced by others to be at best only a 
probable argument, if it may be accepted as 
valid to prove anything at all. Others argue 
the existence of God from the manifestations 
which he has made of himself to men, but 
these, as well as miracles, it is admitted even 
by Christian theists, can only be accepted as 
real by such as previously believed in the 
divine existence. 

Goda'vari, a large river of Central India, 
which rises about 50 miles from the shore of 
the Indian Ocean, flows across the Deccan 
from the Western to the Eastern Ghats in 
a general south-easterly direction, and being 
joined by several affluents, falls by three 
principal mouths into the Bay of Bengal, 
after a course of 900 miles. Before the river 
divides there are three great obstacles to 
navigation, caused by three rocky barriers. 
■—Godavari is also the name of a British 
district of the Madras Presidency; area, 
7345 sq. miles; pop. 1,791,512. Coringaand 
Coconada are its chief ports. 


Godfather and Godmother. See Spon- 
sors. 

Godfrey, Sir Edmondbury, the magis¬ 
trate who received the depositions of Titus 
Oates with regard to the alleged Popish 
plot. Sept. 28, 1678. He was soon after 
found dead, pierced with his own sword, 
though evidently not by his own hand. His 
death was imputed to the resentment of the 
Papists, and the excitement aroused was the 
actual cause of the Popish Plot agitation. 

Godfrey of Bouillon, leader of the first 
crusade, son of Eustace II., count of Bou¬ 
logne, born near Nivelles, 1061; died at 
Jerusalem, 1100. He distinguished himself 
while fighting for the Emperor Henry IV. 
in Germany and Italy, and was made Duke 
of Bouillon. In order to expiate his sin of 
fighting against the pope, he took the cross 
for the Holy Land in 1095, and led 80,000 
men to the East by way of Constantinople. 
On the 1st of May, 1097, they crossed the 
Bosporus, and began their march on Nice 
(Nicaea), which they took in June. In July 
the way to Syria was opened by the victory 
of Dorylaeum (Eski Shehr), in Phrygia, and 
before the end of 1097 the crusaders en¬ 
camped before Antioch. The town of An¬ 
tioch fell into their hands in 1098, and in 
the following year Godfrey took Jerusalem 
itself, after a five weeks’ siege. The leaders 
of the army elected him king of the city 
and the territory; but Godfrey would not 
wear a crown in the place where Christ was 
crowned with thorns; and contented himself 
with the title of (hike and (juardian of the 
holy sepulchre. The defeat of the Egyp¬ 
tians at Ascalon placed him in possession 
of all the Holy Land, excepting two or three 
places. Godfrey now turned his attention 
to the organization of his newly-established 
government, and promulgated a code of 
feudal laws called the Assize of Jerusalem. 
Godfrey was a favourite subject of medueval 
poetry, and is the central figure of Tasso’s 
‘Jerusalem Delivered.’ 

Godfrey of Strasburg, a German poet, 
who flourished about 1200, was probably 
born in Strasburg, but at any rate lived 
there. Besides many lays, we are indebted 
to him for the great chivalric poem, Tristan 
und Isolde, derived from the legends of the 
Round Table. 

Godi'va, the wife of Leofric, earl of Mercia 
and lord of Coventry in the reign of Edward 
the Confessor, heroine of a celebrated tradi¬ 
tion. In 1040 certain exactions imposed on 
the inhabitants bore heavily on them, and 

220 



GODMOTHER-GODWIN. 


Godiva interceded for their relief. Leofric, 
however, only laughed at her, and when she 
persisted in her entreaties at last said to 
her, half jocularly, that he would grant her 
request if she would ride naked through the 
town of Coventry. Godiva took her hus¬ 
band at his word, proclaimed that on a cer¬ 
tain day no one should leave his house be¬ 
fore noon, that all windows and other aper¬ 
tures in the houses should be closed, and that 
no one should even look out until noon was 
past. She then mounted naked on her pal¬ 
frey, rode through the town, and returned; 
and Leofric, in fulfilment of his promise, 
freed the inhabitants from the burdens he 
had imposed on them. Only one person, 
‘Peeping Tom,’ the story says, attempted to 
look out, and he was immediately struck 
blind. A yearly pageant, in which a young 
woman enacted the part of Godiva, was long 
kept up at Coventry, and still occasionally 
takes place. Tennyson’s poem on Godiva 
is well known. 

Godmother. See Godfather. 

GodoTphin, Sidney, Earl of Godolphin, 
English politician, was a native of Cornwall, 
date of birth unknown, probably 1635. 
Under Charles II., he was one of those 
who voted for the exclusion of the Duke of 
York from the throne in 1680. He never¬ 
theless retained office under that monarch, 
as he did also under William III., with 
whom he had long been in correspondence. 
During the reign of Anne he was appointed 
lord high-treasurer of England, and in this 
office did much to improve the public credit, 
and check corruption in the administration 
of the public funds. In 1706 he was made 
Earl of Godolphin, and four years after¬ 
wards was obliged to retire from office. His 
death took place in 1712. He was a man 
of great business capacity, but his treason¬ 
able correspondence with James while he 
held an office of trust under William of 
Orange is a serious blot upon his character. 

Godoy, Manuel, Duke of Alcudia, better 
known as the Prince of the Peace, was born 
at Badajoz 1767, died 1851. He entered 
the royal body-guards in 1787. His per¬ 
sonal qualities soon made him a favourite 
at the Spanish court, and his promotion was 
rapid. In 1791 he became adjutant-general 
of the guards, in 1792 lieutenant-general, 
Manjuis of Alcudia, grandee of Spain of the 
first class, and prime-minister; and in 1795, 
as a reward for the part he had taken in 
concluding peace with France, he was pre¬ 
sented with a large and valuable landed 

221 


estate, and made a knight of the Golden 
Fleece. It was on this occasion also that 
he was named by the king Prince of Peace. 
As he used his vast power in the promotion 
of French more than Spanish interests, he 
became extremely unpopular, and the hatred 
of the people became so great in 1808 that 
he had to take refuge in France. Having 
lost everything, he lived for a long time only 
on the bounty of his royal friends. In 1847 
he was permitted to return to Spain and re¬ 
sume his titles. The larger portion of his 
domains, however, was irrecoverably lost, 
and he ended his days in obscurity and 
poverty. 

God save the King (or Queen), the bur¬ 
den and common appellation of awell-known 
English national song. Concerning the au¬ 
thor and the composer opinions differ. It 
has been attributed to Dr. John Bull, cham¬ 
ber musician to James I.; his ode, dating 
from the gunpowder plot, beginning ‘ God 
save great James our King.’ But the com¬ 
position we now {) 0 ssess would seem to have 
been, both words and melody, the work of 
Henry Carey (died 1743). It appears to 
have been first published, together with the 
air, in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1745, 
when the landing of the young Stuart called 
forth expressions of loyalty from the ad¬ 
herents of the reigning family. After Dr. 
Arne, the composer of another national song 
(Rule, Britannia), had brought it on the 
stage, it soon became very popular. Since 
that time the harmony of the song has un¬ 
doubtedly been improved, but the rhythm 
is the same as originally. 

Godwin, Earl op Wessex, an Anglo- 
Saxon noble, born about 990; died 1052. 
In 1018 he was created an earl by Canute, 
and married the king’s niece Gytha. During 
the reign of Edward the Confessor, who mar¬ 
ried Godwin’s daughter, a quarrel arose be¬ 
tween Godwin and the king, occasioned by 
the partiality of Edward for Norman fa¬ 
vourites, and Godwin was compelled to quit 
the kingdom. In 1052, however, he returned 
with an army, forced Edward to enter into 
negotiations with him, re-established him¬ 
self triumphantly in his old supremacy, and 
caused the expulsion from the kingdom of 
most of the Norman intruders. He was 
the father of Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon 
king. 

Godwin, IMary, also well known by her 
maiden name of Wollstonecraft, born in or 
near London in 1759, died 1797. Her early 
training was very defective, but fitting her- 






GODWIN - 

■elf for a teacher, she set up a school, in 
conjunction with her sisters, at Islington in 
1783. In 1786 she published Thoughts on 
the Education of Daughters. This was fol¬ 
lowed by an answer to Burke’s Reflections 
on the French Revolution, the Vindication 
of the Rights of Woman, and other woi’ks. 
She had peculiar ideas on marriage, and 
formed a somewhat loose connection with 
an American of the name of Imlay, whose 
desertion caused her to attempt suicide. 
Some time after she fixed her affection on 
William Godwin (see next art.). As the 
bonds of wedlock were deemed a species of 
slavery in her theory, it was only to legiti¬ 
mize the forthcoming fruits of the union 
that a marriage between the parties took 
place. She died in giving birth to a daugh¬ 
ter, who afterwards became the wife of Shel¬ 
ley the poet. Among her other works are 
a Moral and Historical View of the French 
Revolution, and Letters from Sweden, Nor¬ 
way, and Denmark. 

Godwin, William, English novelist and 
political writer, son of a Dissenting minister, 
was born 1756, died 1836. In 1778 he be¬ 
came'the minister of a Dissenting congre¬ 
gation near London, and continued in that 
capacity for five years, after which he re¬ 
moved to London, where he set himself to 
gaining his livelihood by literary labours. 
In 1793 appeared his Inquiry concerning 
Political Justice, the liberal tone of which 
exposed him to some danger of a govern¬ 
ment prosecution. The next year appeared 
his novel of Caleb Williams, or Things as 
they Are, which rapidly and deservedly at¬ 
tained an immense popularity. His Cursory 
Strictures on Judge Eyre’s Charge to the 
jury in the trial for high treason of Holcroft, 
Horne Tooke, and others, contributed ma¬ 
terially to the acquittal of his friends. In 
1797 he published the Inquirer, a collection 
of essays on moral and literary subjects; 
and in April of the same year he married 
Mary Wollstonecraft (see preceding art.). 
A memoir of his wife was published by 
Godwin in 1798, along with her posthumous 
literary works. In 1799 he published a new 
novel, St. Leon. Among his subsequent 
works are: Faulkner, a tragedy, published 
in 1807; an Essay on Sepulchres, in 1808; 
Mandeville, a novel, in 1817; A Treatise on 
Population, in reply to Malthus, in 1820; 
History of the Commonwealth of England, 
1824-28; Cloudesley, a novel, in 1830; 
fl’lioughts on Man, in 1831; and Lives of 
the Necromancers, in 1834, In the latter 


- GOETHE. 

years of his life Godwin held a clerkship in 
the record office. 

Godwin'ia, a genus of plants, of the natu¬ 
ral order Aracese. A gigantic species {G. 
gigas) discovered in Nicaragua produces but 
one very large and very deeply cut leaf sup¬ 
ported on a stalk 10 feet long. The inflor¬ 
escence appears at a different time from the 
leaf, and consists of a stalk about 10 inches 
high supporting the spathe or flower 2 feet 
long, purplish-blue in colour, with a power¬ 
ful carrion-like odour. 

Godwit, the common name of the mem¬ 
bers of a genus of grallatorial birds {Limosa), 
family Scolopacidse (snipes). There are sev¬ 
eral species, of which two are British, viz. 
the common godwit {L. melanura) and the 
red godwit {L. rufa). There are besides 
the great American godwit, the cinereous 
godwit, the black-tailed godwit, the red¬ 
breasted godwit, &c. The common godwit 
frequents fens and the banks of rivers, and 
its flesh is esteemed a great delicacy. 

Goes (Jibs), or Tergoes, a fortified town 
and port in Holland, in the province of Zee- 
land, on the island of South Beveland, 16 
miles west of Bergen-op-Zoom. It has a 
considerable commerce, but unimportant 
manufactures. Pop. 11,558. 

Goethe {geu'te), Johann Wolfgang von, 
the greatest figure in German literature, was 
born August 28, 1749, at Frankfort-on-the- 
Main, died at Weimar, March 22, 1831. 
His father, who was a Doctor of Laws and 
imperial councillor, was a w'ell-to-do citizen 
and an admirer of the fine arts. The Seven 
Years’ war broke out when Goethe was 
eight years old, and Count de Thorane, 
lieutenant clu roi of the French army in 
Germany, was quartered in the house of his 
father. The count, being an amateur and 
liberal patron of art, encouraged the boy’s 
incipient taste for pictures. At the same 
time young Goethe learned the French lan¬ 
guage practically; and a French theatrical 
company, then performing at Frankfort, 
awakened his taste for dramatic perform¬ 
ances. Drawing, music, natural science, the 
elements of jurisprudence, and the languages, 
occupied him alternately. After the break¬ 
ing off of a youthful love affair, which gave 
a name to the heroine of his great work 
Faust and some features to his Wilhelm 
Meister, he was sent to the University of 
Leipzig to prepare himself for the legal 
profession, but he did not follow any regular 
course of studies. Goethe began at this 
period, what he practised throughout his 

222 


GOETHE. 


life, to embody in a poem, or in a poetical 
form, whatever occupied his mind intensely; 
and no one, perhaps, was ever more in need 
of such an exercise, as his nature continually 
hurried him from one extreme to another. 
In 1768 he left Leipzig, and after an illness 
of some length he went in 1770 to the Uni¬ 
versity of Strasburg, to pursue the study of 
law, according to the wish of his father. 
At Strasburg he became acquainted with 
Herder - a decisive circumstance in his life. 
Herder made him more acquainted with the 
Italian school of the fine arts, and inspired 
his mind with views of poetry more congenial 
to his character than any which he had 
hitherto conceived. While here he fell in 
love with Frederica Brion, daughter of the 
pastor of Sesenheim, but the affair, though 
it made a more abiding impression on him 
than some others, resulted in nothing. Goe¬ 
the’s numerous love affairs form one of the 
most curious studies in biography. His at¬ 
tachments were all fugitive; the love passion 
was continuous, but the object was ever 
changing. In 1771 he took the degree of 
Doctor of Jurisprudence, and wrote a dis¬ 
sertation on a legal subject. He then went 
to Wetzlar to practise law, where he found, 
in his own love for a betrothed lady, and in 
the fate of a young man named Jerusalem, 
the subjects for his striking work. The Sor¬ 
rows of Werther, which formed an epoch in 
German literature. The attention of the 
public had already been attracted to him, 
however, by his drama Gotz von Berlichin- 
gen (published 1773). Werther appeared 
in 1774. Not long after the publication of 
Werther, Charles Augustus, the hereditary 
duke of Saxe-Weimar, made the acquaint¬ 
ance of Goethe on a journey, and when 
in 1775 he took the government into his 
own hands, he invited Goethe to his court. 
Goethe accepted the invitation, and on the 
7th of November, 1775, arrived at Weimar. 
Wieland was already there, having been the 
duke’s tutor Herder was added to the band 
in 1776 ; Schiller was afterwards one of its 
members for a few years; and other poets 
and critics and novelists were gathered 
round these chiefs. Goethe was the lead¬ 
ing spirit of the group even during the 
last quarter of the 18th century, when 
these men and others were constructing and 
guiding the literature of all Germany; and 
his supremacy became yet more absolute 
afterward.s, when for another generation he 
stood alone. In 1776 he was made privy- 
C®uncillor of legation, with a seat and vote 

223 


in the privy-council. In 1782 he was made 
president of the chamber, and ennobled. In 
1786 he made a journey to Italy, where he 
remained two years, visited Sicily, and re¬ 
mained a long time in Rome. This resi¬ 
dence in Italy had the effect of still further 
developing his artistic powers. Here his 
Iphigenia was matured, Egmont finished, 
and Tasso projected. The first of these was 
published in 1787, the second in 1788, and 
the third in 1790. In the same year with 
Tasso was published the earliest form of the 
first part of Faust, with the title Dr. Faust, 
ein Trauerspiel (Dr. Faust, a Tragedy), 
a poem in a dramatic form, which belongs 
rather to Goethe’s whole life than to any 
particular period of it. At the time that 
Goethe was engaged in the production of 
these works of imagination he had been 
pursuing various other studies of a scientific 
nature with as ardent an interest as if 
these had belonged to his peculiar pro¬ 
vince. The result of his studies in botany 
was a work published also in 1790, Versuch 
die Metamorphose der Pflanzen zu Erklaren 
(Attempts to Explain the Metamorphosis of 
Plants), in which he gives expression to the 
view that the whole plant, and its different 
parts, may all be regarded as variously modi¬ 
fied leaves. In the following year (1791) 
he began to apply himself to optics, and in 
1791-92 he published a work on this sub¬ 
ject called Beitrage zur Optik. On the 1st 
of May, 1791, he became director of the 
court theatre at Weimar. In 1792 he fol¬ 
lowed his prince during the campaign of the 
Prussians against the revolutionary party 
in France, and was present at the battle of 
Valmy on the 20th of September. At the 
Weimar theatre he brought out some of 
the dramatic chefs-d’oeuvre of Schiller, and 
there, too, his own dramatic works first ap¬ 
peared, Goetz von Berlichingen, Faust, Iphi¬ 
genia in Taurus, Tasso, Clavigo, Stella, and 
Count Egmont. In 1794-96 Goethe pub¬ 
lished Wilhelm Meister’s Lehrjahre (Wil¬ 
helm Meister’s Apprenticeship), a novel 
which has become well known to English 
readers through the translation of Carlyle, 
and which had as a continuation Wilhelm 
Meister’s Wanderjahre (that is, his travels as 
a journeyman; 1821). His next work of im¬ 
portance was Hermann und Dorothea(1797), 
a narrative poem, in hexameter verse, the 
characters of which are taken from humble 
life. In 1806 Goethe married Christiane 
Vulpius, with whom he had lived since 1788, 
and of whom he always spoke with warmth 







GOG AND MAGOG 


GOLCONDA. 


and gratitude for the degree in which she 
had contributed to his domestic happiness. 
In 1808 he published another edition of 
Faust in a considerably altered form. In 

1809 was published Wahlverwandtschaften 
(Elective Affinities), another novel, and in 

1810 the Farbenlehre or Theory of Colours, 
a work in which he had the boldness to op¬ 
pose the Newtonian theory, and to which 
Goethe himself attached great importance, 
although the theory therein promulgated has 
met with no acceptance among men of science. 
Inl811-14 appeared Goethe’s autobiography, 
with the title Aus meinem Leben: Dichtung 
und Wahrheit; in 1819 the Westdstlicher 
Divan, a remarkable collection of oriental 
songs and poems. Goethe’s last work was 
the second part of Faust, which was com¬ 
pleted on the evening before the last anni¬ 
versary of his birthday which he lived to 
see. Goethe’s works taken altogether form 
a rich constellation of poetry, romance, sci¬ 
ence, art, and philosophy. His greatest pro¬ 
duction is his Faust, emphatically a philo¬ 
sophical dramatic poem, and the best of 
Goethe’s productions in a department for 
which he seems to have been born.« Much 
light is thrown on Goethe’s life and char¬ 
acter by the published corres[)ondence with 
his contemporaries, Herder, Frau von Stein, 
Lavater, Jacobi, Merck, Countess Stolberg, 
&c,; by Eckermann’s Conversations, and 
especially by his own Autobiography, which 
he himself describes as ‘poetry and truth,’ 
and in which probably the truth is some¬ 
times clouded by the poetry. George Henry 
Lewes’s Life of Goethe is a standard work 
both in Germany and Britain. 

Gog and Magog. Ezekiel predicts the 
destruction of Gog and Magog (ch. xxxviii. 
and xxxix.) by the Jews, and mention is 
also made of them in Revelation (ch. xx.). 
Interpreters generally understand them to 
be symbolical expressions for the heathen 
nations of Asia. Magog is mentioned as 
the second son of Japheth in Genesis (ch. 
x. 2). Gog and Magog are also the names 
given to two reputed giants of early British 
history, whose statues are erected in the 
Guildhall in London. These statues are 
supposed to have been originally made for 
carrying about in pageants. The present 
figures of Gog and Magog, which are 14 ft. 
high, were erected in 1708. 

Gogo, town in Bombay Presidency, on the 
peninsula of Kathiawar, on the Gulf of Cam- 
bay, 193 miles N.w. of Bombay. Pop. 7063. 
Gogol, Nikolai Vassiljevich, Russian 


author, born in the province of Poltava 
1809, died 1852. He went to St. Peters¬ 
burg in 1829 and tried the stage, but failing, 
found his true vocation in literature. His 
works are extremely popular in Russia for 
their graphic and humorous delineation of 
everyday life and manners, and more espe¬ 
cially Russian country life. Among his 
most notable works are—Evenings at the 
Farm (1832); Mirgorod, a collection of Tales 
(1834); the Dead Souls (1842), a satirical 
novel, depicting the public abuses and bar¬ 
barism of manners prevalent in the pro¬ 
vinces ; and Revisor, a comedy. His later 
years were tinged with religious mysticism, 
and he wrote some curious Confessions. 

Gogra, the chief river of Oudh, forming 
an important water-way for that quarter of 
India. It is a tributary of the Ganges; 
length, 600 miles. 

Goitre (goi'ter), or Bronchocele (bron'- 
ko-sel), known also in Great Britain as ‘Der¬ 
byshire neck,’ a disease endemic in Derby¬ 
shire, Switzerland, some parts of France and 
South America, and in many other parts of 
the world, chiefly in 
valleys and elevated 
plains in mountainous 
districts. It is a mor¬ 
bid enlargement of the 
thyroid gland, form¬ 
ing a soft and more 
or less mobile tumour 
or swelling, without 
any sign of inflam 
mation, on the ante¬ 
rior part of the neck. 

It sometimes grows 
to such a size as to 
hang down over the breast, and respiration 
and swallowing may be impeded by it, 
though often it causes little inconvenience. 
It is regarded as the result of a combination 
of causes, among which malarial influences 
probably concur with those of the drinking 
water in developing the disease. 

Gokcha, Goktscha, a lake in Russian 
Armenia, occupying a triangular cavity 540 
s(|. miles in extent, at an elevation of 6400 
ft. above the sea. It receives the water of 
several streams without having any con¬ 
siderable outlet. 

Golcon'da, a fortress and ruined city of 
India in the Nizam’s dominions, 7 miles w. 
of Hyderabad. Iffie fort is now used as the 
Nizam’s treasury, and also as a state prison. 
In former times Golconda was a large and 
powerful kingdom of the Deccan, but was 

224 



A female affected with 
Goitre. 







GOLD 


GOLDAU. 


subdued by Aurengzebe in 1687, and an¬ 
nexed to the dominions of the Delhi em¬ 
pire. 

Gold is a precious metal of a bright yel¬ 
low colour, and the most ductile and mal¬ 
leable of all the metals; symbol Au (Lat. 
aurum); atomic weight, 196. It is one of 
the heaviest of the metals, and not being 
liable to be injured by exposure to the air, 
it is well fitted to be used as coin. Its duc¬ 
tility and malleability are very remarkable. 
It may be beaten into leaves so exceedingly 
thin that 1 grain in weight will cover 56 
square inches, such leaves having the thick¬ 
ness of only ^inrinyth part of an inch. It 
is also extremely ductile; a single grain may 
be drawn into a wire 500 feet long, and an 
ounce of gold covering a silver wire is ca¬ 
pable of being extended upwards of 1300 
miles. It may also be melted and remelted 
with scarcely any diminution of its quan¬ 
tity. It is soluble in nitro-muriatic acid or 
aqua reqiuy and in a solution of chlorine. 
Its specific gravity is 19'3, or it is about 
nineteen times heaver than water. The 
fineness of gold is estimated by carats, pure 
gold being 24 carats fine. (See Carat.) 
Jeweller’s gold is usually a mixture of gold 
and copper in the proportions of three- 
fourths of pure gold with one-fourth of 
copper. Gold is seldom used for any pur¬ 
pose in a state of perfect purity on account 
of its softness, but is combined with some 
other metal to render it harder. Standard 
gold, or the alloy used for the gold coinage 
of Britain, consists of twenty-two parts of 
gold and two of copper (being thus 22 carats 
fine). Articles of jewelry in gold are made 
of every degree of fineness up to 18 carats, 
i.e. 18 parts of gold to 6 of alloy. The alloy 
of gold and silver is found already formed 
in nature, and is that most generally known. 
It is distinguishable from that of copper by 
possessing a paler yellow than pure gold, 
while the copper alloy has a colour border¬ 
ing upon reddish yellow. Palladium, rho¬ 
dium and tellurium are also met with as 
alloys of gold. 

Gold has been found in smaller or larger 
quantities in nearly all parts of the world. 
It is commonly found in reefs or veins 
among quartz, and in alluvial deposits; it is 
separated, in the former case, by quarrying, 
crushing, washing, and treatment with mer¬ 
cury. The rock is crushed by machinery, 
and then treated with mercury, which dis¬ 
solves the gold, forming a liquid amalgam; 
after which the mercury is volatilized, and 
VOL. IV. 225 


the gold left behind; or the crushed ore is 
fused with metallic lead, which dissolves 
out the gold, the lead being afterwards sepa¬ 
rated by the process of cupellation. In al¬ 
luvial deposits it is extracted by washing, in 
dust, grains, laminae, or nuggets. In modern 
times large supplies of gold were obtained 
after the discovery of America from Peru, 
Bolivia, and other parts of the New World. 
Till the discovery of gold in California, a 
chief source of the supply was the Ural 
Mountains in Russia. An immense increase 
in the total production of gold throughout 
the world was caused by the discovery of 
gold in California in 1848, and that of the 
equally rich gold-fields of Australia in 1851. 
Latterly the yield from both sources has 
considerably decreased. Gold mines have also 
been extensively worked in New Zealand. 
British Columbia, Klondike and Van¬ 
couver are Canadian gold-fields, but the 
metal is found in Saskatchewan, Ontario, 
New Brunswick, and elsewhere in the 
Dominion. In the United States, apart 
from California, gold in quantities is found 
in many states and territories, chiefly Colo¬ 
rado, Dakota, Idaho, Montana, and Ne¬ 
vada. Among the other places where gold 
has lately been found in sufficient quantity 
to hold out the hope of being profitably 
searched for are New Caledonia, the colony 
of Natal, and other parts of South Africa. 
In the latter country the whole region be¬ 
tween the Limpopo and the Zambesi rivers 
appears to be auriferous. Gold has been 
found also in many parts of the United 
Kingdom, as in Sutherlandshire, the Wick¬ 
low hills, and many places in Wales, espe¬ 
cially near Dolgelly, where auriferous quartz 
reefs are now being worked on a large 
scale. The value of the gold produced from 
the years 1493 to 1875, is estimated at 
$4,643,087,395; and from tlie year 1875 to 
1890, at $1,508,980,000. The total pro¬ 
duction throughout the world amounted in 
1895 to $203,000,000, of which the U. S. 
produced $39,500,000. Enormous quanti¬ 
ties of gold are consumed in the arts and 
are lost by wear of coin and jewelry. 

Goldau (gold'ou), a valley in Switzerland, 
in the canton of Schwyz, between the Rigi 
and the Rossberg. It was the scene of a 
tremendous landslip (2d Sept 1806) by 
wffiich a portion of the Rossberg, about 
3 miles long, 1000 feet broad, and 100 feet 
thick, fell in one mass into the valley, bury¬ 
ing several villages and killing upwards of 
450 persons. 





GOLD-BEATER’S SKIN 


GOLDEN HORDE. 


Gold-beater’s Skin, a thin material pre¬ 
pared from the large intestine of the ox, 
used by gold-beaters and sometimes in sur¬ 
gery. 

Gold-beating, the art or process of pro¬ 
ducing the extremely thin leaves of gold used 
in gilding, &c. The gold is cast into ingots 
weighing about 2 oz. each, and measuring 
about f of an inch broad. These ingots are 
passed between steel rollers till they form 
long ribbons of such thinness that a square 
inch will weigh 6| grains. Each one of these 
is now cut into 150 pieces, each of which is 
beaten on an anvil till it is about an inch 
square. These 150 plates are interlaid with 
pieces of fine vellum about 4 inches square, 
and beaten till the gold is extended nearly to 
the size of the vellum leaves. Each leaf is 
then divided into four, interlaid with gold¬ 
beater’s skin, and beaten out to the dimen¬ 
sions of the skin. Another similar division 
and beating finishes the operation, after 
which the leaves are placed in paper books 
ready for use. 

Goldberg, a town in Prussia, province of 
Silesia, 14 miles south-west of Liegnitz. 
The place owes its origin and name to a 
gold mine in the neighbourhood, abandoned 
since the 15th century. Pop. 6734. 

Gold Coast, a British crown-colony in 
W. Africa, comprising that part of the 
Guinea coast which extends from 3° 30' w. 
to 1° 30' E. Ion., stretching inland to an 
average distance of 50 miles. Estimated 
area, 15,000 sq. miles. The climate is un¬ 
healthy. The first settlements on the Gold 
Coast were made by the Portuguese, who 
built the fort of Elmina, which was seized 
by the Dutch in 1637. Subsequently there 
were a number of Dutch and English set¬ 
tlements established, but the former were 
transferred to Britain in 1872. The chief 
forts and settlements are Cape Coast Castle, 
Elmina, Accra, Axim, Dixcove, and Anna- 
maboe. The chief products are gold, palm- 
oil, ivory, copal, cacmtchouc, &c. Es¬ 
timated population, 1,905,000, of whom 
about 150 are Europeans. 

Golden Age, that early mythological 
period in the history of almost all races, 
fabled to have been one of primeval inno¬ 
cence and enjoyment, in which the earth 
was common property, and brought forth 
spontaneously all things necessary for happy 
existence, while beasts of prey lived at 
peace with other animals. The Romans 
referred this time to the reign of Saturn. 
The so )aUed ‘goldep age’ of Roman litera¬ 


ture is reckoned from the time of Livius 
Andronicus, 250 B.C., to the death of Augus¬ 
tus Caesar, a.d. 14. 

Golden - beetle, the popular name of 
several tetramerous beetles of the genus 
ChrysomUa. Their most obvious character¬ 
istic is the great brilliancy of their colour. 
There are none of large size. Among species 
found in the U. S. is the Ladder-beetle. 

Golden Bull, an important document 
in the history of Germany issued by the 
emperor Charles IV. in 1356. Its imme¬ 
diate object was to regulate for all time 
coming the mode of procedure in the elec¬ 
tion and coronation of the emperors. 

Golden-crested Wren, Golden-ckested 
Regulus, or Kinglet {Ref/Ulns cristdtus), a 
beautiful bird belonging to the family Syl- 
viadae, distinguished by an orange crest. It 
is the smallest of British birds, being only 
about 3| inches in length, is very agile, and 
almost continually in motion. The upper 
part of the body is yellowish olive green, 
all the under parts pale reddish white, 
tinged with green. The most usual haunts 
of the golden-crested wren are tall trees, 
particularly the oak, the yew, and the various 
species of pine and fir. Its nest is most com¬ 
monly open at the top, but sometimes it is 
covered with a dome, and has an opening 
on one side. It is always ingeniously sus¬ 
pended beneath the branch, being the only 
instance of the kind amongst the birds of 
Great Britain. The eggs are nine or ten in 
number. 

Golden Eagle. See Eagle. 

Golden-eye, Clangiila vulgaris^ a species 
of wild duck. See Garrot. 

Golden Fleece, in classical myth, the 
fleece of gold in quest of which Jason un¬ 
dertook the Argonautic expedition to Col¬ 
chis. The fleece was suspended in an oak- 
tree in the grove of Ares (Mars), and was 
guarded by a dragon. When the Argonauts 
came to Colchis for the fleece, Medea put 
the dragon to sleep and Jason carried the 
fleece away. See Argonauts^. Jason, Medea. 

Golden Fleece, Grdek of the, the Toison 
d'or, a military order instituted by Philip 
the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1429, on 
the occasion of his marriage with the Por¬ 
tuguese princess, Isabella. The order now 
belongs to both Austria and Spain. The 
knights carry suspended from their collars 
the figure of a sheep or fleece in gold. 

Golden Horde, originally the name of a 
powerful Mongol tribe, but afterwards ex¬ 
tended to all the followers of Genghis Khan, 

226 


GOLDEN HORN-GOLDONI. 


and of Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, 
who invaded Europe in the thirteenth cen¬ 
tury. Under Batu the Golden Horde ad¬ 
vanced westwards as far as the plain of Mosi 
in Hungary, and Liegnitz in Silesia, at both 
of which bloody battles were fought in 1241. 
They founded the empire of the Kiptshaks, 
or the Golden Horde, which extended from 
the banks of the Dniester to the LTral, and 
from the Black Sea and the Caspian to the 
mouth of the Kama and the sources of the 
Khoper. This empire lasted till towards 
the close of the fifteenth century, when it 
was overthrown by Ivan III. 

Golden Horn, the harbour of Constanti¬ 
nople, an inlet (jf the Bosphorus, so called 
from its shape and beauty. 

Golden Legend (^4 urea Legenda), a collec¬ 
tion of legends of the Saints made in the 13th 
century by Jacobus de Voragine, archbishop 
of Genoa (died 1298). It consists of 177 
sections, each of which is devoted to a par¬ 
ticular saint or festival, arranged in the 
order of the calendar. Caxton printed a 
translation in 1483, and another edition was 
produced by Wynkyn de Worde in 1498. 

Golden Number, in chron. a number 
showing the year of the moon's cycle ; so 
called from having formerly been written in 
the calendar in gold. To find the golden 
number add 1 to the given year, and divide 
the sum by 19, what remains will be the 
number required, imless 0 remain, for then 
19 is the golden number. 

Golden-pheasant. See Pheasant. 

Golden-rod {SolidCujo) is a genus of plants, 
natural order Compositae, chiefly natives of 
North America. Most of the species have 
erect, rod-like, scarcely-branched stems, 
with alternate serrated leaves, and terminal 
spikes or racemes of small yellow flowers. 
S. virgaurea, often called Aaron’s Hod, is 
the only British species, and is common in 
woods and heathy thickets. 

Golden Rose, in the Roman Catholic 
church an ornament of gold consecrated by 
the pope on the fourtli Sunday of Lent. It 
was originally a single flower of wrought 
gold, coloured red; afterwards the golden 
petals were decked with rubies and other 
gems; finally the form adopted was that of 
a thorny branch, with several flowers and 
leaves, and one princi{)al flower at the top, 
all of pure gold. It is sent to some favoured 
prince, some eminent church, or distinguished 
personage. 

Golden-saxifrage, the popular name for 
plants of the genus Chrysospleniu7n^ a small 

227 


genus of Saxifragacese, consisting of annual 
or perennial rather succulent herbs, with 
alternate or opposite crenate leaves, and 
inconspicuous greenish axillary and terminal 
flowers. They are natives of Central and 
Northern Europe, the Himalayas, and parts 
of America. 

Goldfinch, a common European bird, the 
Pringilla cardaelis, belonging to the Finch 
family. It is about five inches in entire 
length, black, scarlet, yellow and white 
being beautifully mingled in its plumage. 
The colours of the female are duller than 
those of the male. Its brilliant plumage, 
soft and pleasant song, and doeility make it 
a favourite cage-bird. The black-headed 
Gold-finch, of South America, accidental 
in the U. States, has a black head. 

Goldfish, the trivial name of a beautiful 
species of carp, found in the fresh waters of 
China. It is greenish in colour in the natural 
state, the golden yellow colour being found 
only in domesticated specimens, and re¬ 
tained by ai’tificial selection. These fishes 
are reared by the Chinese in small ponds, in 
basins, or porcelain vessels, and kept for or¬ 
nament. By careful selection, many strange 
varieties and monstrosities have been pro¬ 
pagated. They are now distributed over 
nearly all the civilized parts of the world, 
but in large ponds they readily revert to 
the colour of the original stock. 

Gold Lace, a fabric woven of silken threads 
which are either themselves gilt or are 
covered with fine gilt silver wire. In the 
former the gold-leaf is fixed directly on the 
threads by means of gum. In the latter and 
finer kind the fine gilt silver wire is tw isted 
compactly round the silk threads, w hich are 
then ready for being manufactured into lace. 

Gold of Pleasure, the CameLlna saliva, a 
cruciferous annual, order Brassicaceae, with 
stem-clasping leaves, and terminal racemes 
of yellow flowers which produce pear-shaped 
pods containing ntimerous small seeds. It is 
found in Britain in corn-fields, and is culti¬ 
vated to a considerable extent on the con¬ 
tinent of Europe for its seeds, which yield 
an oil used for burning, for dressing woollen 
goods, making soft soap, and in painting. 
The stems yield a fibre used for making 
brooms. It is found in our cultivated fields. 

Goldo'ni, Carlo, a celebrated Italian writer 
of comedies, born at Venice in 1707 ; died 
at Paris 179.3. He early showed a taste for 
theatrical representations, and, when scarcely 
eight years of age, he ventured to sketch a 
comedy, which excited the wonder of hi9 





GOLDSBOROUGH-GOLDSMITH. 


relatives. His father, who was a physician, 
intended that his son should follow the 
medical profession. But Goldoni, dissatisfied 
with this study, obtained permission to study 
law in Venice, Soon after, however, a re¬ 
lative procured for him a place in the Papal 
college at the University of Pavia, from 
which he was expelled for writing scurrilous 
satires. After his father’s death he settled 
as an advocate in Venice, but shortly took 
to a wandering life with strolling players, 
until in 1736 he married the daughter of a 
notary and settled down in Venice. Here 
he first began to cultivate that department 
of dramatic poetry in which he was to excel; 
namely description of character and man¬ 
ners. In this he took Molibre, whom he 
began to study about this time, for his 
model. For five years he visited various 
cities of Italy, composing pieces for different 
theatrical companies, and for a time renew¬ 
ing his legal practice. In 1761 the Italian 
players invited him to Paris, where many of 
his pieces met with uncommon applause. 
He became reader and master of the Italian 
language to the daughters of Louis XV.; 
and received latterly a pension of 3600 
livres. At the breaking out of the revolu¬ 
tion the poet lost his pension, and the 
decree of the national convention of the 7th 
of January, 1793, restoring it and making 
up the arrears, found him already in the 
arms of death. His widow received the 
arrears and a pension for herself. Many of 
his pieces still appear on the stage. 

Goldsborough, Wayne co., N. C., 49 m. 
S. E. of Raleigh, is an important railroad 
centre, and a flourishing town. Pop. 6325. 

Goldschmidt (golt'shmit), Meier Aaron, 
Danish novelist, born of Jewish parents 1819, 
died 1887. In 1840 he founded what became 
the most famous of Danish newspapers, 'J'he 
Corsair, celebrated for its brilliant wit and 
audacious satire. In 1845 he published his 
first novel, A Jew, which was translated 
into English and several other European 
languages. In 1847 he published a collection 
of short stories, and began the issue of 
another newspaper. North and South. His 
chief novels are Homeless, The Heir, The 
Raven, and The Vacillator. He also pub¬ 
lished a series of short stories of Jewish life, 
and a play, The Rabbi and the Knight. 
His style is said to be the most graceful in 
the language. 

Goldsmith, Oliver, poet and miscellane¬ 
ous writer, born Nov. 10, 1728, at Pallas, 
county Lougfordj Ireland, died in Londoo 


April 4,1774. His father, a clergyman of the 
Established Church, held the living of Kil¬ 
kenny West. In 1745 he was entered as a 
sizar at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1749, 
shortly after his father’s death, he quitted 
Dublin with the degree of Bachelor, and was 
advised by an uncle, who had already borne 
a large part of the expenses of his education, 
to prepare for holy orders. Rejected for holy 
orders he became tutor in a family, but soon 



Oliver Goldsmith, from the statue hi’ Foley. 


lost his situation on account of a dispute with 
the master of the house over a game at cards. 
1 he same uncle who had given him assistance 
before now gave him £50 to go to Dublin 
to study law, but he had scarcely arrived at 
the city when he lost the whole sum in 
gambling. In spite of his repeated impru¬ 
dences he was once more succoured by his 
uncle, who supplied him with means to go 
to Edinburgh to study medicine. Here he 
remained eighteen months, during which he 
acquired some slight knowledge of chemistry 
and natural history. At the end of this 
period he removed to Leyden, again at the 
expense of his uncle; and afterwards wan¬ 
dered over a large part of France, Germany, 
Switzerland, and Italy. It was probably 
at Padua that he took a medical degree, as 
he remained there six months; but his 
uncle dying while he was in Italy be was 
obliged to travel on foot to England, and 
reached London in 1756 with a few pence 
in his pocket. After some years of hard 
experience as a chemist’s assistant, medical 
practitioner, proof-reader, and school usher, 
he drifted into literature. He conducted a 
department in the Monthly Review, wrote 
essays in the Public Ledger (afterwards 

228 




GOLD WIRE 


GOMUTI PALM. 


published under the title of the Citizen of 
the World), and a weekly pamphlet, entitled 
the Bee. In 1761 he was introduced to Dr. 
Johnson. In 1764 he appeared as a poet 
by the publication of his Traveller. In 1766 
appeared his Vicar of Wakefield, which at 
once secured merited applause. In 1768 
his comedy of the Good-natured Man was 
acted at Covent-Garden with but indifferent 
success. His poetical fame was greatly en¬ 
hanced by the publication of his Deserted 
Village in 1770. In 1773 he produced his 
comedy of She Stoops to Conquer, which 
was completely successful. He also compiled 
histories of England, Greece, and Rome; 
and a History of the Earth and Animated 
Nature, a pleasing work, but one of no scien¬ 
tific value. His last days were embittered by 
the pressure of debt, incurred partly by his 
improvidence and partly by his generosity. 
The manners of Goldsmith were eccentric, 
even to absurdity. As a poet, his Traveller 
and Deserted Village have given him a de¬ 
served reputation; and his Vicar of Wake¬ 
field is one of the best known and most 
delightful of English novels. 

Gold Wire, an ingot of silver superficially 
covered with gold, and drawn through a 
great number of holes of different sizes until 
it is brought to the requisite fineness. 

Golf, a game played with clubs and balls, 
generally over large commons, downs, or 
links, where a series of small round holes 
are cut in the turf at distances of from 100 
to 500 yards from each other, according to 
the nature of the ground, so as to form a 
circuit or round. The clubs are of different 
uses, and have different names according to 
the purpose for which they ai'e respectively 
designed; as the driver, putter, spoon, sand- 
iron, cleek, and niblick or track-iron. The 
rival players are one on each side, or two 
against two, in which case the two partners 
strike the ball on their side alternately. The 
object of the game is, starting from the first 
hole, to drive the ball into the next hole 
with as few strokes as possible, and so on 
with all the holes in succession, the side 
which holes its ball on any occasion with 
the fewest strokes being said to gain the 
hole. The match is usually decided by the 
greatest number of holes gained in one or 
more rounds, or the aggregate number of 
strokes taken to “hole” one or more rounds. 
Golf, which for a long time was a game al¬ 
most entirely confined to Scotland, is now 
firmly esfablished in England, America 
and the British colonies. 

229 


GoLgotha. See Calvary. 

Goli'ath, a giant of Gath slain by David 
(1 Sam. xvii.). His height was “ six cubits 
and a span,” which, taking the cubit at 21 
inches, would make him a little over 11 feet. 
The Septuagint and Josephus read, “/owr 
cubits and a span.” 

Goliath-beetle, the popular name of the 
beetles of the genus Goliathus, natives of 
Africa and South America, remarkable for 
their large size, and on account of their 
beauty and rarity much prized by collectors. 
There are several species, as G. cacicus 
(goliath-beetle proper), G. polyphemus, G. 
micans, &c. G. cacicus, a South American 
species, is roasted and eaten by the natives 
of the district it inhabits, who regard it as 
a great dainty. It attains a length of 4 
inches. 

Gollnow, a town in Prussia, 14 miles 
north-east of Stettin. Pop. 8426. 

Golosh'es, a word introduced into our lan¬ 
guage from the Erench^aZocAe, but originally 
derived from the Spanish galocha, meaning 
a wooden shoe or clog. It was formerly 
applied by the English to a kind of wooden 
clogs. The name is now restricted to over¬ 
shoes, now generally made of vulcanized 
india-rubber. 

Go'marites, Gomakists, followers of Fran¬ 
cis Goniar, a Dutch disciple of Calvin in the 
17th century. The sect, otherwise called 
Dutch Remonstrants, very strongly opposed 
the doctrines of Arminius, adhering rigidly 
to those of Calvin. See Reformed Church. 

Gombroon', another name for Bender 
Abbas, which see. 

Gome'ra, one of the Canary Islands, about 
12 miles by 9 in extent; pop. 11,989. It 
has two towns, St. Sebastian and Villa 
Hermosa. 

Gomez, Sebastiano, Spanish painter, born 
at Seville about 1616, died about 1690. He 
was originally a slave of Murillo, but on 
account of his genius he was liberated by 
his master and received among his pupils. 

Gomor'rah. See Sodom and Gomorrah. 

Gomul Pass, a pass across the Sulaimdn 
range, from the Punjab into Afghanistan. 
It follows the course of the Gomul river, 
and is an important trading highway. 

Gomu'ti Palm, the sago-palm {Saguerus 
saccharifer) which yields a .bristly fibre re¬ 
sembling black horsehair known as gomuti. 
This fibre, which is also called ejoo, is 
manufactured into cordage, plaited into or¬ 
naments, employed for thatching, and put 
to various other similar uses. The sweet 





GONAIVES 


GONIDIA. 


juice yielded by the palm is fermented, 
forming the ‘toddy’ of the natives. In 
Malacca the gornuti is cultivated chiefly 
for its saccharine juice, which is crystallized 
into the sugar named jaggery. It is also 
one of the chief of the sago-pi’oducing palms. 

Gonaives, a town on the west coast of 
Hayti, on the bay of the same name, 65 
miles N.N.w. of Port au Prince. It has an 
excellent harbour. The exports are cotton, 
coffee, salt, and mahogany. Pop. 3000. 

Gonda, chief town of district of the same 
name, Oudh, India, 28 miles n.n.w. of Fyz^- 
bail. Pop. 13,743. The district has an 
area of 2881 sq, miles. Pop. 1,270,926. 

Gondar, a chief town of Al^yssinia, for¬ 
merly the residence of the king, and still 
the ecclesiastical head-quarters, is situated 
on a hill of considerable height, about 22 
miles north of Lake Dernbea. The town is 
divided into several quarters; contains many 
churches, and the ruins of a magnificent 
towered castle, built in the 16th century by 
Indian architects under the direction of Por¬ 
tuguese settlers. It was burned by King 
Theodore in 1868. Pop. 6000. •• 

Gondoko'ro, formerly a trading and mis¬ 
sionary station and military port on the 
Bahr el Abiad or White Nile, lat. 4° 55' N.; 
for a time the chief seat of the Eg 3 'ptian 
government of the Upper Nile, but now 
deserted. 

Gon'dola, a sort of barge, curiously orna¬ 
mented, and navigated on the canals of 
Venice. The middle-sized gondolas are up¬ 
wards of 30 feet long and 4 broad; they 



Gondola. 


always terminate at each end in a very 
sharp point, which is raised perpendicularly 
to the height of a man. Towards the centre 
there is a curtained chamber for passengers. 

Gonds, the aboriginal or rather non-Aryan 
inhabitants of the old territorial division of 
Hindustan called Gondwana, corresponding 


pretty nearly to what is now called the Cen¬ 
tral Provinces. After a long period of re¬ 
pression, they attained to a position of great 
prominence and power, and in the 16th, 17th, 
and 18th centuries three Gond dynasties sim¬ 
ultaneously held almost the whole of Gond¬ 
wana under their sway. With the rise of 
the Mahrattas the power of the Gonds de¬ 
clined, and in 1781 the last of their dynasties 
was overthrown and the independence of 
the Gonds ceased. 'J'heir numbers have 
been variously estimated up to 2,000,000, 
partly under feudatory states and partly 
under the British government, in the Cen¬ 
tral Provinces. 

Gondwan'a, an extensive imperfectly' de¬ 
fined tract of Central India. See Gonds. 

Gon'falon, an en¬ 
sign or standard;espe¬ 
cially an ensign having 
two or three streamers 
or tails, fixed on a 
frame made to turn 
like a ship’s vane, or, 
as in the case of the 
Papal gonfalon, sus¬ 
pended from a pole 
similarly to a sail from 
a mast. The person 
intrusted with the “ Gonfalon, 
gonfalon in many of 
the mediaeval republican cities of Italy was 
often the chief personage in the state. 

Gong, a Chinese musical instrument made 
of an alloy of copper (about seventy-eight 
parts) and tin (about twenty-two parts), in 
form like a round flat dish with a rim 2 to 
3 inches in depth. It is struck by a kind 
of drumstick, the head of which is covered 
with leather, and is used for the purposes 
of making loud sonorous signals, of marking 
time, and of adding to the clangour of mar¬ 
tial instruments. 

Gongo'ra y Argo'te, Luis, a celebrated 
Spanish poet, was born at Cordova in 1561; 
died there in 1627. He was educated for 
the church, and was made chaplain to the 
king, and a prebendary in the cathedral of 
Cordova. His works consist chiefly of ly¬ 
rical poems, in which he excelled. He in¬ 
troduced a new poetic phraseology called 
the estilo culto, and founded a school of 
writers, the Gongoristas, who carried this 
depraved style to an absurd length. 

Gonid'ia, the name given to the secondary, 
reproductive, green, spherical cells in the 
thallus of lichens, forming the distinctive 
mark between those plants and fungi. 

230 


























GONIOMETER GOOD ALL. ’ 


Goniom'eter, an instrument for measur¬ 
ing solid angles, particularly the angles 
formed by the faces of crystals. The re¬ 
flecting goniometer is an instrument of this 
kind for measuring the angles of crystals 
by determining through what angular space 
the crystal must be turned so that two rays 
reflected from two surfaces successively shall 
have the same direction. 

Gonorrhoea (gon-o-re'a), a specific con¬ 
tagious inflammation of the male urethra 
or the female vagina, attended, from its 
early stages, with a profuse secretion of 
much mucus intermingled with matter. 
This secretion contains the contagion of the 
disease. Though termed a venereal dis¬ 
ease, it is totally distinct from syphilis. It 
is a painful disease, and may result in the 
clironic catarrh called gleet, or may lead to 
stricture and other serious evils. 

GonsaTvo, Hernandez y Aguilah, de 
Cordova, Spanish soldier, called the great 
captain {el gran capitan), was born at Mon- 
tilla, near Cordova, in 1453, died at Granada 
1515. He distinguished himself in the Por¬ 
tuguese war which began in 1475, and in 
the great war with the Moors, which ended 
with the conquest of Granada in 1492. In 
1495 he was sent to assist Ferdinand IT., 
king of Naples, against the French, who 
occupied the whole of that kingdom. In 
less than a year Gonsalvo drove the French 
over the Neapolitan frontiers, and returned 
to Spain, where he was engaged in subject¬ 
ing the Moors in the Alpujarras, when Louis 
XII. of France renewed the war against 
Naples. Gonsalvo again took the field, and 
by the victory near Seminara in 1502 ob¬ 
tained possession of both Calabrias. In 
1503 he gained a still more important vic¬ 
tory near Cerignola, in consequence of which 
Abruzzo and Apulia submitted, and Gon¬ 
salvo marched into Naples. He then sat 
down before Gaeta. As the siege was pro¬ 
tracted, he gave up the command to Don 
Pedro Navarro, and advanced to meet the 
enemy. He defeated the Marquis of Man¬ 
tua; and on the Garigliano, with 8000 men, 
obtained a complete victory over ^30,000 
French, the consequence of which was the 
fall of Gaeta. The possession of Naples was 
now secured. He was viceroy in Italy until 
1507, when, through the jealousy of the 
king and the calumnies of the courtiers, he 
was deprived of his office, and retired to 
Granada, where he died. 

Gonville and Cains (kez) College, Cam¬ 
bridge, was founded in 1358 by Edmund 

231 


Gonville, of Terrington, Norfolk. In 1558 
Dr. Caius obtained the roval charter by 
which all the former foundations were con¬ 
firmed and his own foundation was estab¬ 
lished. By this charter the college was 
thenceforth to be called Gonville and Caius 
College. 

Gonzaga Family, a famous Italian family 
who ruled over Mantua for over three cen¬ 
turies. Many illustrious soldiers, states¬ 
men, churchmen, and promoters and culti¬ 
vators of arts, science, and literature sprang 
from this stock. They became extinct in 1708. 

Good, John Mason, English physician, 
author of various poems, translations, and 
professional treatises, was born 1764, died 
1827. He was apprenticed to a surgeon at 
Gosport, and in 1784 engaged in practice 
at Sudbury. In 1793 he removed to Lon¬ 
don, where he carried on business for sev¬ 
eral years as a surgeon and apothecary. 
Having obtained a diploma from the Uni¬ 
versity of Aberdeen, he commenced phy¬ 
sician in 1820, and continued to practise in 
that capacity till his death. His best- 
known work is a translation of Lucretius’ 
Latin poem De Natura Re rum. 

Goodall, Edward, line-engraver, born at 
Leeds in 1795. He was self-taught, and 
early in his career attracted the notice of 
Turner, a number of whose pictures he en¬ 
graved, including the large plates of Tivoli 
and Cologne, and various plates in the Eng¬ 
land and Wales and Southern Coast series. 
He also engraved many plates for the An¬ 
nuals, and the largest number of the land¬ 
scapes after Turner that illustrate the ele¬ 
gant editions of Rogers’ Italy and Poems. 
He engraved a number of plates for the Art 
Journal, several from pictures by his son, 
Frederick Goodall, R. A., of which the Cran- 
mer at the Traitors’ Gate and the Happy 
Days of Charles I., both of large size, are the 
most important. He died in London in 1870. 

Goodall, Frederick, R.A., English pain¬ 
ter, son of Edward Goodall, the engraver; 
born in London 1822. At seventeen years 
of age he began to exhibit, and he has pro¬ 
duced pictures very varied in subject and 
generally of high excellence. He was elected 
A.R.A. in 1853, and R.A. in 1863. Exem¬ 
plifying variety, the following may be named: 
Raising the Maypole in the Olden Time 
(1851), Cranmer at the Traitors’ Gate (1856), 
The Opium Bazaar, Cairo (1863), Mater 
Purissima and Mater Dolorosa (1868), The 
Subsiding of the Nile (1873), The Holy 
Mother and Child (1876), The Flight into 





GOOD-CONDUCT PAY 


GOORKHAS. 


Egypt, and A New Light of the Harem 
(1884), Andromeda (1887), The Pets of the 
Harem (1889). Of late years his subjects 
have been mostly from Oriental life and 
scenery and from Holy Writ. 

Good-conduct Pay, a pecuniary reward 
to corporals and privates in the British army 
for good conduct. The amount awarded at 
one time is a penny a day, with one white 
chevron on the arm as a badge of distinc¬ 
tion. This reward is increased by one penny 
a day at certain periods of service till it 
reaches the maximum, sixpence. Good- 
conduct pay and badges are also awarded 
in the navy to seamen, but the grant is 
limited to threepence a day. 

Good -Friday, a fast of the Christian 
Church in memory of our Saviour’s cruci¬ 
fixion, kept on the Friday of Passion-w'eek, 
that is the Friday before Easter. It has 
been celebrated from a very early period. 
In the R. Cath. Ch. the celebration of this 
fast includes prayers for all classes of people, 
including heretics, schismatics, pagan.s, and 
Jews, and the ‘Adoration of the Cross,’ 
but no mass is celebrated. In all Protestant 
churches the day is observed with much 
solemnity, excejDt among Presbyterians. 
The practice of eating ‘cross-buns’ on this 
day has now no religious significance. In 
England and Ireland Good-Friday is a legal 
holiday as well as a fast. 

Good Hope, Cape of. See Cape of Good 
Hope. 

Goodrich, Samuel Griswold, American 
author, born at Ridgefield, Connecticut, 
1793; died 1860. He was a publisher in 
Hartford and afterwards in Boston. He 
is best known as ‘Peter Parley,’ a pseu¬ 
donym which he assumed in writing, edit¬ 
ing, and compiling upwards of 170 children’s 
books. In 1851 he acted as American con¬ 
sul at Paris, and published there in French 
a treatise on American Geography and His¬ 
tory. He also wrote Recollections of a 
Lifetime; Sketches from a Student’s Win¬ 
dow; A History of all Nations; The Out¬ 
cast and other Poems; and a general Natural 
History.—His brother, Charles Augustus 
(1790-1862), was associated wdth him on 
some of the books published by him, and 
also wrote a History of the United States, 
and other works. 

Goods and Chattels, the legal and popu¬ 
lar denomination for personal property as 
distinguished from things real, or lands, 
tenements, or hereditaments. 

Good Templars, a temperance brother¬ 


hood which combines the principles of tee- 
totalism with certain mystic rites, imitated 
less or more from freemasonry, having secret 
signs, passwords, and insignia peculiar to 
itself. It originated in New York in 1851, 
and extended to Britain in 1868. The 
organization consists of local ‘ subordinate ’ 
lodges, county ‘district’ lodges, national 
‘grand’ lodges, and an international ‘right 
worthy’ grand lodge. A ‘juvenile order’ 
is also attached. (Since the origin of the 
brotherhood more tlian four million persons 
have become members. 

Good-will, the benefit derived from a 
business beyond the mere value of the capi¬ 
tal, stock, funds, or property employed in 
it, in consequence of the general public 
patronage and encouragement which it re¬ 
ceives from constant and habitual customers. 
It is legally considered a subject of sale 
along with the stock, premises, fixtures, 
trade debts, &c. 

Goodwin Sands, certain dangerous sand¬ 
banks, about 4 or 5 miles off the east coast 
of Kent, the intervening channel forming 
the well-known roadstead called the Downs. 

Goodyear, Charles, inventor, was born 
in New Haven, Conn., in 1800. In 1834 he 
experimented with india-rubber, to form 
from it a solid elastic material, and in 1835 
obtained his first patent. Grand medals 
of the world’s fairs at London (1851) and 
Pai'is (1855) were conferred on him ; also 
the Cross of the Legion of Honor. He 
died in poor circumstances in 1860. 

Goole, a town and river-port, England, 
county of York (West Riding), on the Ouse, 
23 miles west by south of Hull. The town 
dates from 1829, when it became a bonding 
port, and it has a good shipping trade. Be¬ 
sides the tidal basin a series of large and 
commodious docks have been constructed. 
The exports are mostly coal, machinery, and 
woollen goods. Ship and boat building, sail¬ 
making, iron-founding, artificial manure and 
agricultural machine making, are carried on 
to some extent. Pop. 1891, 15,413. 

Goorkhas, the mountaineers of Nepaul, 
Northern India, w ith whom ai good under¬ 
standing w'ith the British exists. They no^v 
freely enter the native army, and are amongst 
the most faithful and courageous of the In¬ 
dian troops, having particularly distinguished 
themselves in the battles on the Satlej in 
1845-46, during the mutiny of 1857, in the 
war wdth Afghanistan in 1878-79, and in the 
short Egyptian campaign of 1882. They 
are Hindus in religion. 

232 


GOOSANDER- 

Goosander {Mergus), a genus of migra¬ 
tory natatorial birds, characterized by a 
beak thinner and more cylindrical than that 
of the ducks, and having each mandible 
armed at its margins with small pointed 
teeth, directed backward like a saw, the 
upper mandible being curved down at its 
extremity; there are about seven species. 
M. Merganser, the goosander or merganser 
proper weighs about 4 lbs. It is an Arctic 
bird, moving south in winter, and in severe 
seasons frequents the lakes and rivers of 
Britain. It feeds principally on fish, which 
it seizes by rapid diving. The M. serrator, 
the red-breasted goosander, a frequent visitor 
to Britain, measures about 21 inches in 
length, and weighs about 2 lbs. The M. 
cuculldtus is the hooded goosander peculiar 
to North America. 

Goose, the common name of the birds 
belonging to the family Anseridae or Anseres 
of earlier authors, a well-known family of 
natatorial birds. The domestic goose lives 
chiefly on land and feeds on grass; there 
are many varieties, but they do not differ 
widely from each other. It is valued for 
the table, and on account of its quills and 
fine soft feathers. The common wild goose, 
or grey-lag, which is migratory, is the A user 
ferus, and is believed to be the original of 
the domestic goose. The Snow-g(K)se (A. 
hyperhoreus) of North America is 2 feet 
8 inches in length, and its wings are 5 feet 
in extent. The bill of this bird is very 
curious, the edges having each twenty-three 
indentations or strong teeth on each side. 
The inside or concavity of the upper man¬ 
dible has also seven rows of strong, project¬ 
ing teeth, and the tongue, which is horny 
at the extremity, is armed on each side with 
thirteen long and sharp bony teeth. The 
flesh of this species is excellent. The Laugh¬ 
ing or White - fronted Goose (A. alhifrons) 
inhabits the northern parts of both conti¬ 
nents, and migrates to the more temperate 
climates during the winter. The bean-goose 
{A. seg^tum) is also common to both con¬ 
tinents. The Canada-goose {A. or Cygnopsis 
Canadensis) is the common wild goose of the 
United States, and is known in every part 
of North America. It is also found in Eu¬ 
rope, and even breeds in Britain. Other 
species are the hernicle goose and the brent¬ 
goose (which see) the dushy-goose {A. rufes- 
cens, and the pink-footed goose {A. brachy- 
rhynchus). 

Gooseberry {Ribes grossularia), a low, 
branching shrub, growing wild in Siberia 

233 


- GORAKHPUR. 

and the north of Europe, other species being 
found in N. America. Along with the ciir- 
rants it forms the order Grossulariaceje, 
which is now usually combined with Saxi- 
fragaceae. The branches are armed with 
numerous prickles, and bear three to five 
lobed leaves and inconspicuous flowers. The 
fruit is a succulent berry, very wholesome 
and agreeable, of various colours—whitish, 
yellow, green, and red. Gooseberries are 
popular fruits for preserving, and are exten¬ 
sively cultivated, being of very easy culture. 
They may be raised from slips, which is the 
usual mode of perpetuating varieties; new 
varieties are raised from seed. The plant of 
four years old produces the largest and finest 
fruit; afterwards the fruit becomes smaller 
but increases in quantity. R. 'liveum, an 
American species, has fine white flowers, 
and is cultivated as an ornamental shrub. 

Goosefish, the Angler (which see). 

Goosefoot {Chcnopodium) is a genus of 
plants, natural order Chenopodiaceae, indi¬ 
genous to the temperate parts of the eastern 
continent. They are weedy plants common 
in waste places, and bear small greenish 
flowers, which are sessile in small clusters, 
collected in spiked panicles. C. bofrys, 
the Oak of Jerusalem, is found in sandy 
fields from Nevv England to Illinois. The 
seeds of C. gninoa of Peru are used as 
food. See Quinoa. 

Goosegrass. See Cleavers. 

Gopher, the name of various burrowing 
animals, natives of N. America. The Geomys 
bursarius or pouched rat has large cheek- 
pouches extending from the mouth to the 
shoulders, incisors protruding beyond the 
lips, and broad, mole-like fore-feet. Several 
American burrowing squirrels also get this 
name, as Spermophilus Franklinii, *S'. Rich- 
ardsonii, &c.; as also a species of burrowing 
land-tortoise of the Southern States, whose 
eggs are valued for the table. 

Gopher-wood, the wood of which Noah’s 
ark was built, but whether it was cypress, 
pine, or other wood is an unsettled point. 

Goppingen (genp'ing-en), a town of Wiir- 
temberg, 22 miles E.s.E. Stuttgart. It is 
regularly built; contains a handsome church, 
town-house, old castle, and hospital; and has 
a mineral spring; manufactures of woollen 
and linen cloth, hats, paper, &c. Pop. 12,102. 

Gorakhpur, a town of Hindustan, North¬ 
west Provinces, division of Benares, capital 
of the district of samo name, on the left bank 
of the Rapti. It has a considerable trade in 
grain and timber, sent down the Rapti to 







GORAMY 


GORDON. 


the Gogra and the Ganges. Pop. 63,620.— 
The district has an area of 4598 square 
miles. It is generally flat, and traversed by 
numerous streams, of which the principal 
are the Rapti and larger Gandak. Pop. 
2,617,120. 

Goramy, Gourami (go-ra-mi', go-ra-mi'), 
the Javanese name of a fish of the genus Os- 
phrom^nus {0. olfax), family Anabasidee or 
climbing perches, a native of China and the 
Eastern Archipelago, but introduced into 
the Mauritius, West India Islands, and Ca¬ 
yenne on account of the excellence of its 
flesh, where it has multiplied rapidly. It is 
deep in proportion to its length, and the dor¬ 
sal and anal fins have numerous short spines, 
while the first ray of the ventral is protracted 
into a filament of extraordinary length. It 
is one of the few fishes which build nests, 
which it does by interweaving the stems 
and leaves of aquatic plants. 

Gordiacea. See Nematelmia. 

Gordian Knot. See Gordius. 

Gordia'nus, M. Antonius, the name of 
three Roman emperors, father, son, and 
grandson. The first was born in 158 a.d., and 
had governed Africa for many years, when 
he was proclaimed emperor at the age of 
eighty. He associated his son with him in 
the empire, but six weeks later the son was 
killed in fighting against the rival emperor 
Maximinus, and the father, in an agony of 
grief, died by his own hand. The grandson 
was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers in 
Rome 238 A.D., although he was not more 
than fifteen years of age. He reigned six 
years, when he was assassinated by his sol¬ 
diers at the instigation of Philip, prefect of 
the PrEetorian guard. 

Gordius, in Greek legend, a Phrygian" 
peasant, father of Midas, who was raised to 
the Phrygian throne in accordance with an 
oracle which declared to its Phrygian con- 
suiters that their seditious would cease if 
they elected as king the first man they met, 
mounted on a chariot, going to the temple of 
Zeus. This was Gordius, who, to evince his 
gratitude, consecrated his chariot to Zeus, 
and fastened the pole with so ingenious a 
knot that the oracle promised the dominion 
of the world to him who shovdd untie it. 
Alexander the Great cut it with his swmrd, 
and to ‘cut the Gordian knot’ became a 
proverb. 

Gordon, Family of, a celebrated Scottish 
historical house, the origin of which is still 
wrapped up in a certain measure of obscur¬ 
ity. It is probable that the family came 


over to England with William the Con¬ 
queror, and at a subsequent period settled 
in Berwickshire, where a parish and village 
bear this name. The adhesion of Sir Adam 
Gordon, Justiciar of Lothian, to the cause 
of Bruce gave him estates on Deeside and 
the Spey Valley. The direct male line died 
out in the person of Sir Adam of Gordon, 
who fell in the battle of Homildon (1402). 
But, from his female and illegitimate de¬ 
scendants, a number of branches sprang up. 
His grandson w’as made Earl of Huntly 
(1445). The head of this branch was made 
marquis in 1599, and Duke of Gordon in 
1684. It became extinct in 1836. The title 
Marquis of Huntly passed to a branch of 
the family which acquired the title of Earl 
of Aboyne in 1660. The earls of Suther¬ 
land, the barons of Lochinvar, the viscounts 
of Kenmure, and the earls of Aberdeen are 
all branches of the Gordon family. The 
title Duke of Gordon was revived in 1875, 
and given to the Duke of Richmond and 
Lennox. 

Gordon, Charles George, British soldier, 
known also as ‘Chinese Gordon’ and Gordon 
Pasha, was born at Woolwich 1833, killed 
at Khartoum 1885. He entered the Royal 
Engineers in 1852, and served in the Crimea 
(] 854-56). During the Taeping rebellion in 
China Gordon succeeded in completely crush¬ 
ing the revolt by means of a specially- 
trained corps of Chinese, exhibiting mar¬ 
vellous feats of skilful soldiership. On his 
return to England with the rank of colonel 
he was appointed chief engineer officer at 
Gravesend, where his military talents and 
philanthropy were conspicuously displayed. 
From 1874 to 1879 he was governor of the 
Soudan under the Khedive. For a few 
months in 1882 he held an appointment at 
the Cape, and he had just accepted a mis¬ 
sion to the Congo from the king of the Bel¬ 
gians, when he was sent to withdraw the 
garrisons shut up in the Soudan by the in¬ 
surgent Mahdi. He was shut up in Khar¬ 
toum by the rebels, and gallantly held that 
town for a whole year. A British expedi¬ 
tionary force under Lord Wolseley was 
despatched for his relief; an advance corps 
of which sighted Khartoum on 24th Janu- 
ar}', 1885, to find that the town had been 
treacherously betrayed into the hands of the 
Mahdi two days before, and Gordon mur¬ 
dered. Gordon’s character was marked by 
strong religious feelings, which latterly be¬ 
came so intensified as to make him some¬ 
what of a religious enthusiast and fatalist. 

234 







GORDON - 

Gordon, Lord George, son of Cosmo 
George, duke of Gordon, born 1750, died 
1793. He entered when young into the 
navy, but left the service during the Ame¬ 
rican war. He then became a member of 
the House of Commons. His parliamentary 
conduct was marked by a certain degree of 
eccentricity, and by his opposition to the 
ministry. A bill having been introduced 
into the house for the relief of Roman 
Catholics from certain penalties and dis¬ 
abilities, in June, 1780, Lord George headed 
an excited mob of about 100,000 persons, 
who went in procession to the House of 
Commons to present a petition against the 
measure. The dreadful riot which ensued 
led to his arrest and trial on the chargre of 
high treason; but, no evidence being adduced 
of treasonable design, he was acquitted. In 
the beginning of 1788, having been twice 
convicted of libelling the French ambassa¬ 
dor, the queen of France, and the criminal 
justice of his country, he retired to Holland, 
but he was arrested, sent home, and com¬ 
mitted to Newgate, where he passed the re¬ 
mainder of his life. He was undoubtedly 
orack-brained. 

Gordon, Sir John Watson, Scottish 
painter, and president of the Royal Scottish 
Academy, was born in Edinburgh in 1790, 
died 1864. He applied himself almost ex¬ 
clusively to portrait-painting in which he 
attained great excellence. He was em¬ 
ployed to paint the portraits of many of the 
most eminent Scotsmen of the day, among 
whom we may mention Sir Walter Scott, 
Hr. Chalmers, Professors Wilson, Ferrier, 
Munro, and Simpson, Principal Lee, Lord- 
president Boyle, the Duke of Buccleuch, 
Sir George Clark, De Quincey, George 
Combe, &c. 

Gordon, Patrick, a Scottish soldier, born 
1635, died at Moscow 1699. In 1661 he 
entered the Russian service, became a gen¬ 
eral, and rose high in favour with Peter the 
Great. He kept a diary for the last forty 
years of his life, part of which has been 
published. 

Gore, Catharine Grace, English nove¬ 
list, born 1799, died 1861. In 1823 she 
was married to Charles Arthur Gore of the 
1st Life Guards, and shortly afterwards 
appeared her first novel, Theresa March- 
mont, or the Maid of Honour. She wrote 
altogether from 60 to 70 novels, clever pic¬ 
tures of fashionable life, among the best of 
which are Preferment; the Courtier of the 
days of Charles II.; Cecil, or the Adven- 


- GORILLA. 

tures of a Coxcomb; The Hamiltons; The 
Banker’s Wife; Pin Money; Peers and Par- 
venues; and Temptation and Atonement. 
She was also the author of a tragedy, Lord 
Dacre of the South; and a successful co¬ 
medy, A Quid pro Quo. 

Goree', a small island, or rather rock, be¬ 
longing to France, on the coast of Africa, a 
little more than a mile from the southern 
shore of the promontory that forms Cape 
Verd. The town of Goree contains about 
2000 inhabitants, and is an entrepot of 
French trade. 

Gorget (French, gorr/e, throat), a piece of 
body armour, either scale 
work or plate, for the 
protection of the throat. 

The camail, or throat cov¬ 
ering of chain mail, which 
is sometimes called the Plate Gorget, 
gorget of mail, belonged 
more to the helmet than to the body ar¬ 
mour. 

Gorgias (gor'ji-as), Greek orator and so¬ 
phist, born at Leontini in Sicily about 480 
B.c. When about sixty years of age he was 
sent ambassador to Athens where the rest 
of his life was mostly spent. He was a 
popular teacher of rhetoric, had many dis¬ 
tinguished pupils, and Plato named one of 
his dialogues after him. He is said to have 
reached the extraordinary age of 107 or 108 
years. Two works attributed to him are 
extant. The Apology of Palamedes, and the 
Encomium on Helena, but their genuineness 
has been questioned. 

Gorgons, in Greek mythology, three fright¬ 
ful goddesses whose names were Stheno, 
Euryale, and Medusa. They were all immor¬ 
tal, except Medusa. Their hair was said to 
be entwined with serpents, their hands were 
of brass, their body was covered with im¬ 
penetrable scales, their brazen teeth were as 
long as the tusks of a wild boar, and they 
turned to stones all those who looked upon 
them. Medusa was killed by Perseus (which 
see), and her head was afterwards placed on 
the /Egis of Athena. 

Gorgonzo'la, a town and commune, Italy, 
12 miles e.n.e. of Milan. It has a fine mo¬ 
dern church, and a trade in a kind of ewe- 
milk cheese. Pop. 3500. 

Goriria, Troglodgtes Gorilla, the largest 
animal of the ape kind. It attains a height 
of about 5^ feet, is found chiefly in the 
woody equatorial regions of the African 
continent, is possessed of great strength, 
has a barking voice, rising when the animal 




GORITZ-GORTSCHAKOFF. 


is enraged to a terrific roar, lives mostly on 
trees, and feeds chiefly on vegetable sub¬ 
stances, as the fruit and cabbage of the 
palm-tree, the fruit of the ginger-bread tree, 
the papaw, the banana, &c. The erect posi¬ 
tion is more readily assumed than in most 



Gorilla (Troglodytes Gorilla ). 


other anthi'opoid apes, owing to the shape 
of the sole of the foot, which is not inverted, 
and is shorter and broader; but their ordi¬ 
nary gait is on all-fours. It has a ferocious 
and brutal cast of features, due to extremely 
prominent supra-orbital ridges and retreat¬ 
ing forehead. Gorillas make a sleeping-place 
like a hammock, connecting the branches of 
the sheltered and thickly-leaved part of a 
tree by means of the long, tough, slender 
stems of parasitic plants, and lining it with 
the broad dried fronds of palms or with long 
grass. dTis hammock-like abode is con¬ 
structed at different heights from 10 to 40 
feet from the ground, but there is never 
more than one such nest in a tree. The 
gorilla has thirteen ribs, and in the propor¬ 
tion of its molar teeth to the incisors and in 
the form of its pelvis it approaches closely 
the human form. The Phoenician naviga¬ 
tor Hanno found the name in use in the 
5th century b.c. in W. Africa. 

Goritz. See Gorz. 

Gorkum (properly Gorinchem), a fortified 
town of the Netherlands, on the Linge, at its 
junction with the Merwede, the name given 


for a short distance to the riv'er formed by 
the union of the Waal and the Maas, 22 
miles E.s.E. of Rotterdam. Pop. 10,099. 

Gorlitz (geur'lits), a town in the Prussi m 
government of Liegnitz, province of Silesia, 
on the left bank of the Neisse. It is well- 
built, having generally substantial houses, 
several large squares and spacious streets. 
Its industries include woollens, linenSj and 
cottons, machinery, &c. Pop. 1890, 62,135. 

Gorman, Arthur P., U. S. Senator for 
Maryland, was born in Howard co., Md., 
March 11, 1839. He started in life as a 
Senate page. After service in Maryland 
Legislature, in 1880 elected U. S. Senator; 
also in 1886 and 1892. His ability as a 
party leader and organizer is conceded. 

Gorres (gewr'res), .Iakob Joseph von, a 
distinguished German publicist and author, 
born at Coblentz 1776, died at Munich 
1848. He began life with very advanced 
ideas, but ultimately his republican views 
became much modified, and he ended as an 
uncompromising Ultramontane R. Catholic. 
He taught in a school at Coblentz, and hav¬ 
ing studied Persian, he produced a transla¬ 
tion of part of the Shahnameh. In 1814 he 
started the Rheinische Merkur, the organ 
of the German national movement against 
Napoleon, but it was suppressed in 1816. 
Owing to his support of Catholicism he was 
appointed professor of history at Munich. 
He wrote on a great variety of subjects. 
Among the chief works are Aphorisms on 
Art, Faith and Science, Mythological His¬ 
tory of Asia, Christian Mysticism, &c. 

Gortschakoff, Prince Michael, Russian 
general, boi*n in 1792, died 1861. He took 
part as an artillery officer in the battle of 
Borodino in 1812, and served in the subse¬ 
quent campaigns of the allies against the 
French. He took a prominent part in the 
Turkish w'ar (1828-29); the Polish war 
(1831); the invasion of Hungary (1849); 
and in the war with Turkey and the wes¬ 
tern powers (1853-55). In the Crimea he 
held the command in Sebastopol during the 
siege. After the war he was made gover¬ 
nor of Poland. 

Gortschakoff, Alexander Michakl- 
OWITCH, Russian diplomatist, brother of the 
preceding, was born 1798, died 1883. He 
entered the diplomatic service in 1824 as 
secretary to the Russian embassy in London. 
His experience in diplomatics was extended 
in Vienna, Florence, Stuttgart, &c., and he 
showed considerable dexterity in securing 
the neutrality of Austria during the Cri- 

236 



GOSPEL. 


GORUCKPORE 


mean war. In 1856 he became minister of 
foreign affairs, and in 1862 chancellor of 
the empire. He was a prominent member 
of the llerlin Congress, 1878. 

Goruckpore. See Gorakhpur. 

Gory Dew, a name commonly given to 
one of the simplest forms of vegetation [Pal- 
nuUa cruenta), consisting only of a number 
of minute cells, which appears on the damp 
parts of some hard surfaces in the form of 
a reddish slime. It is an alga nearly allied 
to the plant to which the phenomenon of 
red snow is due. 

Gorz, Goritz (geurts, geu'rits), a town of 
Austria, province of Gorz and Gradisca, 
near the head of the Adriatic, 23 miles 
N.N.w. of Trieste. It occupies a very pic¬ 
turesque site on a mountain slope, and con¬ 
sists of the high town, surrounded by walls, 
and defended by an old castle; the new 
town, situated in the plain on the left bank 
of the river Isonzo; and several suburbs. 
Gorz is the seat of an archbishop, and 
manufactures silk, cotton, leather, earthen¬ 
ware, &c. Charles X. of France died here 
in 1836. Pop. 20,433. 

Goschen (go'shen), George Joachim, 
politician and financier, of German extrac¬ 
tion, born in London 1831, educated at 
Rugby and Oxford. He entered parliament 
in 1863. In 1865 he was sworn of the privy- 
council on becoming a member of the Rus¬ 
sell ministry. In 1868 he became president 
of the poor law board, and subsequently 
first lord of the Admiralty. On several 
occasions he found himself unable to move 
with the Liberal party; and when in 1886 
Mr. Gladstone launched his Home Rule 
scheme for Ireland, Goschen became one of 
the leaders of the dissentient Liberals who 
lormed the Liberal-Unionist party. Some 
time after, with the consent of his fellow 
Unionists, he accepted the office of chan¬ 
cellor of the exchequer in Lord Salisbury’s 
government. He is the author of several 
financial and political pamphlets, and of a 
well-known work on the Theory of Foreign 
Exchanges. 

Goshawk, a raptorial bird of the hawk 
kind, belonging to the'genus Astur {A. pa- 
lumbarius). The general colour of the plu¬ 
mage is a deep brown, the breast and belly 
white. A full-grown female is 23 or 24 
inches in length, the male a good deal smal¬ 
ler. It was formerly much used in falconry. 
This bird flies low, and pursues its prey in 
a line after it, or in the manner called ‘rak¬ 
ing’ by falconers. I’he female was gener¬ 

237 


ally flown by falconers at rabbits, hares, &c., 
and the larger-winged game, while the male 
was usually flown at the smaller birds, and 
principally at partridges. 

Goshen, in ancient geography, a district 
of Egypt, which Joseph procured for his 
father and brethren. 

Goshen, Elkhart co., Ind., 60 m. n. of 
Indianapolis. It has handsome residences 
and wide streets. Pop. 1890, 6033. 

Goslar, an interesting old town of Prus¬ 
sia in Hanover, 26 miles south-east of Hil- 
desheim, on the north side of the Harz, at 
the foot of the Rammelsberg. It once ranked 
as a free imperial city, has remains of its 
old fortifications, and some old buildings, 
including part of a palace of the German 
emperors, dating from the 11th century. 
There is also a townhouse of the 15th cen¬ 
tury. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged 
in the copper, silver, and other mines in the 
neighbourhood. Pop. 11,736. 

Gospel, Gospels. The Greek word for 
which gospel has been used as the equivalent 
is evangelion, or rather euaggelion, a good 
or joyful message. In the New Testament 
it denotes primarily the glad tidings respect¬ 
ing the Messiah and his kingdom—this was 
emphatically the gospel (Anglo-Saxon, g6d- 
spell, good tidings). It was quite naturally 
employed as a common title for the historical 
accounts which record the facts that consti¬ 
tute the basis of Christianity. It may be fairly 
said that the genuineness of the four narra¬ 
tives written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
John rests upon better evidence than that of 
any other ancient writings. They were all 
composed in the latter half of the first cen¬ 
tury ; those of Matthew and Mark some years 
before the destruction of Jerusalem; that of 
Luke about the year 64; and that of St. 
John about the close of the century. Be¬ 
fore the end of the 2d century we havei 
abundant evidence that the four Gospels, as,' 
one collection, were generally used and ac-' 
cepted. While the early existence of these 
Gospels has been admitted, much discussion 
has taken place regarding their origin, and 
their relation one to another. They seem 
to have been viewed as so many original 
and independent sources, each one as much 
so as the others. The critical spirit of mo¬ 
dern times has refused to halt at this point; 
it has sought to get at, so to speak, the ge¬ 
nealogy of the several Gospels with their 
different degrees of relationship. Each of 
the four Gospels has in turn been assumed 
by different critics to be the first out of 






GOSPEL-GOTEBOKG. 


which the others arose; and the theory has 
been more than once propounded of some 
prior, more strictly original document, no 
longer extant, which formed the common 
basis of them all. The supposition of an 
original document from which the three sy¬ 
noptical Gospels (those of Matthew, Mark, 
and Luke) were drawn, each with more or 
less modification, would naturally occur to 
those who rejected the notion that the evan¬ 
gelists copied from each other. The fourth 
Gospel, as the narrative coincides with that 
of the other three in a feAv passages only, is 
not drawn into the discussion, and the re¬ 
ceived explanation is the only satisfactory 
one with respect to it, namely, that John, 
writing last, had seen the other Gospels, and 
purposely abstained from writing anew what 
had been sufficiently recorded. Another 
conjecture is that the Gospels sprang out of 
a common oral tradition. According to this 
view of the origin of the Gospels, that of 
Mark, if not the oldest in composition, is 
yet probably the most direct and primitive 
in form; it is the testimony delivered by 
Peter, possibly with little alteration. The 
Gospels of Matthew and Luke, again, ‘re¬ 
present the two great types of recension to 
which it may be supposed that the simple 
narrative was subjected. Luke represents 
the Hellenic, and Matthew the later £te- 
braic form of the tradition, and in its pre¬ 
sent shape the latter seems to give the last 
authentic record of the primitive Gospel.’ 
A comparison of the three synoptical Gos¬ 
pels yields some interesting results. If we 
suppose the history they contain to be divided 
into sections, in forty-two of these all the 
three narratives coincide; twelve more are 
given by Matthew and Mark only, five by 
Mark and Luke only, and fourteen by Mat¬ 
thew and Luke. To these must be added 
five peculiar to Matthew, two to Mark, and 
nine to Luke. But this applies only to 
^general coincidence as to the facts narrated; 
^the number of passages either verbally the 
same, or coinciding in the use of many of 
the same words, is much smaller. Briefly 
stated the critical result is as follows ;— 
There is a singular coincidence in substance 
in the three synoptical Gospels. The ver¬ 
bal and material agreement is such as does 
not occur in any other authors who have 
written independently of one another. The 
agreement would be no difficulty without 
the differences; it would only mark the one 
divine source from which they were all 
derived. The difference of form and style, 


without the agreement, would offer no diffi* 
culty, since there may be a substantial har¬ 
mony between accounts that differ greatly 
in mode of expression, and the very differ¬ 
ence might be a guarantee of independence. 
Several biographies of Jesus and the holy 
family written by unknown authors of the 
2d, 3d, and later centuries are known as 
Apocryphal Gospels. They have no histori¬ 
cal nor doctrinal value whatever. The 
titles of the best known of these are : The 
Gospel of James, The Gospel of Joseph the 
Carpenter, The Gospel of Thomas, The 
Gospel of Nicodemus, The Acts of Pilate, 
and his Letter to Tiberias, &c. 

Gosport, a town and foi'tified seaport, 
England, county of Hants, on the west side 
of the entrance to Portsmouth harbour, and 
directly opposite the town of Portsmouth. 
Besides containing infantry barracks, it is 
an important naval depot, including a victual¬ 
ling yard, large government factories, and 
Haslar Plospital, the chief establishment in 
Britain for invalided sailors. Pop. 5738. 

Gos'samer is the name of a fine filmy sub¬ 
stance, like cobweb, which is seen to float ia 
the air in clear days in autumn, and is most 
observable in stubble-fields, and upon furze 
and other low bushes. This is formed by 
several kinds of small spiders, and only, ac¬ 
cording to some, when they are young. 

Gosse, Edmund William, sou of Philip 
Henry Gosse, born in London 1849; was 
appointed assistant in the British Museum 
1867, translator to the Board of Trade 1875; 
has specially studied the northern litera¬ 
tures, and published Northern Studies, con¬ 
sisting of critical essays on Scandinavian, 
Dutch, and German literature. He has 
published several volumes of poetry and 
critical essays, and was Clark Lecturer in 
English literature at Trinity College, Cam¬ 
bridge, in 1884-89. 

Gosse, Philip Henry, E.B.S., naturalist, 
born at Worcester 1810, died 1888. From 
1827 to 1835 he was resident in Newfound¬ 
land, and afterwards travelled through 
Canada and the Plnited States, making all 
the time large collections of insects, &c. In 
1844 he visited .Tamaica. Among his many 
works are: Hie Canadian Naturalist, The 
Birds of Jamaica, A Naturalist’s Sojourn 
in Jamaica. The Aquarium, Marine Zoology, 
Life, Actinologia Britannica, Bomance of 
Natural History, &c., besides many contri¬ 
butions to the leai-ned societies. 

Goteborg, or Gotheborc (ycw'te-borg). 
See Gottenhurg. 

238 


GOTHA 


GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 



Gotha (go'ta), a town of Germany, capital 
of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, on the 
Leine, 14 m. w.s.w. Erfurt, is well built, with 
fine environs and 
suburbs. The 
principal build¬ 
ing is the ducal 
castle or palace, 
occupying the 
crown of the 
height on which 
the town is situ¬ 
ated. It con¬ 
tains a museum, 
a picture - gal¬ 
lery, a valuable 
cabinet of en¬ 
gravings, a li¬ 
brary of 200,000 
vols, and 6000 
MSS., of which 
2500 are Arabic 
and 400 Persian 
and Turkish; 
and a collection 
of over 80,000 
coins and me¬ 
dals. The manu¬ 
factures consist 
chiefly of wool¬ 
len, linen, and 
cotton tissues, 
porcelain, musi¬ 
cal instruments, 
and articles in 
gold and silver. 

Pop. 27,802. 

Gotha, Alma¬ 
nack DE. See the article Almanac. 

Gotham, a parish and village in county 
and 7 miles s.w. of Nottingham. It has an 


old reputation for folly, but the stories told 
of the ‘ wise men of Gotham ’ are widespread. 
Washington Irving applied the name to 

New York. 

Gothard, St., a 
mountain group, 
Switzerland, on 
the confines of 
the cantons Tes¬ 
sin and Uri, be¬ 
longing to the 
Lepontine or 
Helvetian Alj)s, 
which it connects 
with the Bernese 
Alps. It forms 
a kind of cen¬ 
tral nucleus in 
the great water¬ 
shed of Europe. 
Its culminating 
point has a 
height of 10,600 
feet. The Col of 
St. Gothard, at 
its summit level, 
where the Hos¬ 
pice stands, is 
6808 feet high. 
Over it an excel¬ 
lent carriage road 
was completed 
in 1832. A rail¬ 
way tunnel has 
been pierced 
through this 
mountain group 
between Gosch- 
enen on the north and Airolo on the south, 
thus directly connecting the railway system 
of North ■ Italy with those of Switzerland 


Gothic Architecture.—Salisbury Cathedral. 



a h c d f :f (j 

Gothic Architecture. 

ab. Early English Windows, c, Transition d. Geometrical, e. Perfect Decorated, fg, Perpendicular. 


and Western and Central Germany. This 
tunnel is the longest in the world, being of 
the total length of 16,295 yds., or rather 
more than 9.^ miles. Its construction, begun 
in 1872, was completed in 1881, and it was 
' ■ 239 


opened for traffic early in 1882. Its total 
cost was about £2,400,000. 

Gothic Architecture, a term applied to 
the various styles of pointed architecture 
prevalent in Western Europe from the 



































































































GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE 


GOTHS. 


middle of the 12th century to the revival of 
classic architecture in the 16th. The term 
was originally applied in a depreciatory 
sense to all the styles which were introduced 
by the barbarians who overthrew the Roman 
Empire. But the invention or introduction 
of the pointed arch gave birth to a new 
style of architecture, to which the name 
Gothic is now properly restricted. The 
chief characteristics of Gothic architecture 
are:—The predominance of the pointed arch 
and the subserviency and subordination of 
all the other parts to this chief feature; the 
tendency through the whole composition to 
the predominance and prolongation of ver¬ 
tical lines; the absence of the column and 
entablature of classic architecture, of square 
edges and rectangular surfaces, and the 
substitution of clustered shafts, contrasted 
surfaces, and members multiplied in rich 
variety. This style originated in France 
and spread very rapidly to England, Ger¬ 
many, Italy, Spain, and the Scandinavian 
countries. In England it was introduced 
by William of Sens, who built Canterbury 
Cathedral in 11/4, and here followed an 
independent course of development. The 
Gothic architectui'e of Britain has been di¬ 
vided into four principal epochs—the Early 
English, or general style of the 13th cen¬ 
tury; the Decorated, or style of the 14th 
century; the Perpendicular, practised during 
the 15th and early part of the 16th century 
(Flamboyant being the contemporary style 
in France); and the Tudor, or general style 
of the 16th century. From that time Gothic 
architecture declined in Britain, but a re¬ 
vival set in about 1825, and many fine 
specimens of Gothic have since been erected, 
chiefly ecclesiastical buildings. The several 
periods of Gothic architecture are clearly 
marked by the form and general treatment 
of the windows. Those of the Early Eng¬ 
lish being of a simple lancet form of elon¬ 
gated proportions, or of two or more lancet 
forms combined by mouldings. Those of 
the Decorated are broader in proportion, 
and with the upper part highly enriched 
with tracery of various curves and combina¬ 
tions. Those of the Perpendicular are fre¬ 
quently of very large size and still broader 
in proportion, while the upper part is also 
highly enriched. The enrichments invari¬ 
ably consist of a series of forms in which 
vertical lines prevail. Between each of these 
styles there are transition periods in which 
the distinctions are less clearly marked. See 
also the separate terms. 


Gothland, or Gottland (Swedish, Gota- 
land), one of the large sections into which 
Sweden was originally divided, and includ¬ 
ing the portion south of lat. 59° 20' N. 

Goths, an ancient Teutonic tribe occu¬ 
pying when first known to history the re¬ 
gion adjacent to the Black Sea north of the 
lower Danube. A people of similar name 
is mentioned by Tacitus as dwelling south 
of the Baltic, and Geatn or Gauts are known 
to us from the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf 
as inhabitants of southern Sweden; but there 
is no necessary connection between these 
and the Goths proper. About the middle 
of the 3d century these began to encroach 
on the Roman Empire. Having seized 
the Roman province of Dacia, they were 
assailed by Decius, whom they twice de¬ 
feated. In 253 they captured Trebizond, 
where a large fleet of ships fell into their 
hands. With this force they sailed down 
the H3gean and plundered the coasts of 
Greece and Illyria. They now began to 
threaten Italy, but in 269 they were de¬ 
feated with great slaughter by the Emperor 
Claudius. His successor Aurelian was, not¬ 
withstanding, compelled to cede to them 
the large province of Dacia, after which 
there was comparative peace between them 
for many years. In the 4th century the 
great Gothic kingdom extended from the 
Don to the Theiss, and from the Black Sea 
to the Vistula and the Baltic. About the 
year 369 internal commotions produced the 
division of the Gothic kingdom into the 
kingdom of the Ostrogoths (eastern Goths) 
and the kingdom of the Visigoths (western 
Goths). In 396 Alaric, king of the Visi¬ 
goths, made an irruption into Greece, laid 
waste the Peloponnesus, and became pre¬ 
fect of Illyria. He invaded Italy and sacked 
Rome in 409, and a second time in 410. 
After his death (in 410) the Visigoths suc¬ 
ceeded in establishing a new kingdom in the 
southern parts of Gaul and Spain, of which, 
towards the end of the 5th century, Pro¬ 
vence, Languedoc, and Catalonia were the 
principal provinces, and 'J'oulouse the seat 
of government. The last king, Roderick, 
died in 711 in battle against the Moors, 
who had crossed from Africa, and subse¬ 
quently conquered the Gothic kingdom. 
After the fall of the Western Roman Em¬ 
pire, by the invasion of Odoacer in 476, 
the Eastern emperor, Zeno, persuaded 
Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, to in¬ 
vade Italy in 489. The Goth became king 
of Italy in 493, and laid the foundation of 
240 



GOTTENBURG-GOTTINGEN. 


a new Ostrogothic kingdom, which, together 
with Italy, comprised Rhaetia (a part of 
Swit/.ei’Iand and the Tyrol), Vindelicia (part 
of Bavaria and Swabia), Noricum (Saltz- 
burg, Stiria, Carinthia, Austria), Dalmatia, 
Pannonia (Further Hungary, Slavonia), 
and Dacia beyond the Danube (Transylvania, 
Walachia). This kingdom came to an end 
in 554. Subsequently the Goths both here 
and in Spain entirely disappeared as a dis¬ 
tinct people. 

Christianity appears to have early taken 
root among the Goths settled in Moesia, a 
Gothic bishop being mentioned as present 
at the council of Nicaea (325). Their form 
of Christianity was Arianism, which was 
patronized by their protector Valens, and 
certainly adopted by their bishop, Ulfilas. 
The introduction of Christianity among the 
Goths, and the circumstance of their dwell¬ 
ing near, and even among civilized subjects 
of the Roman Empire, greatly contributed 
to raising them in civilization above the 
other German tribes. Bishop Ulfilas, in 
the 4th century, translated, if not the whole, 
ai least the greater part of the Bible into 
Moeso-Gothic, using an alphabet which he 
formed out of those of the Greeks and 
Romans. Unfortunately only a small por¬ 
tion of this translation has come down to 
us; but this is quite sufficient to enable us 
to form an opinion of the language at that 
time, and is of the highest value from a 
philological point of view. Besides this 
translation there exist a few other monu¬ 
ments of the language, which are, however, 
of minor importance. Gothic was one of 
the Teutonic tongues, being accordingly a 
sister of Anglo-Saxon and English, German, 
Dutch, Danish, &c. Being committed to 
writing earlier than any other Teutonic 
language. Gothic exhibits peculiarities en¬ 
tirely its own, and hence its value in the 
study of Teutonic philology in general. 
It is richer in inflections than any other of 
the Teutonic tongues. Swedish is the least 
like the Gothic of all the Germanic dialects, 
and the probability is that the Goths 
migrated to Scandinavia from the country 
on the east of the Vistula long before they 
proceeded southward. See Ulfilas. 

Gottenburg, or Gothenburg (Swedish, 
Gotehorg), a seaport town in Sweden, the 
second in respect of population and trade, 
capital of the liin of the same name, situated 
at the mouth of the Gota, in the Kattegat, 
255 miles w.s.w. Stockholm, intersected by 
canals. It is one of the best built towns 
VOL. IV, 241 


in Sweden, and the seat of a bishopric. It 
has manufactures of sail-cloth, cotton, and 
other goods, and possesses ship-building 
yards, tobacco factories, breweries, sugar re¬ 
fineries, &c. The trade is very extensive, the 
harbour being excellent and always free 
from ice. It has a good depth of water, is 
defended by forts, and there is a dry dock 
cut in the solid rock. The completion of 



the Gota canal and railway facilities have 
increased its importance. Among social re¬ 
formers the town is noted for its licensing 
system, under which the public-house licenses 
are granted to a company, which, after pay¬ 
ing the expenses of management with 6 p.c. 
annual interest on the shareholders’ capital, 
makes over the profits to the town treasury. 
This plan has been in force since 1805. 
Pop. 1891, 106,518. 

Gottfried von Strasburg. See Godfrey 
of Strasburg. 

Gottingen (geut'ing-en), a town of Prussia, 
province of Hanover, on the Leine, 59 miles 
S.S.E. Hanover. It is a place of great anti¬ 
quity, and is generally well built, having 
wide and spacious streets. Its chief attrac¬ 
tion is the university, founded in 1734 by 
George II. of England and elector of Han¬ 
over, opened in 1737, and which has a 
European reputation. It has an average 
attendance of over 1000 students. Con¬ 
nected with the university are a museum, 
an observatory, an anatomical theatre, bo¬ 
tanical garden, and a library possessed of 

m 








GOTTLAND 


GOULD. 


500,000 printed volumes and 5000 MSS. 
The manufactures comprise woollens, che¬ 
micals, scientific instruments, «fec. Pop. 
21,561. 

Gottland, or Gothland, an island of the 
Baltic, belonging to and 55 miles east of 
the coast of Sweden. It is of irregular 
shape, and has an area of 1200 sq. miles. 
The coast is for the most part rocky and 
deeply indented. The interior consists of a 
\ limestone plateau, intersected near its centre 
by a range of heights from 200 to 300 feet 
above the sea. The soil is fertile. The chief 
town, Wisby, was once a flourishing mem¬ 
ber of the Hanseatic League. Pop. 52,570. 

Gottsched (got'shet), Johann Chris¬ 
toph, German writer, born 1700, died 1766. 
He became professor of eloquence and poetry, 
and afterwards of logic and metaphysics at 
Leipzig; and for many years was dictator in 
Germany in mattersof literary taste. In 1728 
he published the first sketch of his Rhetoric, 
and in 1729 his Kritische Dichtkunst (Criti¬ 
cal Art of Poetry). Both these works con¬ 
demn the disfigurement of the language by 
the use of foreign words, and oppose the 
bombast in poetry then prevailing. 

Gottschalk, Louis Moreau, musician, 
was born in New Orleans, La., in 1829. 
His marked musical ability induced hia 
father to send him to Paris to receive 
further education. In 1848 his series of 
public concerts in Paris met with much 
success. He afterward appeared in the 
U. S., and in ^Mexico and South America. 
He died in Brazil in 1869. 

Gouda (gou'da), a town of Holland, in the 
province of South Holland, 11 miles north¬ 
east of Rotterdam, separated into two un¬ 
equal parts by the Gouwe, which here unites 
with the Ijssel. The town is composed of 
neatly built houses, and is intersected by 
numerous canals. The great market-place 
is the largest in Holland. The church of 
St. John is noted for its organ and its 
painted glass windows, said to be among the 
finest in Europe. There are pipe-works, 
potteries, and breweries, and manufactories 
of stearine candles, yarn, and cigars. Gouda 
is a great market for cheese, sold under the 
name of Gouda cheese. Pop. 18,118. 

Goudimel (go-di-mel), Claude, French 
musical composer, born 1510; killed during 
the St. Bartholomew massacres at Lyons, 
1572. Palestrina was one of his pupils at 
Rome. His most important work is a setting 
of the French version of the Psalms by 
Marot and Beza. Some of these tunes are 


still used by the French Protestant Church 
and by the German Lutherans. 

Gough (gof), Hugh, Viscount, English 
general; born at Woodstown, co. Limerick, 
1779; died 1869. He joined the army in 
1794, and was present the year after at the 
capture of the Cape of Good Hope. He 
served in Spain 1809-18; was made major- 
general in 1830, and sent to India as com¬ 
mander of the Mysore division of the army 
in 1837. He commanded the land forces 
in the Chinese war of 1841; was made 
baronet, and returned to India as comman¬ 
der-in-chief; suppressed the revolt of the 
Mahrattas, 1843; and commanded in the 
Sikh wars of 1845-48. He was superseded 
by Sir Charles Napier in 1849. He was 
made baron in 1846; created viscount and 
pensioned, 1849; field-marshal, 1862. 

Gough, John Bartholomew, temperance 
orator, born at Sandhurst, Kent, 1817; died 
1886. He attained a great celebrity as an 
orator in America, Britain, and the colonies, 
and published his autobiography, orations, 
and a volume of sketches. Sunlight and 
Shadow. 

Goulburn (gol'bern), a city of N. S. Wales, 
in Argyle county, 134 miles s.w. of Sydney, 
well laid out, with broad streets lined wi'ch 
substantial buildings. Pop. 1891, 10,916. 

Gould, Jay (Jason), financier, was born 
in Roxbury, Delaware co., N. Y., in 1836. 
He was in some resjiects one of the most 
remarkable men of the 19th century. In 
courage as a speculator and of unscrupulous 
boldness, in far-seeing ability as a financier 
and man of affairs, he has had few parallels. 
His great wealth was created through a 
series of incidents so extraordinary and so 
dramatic, and by methods so audacious, that 
his career dazzles the imagination. He 
died Dec. 2, 1892, leaving over 72 million 
dollars, principally in railroad securities. 

Gould (gold), John, ornithologist, born at 
liyme, Dorsetshire, 1804; died at London 
1881. Originally a gardener, he was ap¬ 
pointed curator to the Zoological Society’s 
Museum in 1827, and henceforward his 
whole life was devoted to the study of birds. 
His chief works—all magnificently illus¬ 
trated—are : A Century of Birds from the 
Himalayan Mountains, 1831; The Birds of 
Europe, 5 vols. folio, 1832-37; The Birds 
of Australia, 7 vols. folio, 1840-48, with 
3 supplementary volumes, 1850-52; The 
Birds of Great Britain, 5 vols., 1862-73, &c.; 
besides a number of monographs on the 
humming-birds, the trogons, &c. 




GOUNOD 


GOVERNMENT. 


Gounod (go-no), Charles Franqois, 
French operatic composer, born at Paris 
1817; studied at the Conservatoire under 
Haldvy, Lesueur, and Pauer, and afterwards 
in Italy. His first important work was 
Faust (1859), which raised him to a high 
rank among composers. Other operas fol¬ 
lowed—Mireille (1864), Romeo et Juliette, 
Cinq Mars (1877), Polyeucte (1878), and 
later, Charlotte Corday. He has written 
' also a Messe Solennelle, a motet Gallia, and 
other choral works and songs ; his oratorios 
Redemption (1882), Mors et Vita (1885), 
and a Ma.ss for the Jeanne D’Arc festival 
(1887). He died Oct, 18, 1893. 

Goura (gou'ra), a genus of large-sized 
pigeons, natives of the Papuan Archipel¬ 
ago, comprising about six species known as 
crowned pigeons, and remarkable for their 
great size and the open erect crest with 
which the head is adorned. They pass 
most of the time on the ground, feed on 
fruits, and build their nests on the lower 
branches of trees. They have a stately bear¬ 
ing, harmoniously - coloured plumage, and 
are in high esteem for the table. 

Gourami. See Goramy. 

Gourd (gord), the popular name .or the 
species of Cucurbita, a genus of plants of the 
nat. order Cucurbitacene. The same name is 
given to the different kinds of fruit produced 
by the various plants of this genus. These 



Flower and Fruit of Squash {Ciicurbita Melopepo ). 

are held in high estimation in hot countries; 
they attain a very large size, and most of 
them abound in wholesome, nutritious mat¬ 
ter. The C. Pepo, or pumpkin, acquires 
sometimes a diameter of 2 feet. The C. Melo¬ 
pepo, or squash, is cultivated in America as 
an article of food. The C. Citrullus, or 
water melon, serves the Egyptians for meat, 
drink, and physic. The C. aurantia, or 
orange-fruited gourd, is cultivated only as 
a curiosity, and is a native of the East In¬ 
dies. The Laycnaria vulydris, or bottle 
gourd, a native both of the East and West 

243 


Indies, is edible, and is often 6 feet long 
and 18 inches in circumference. The outer 
coat or rind serves for bottles and water- 
cups. 

Gourd-tree. Same as Calahcii^h-tree. 

Gourock (go'rok), a town of Renfrewshire, 
Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde, 2 miles west 
of Greenock. It is a favourite watering- 
place, yachting station, and has a pier for 
steamers. Pop. 3336. 

Gout, a form of arthritis, a constitu¬ 
tional disorder giving rise to paroxysms of 
acute pain with a specific form of inflam¬ 
mation, appearing after puberty chiefly in 
the male sex, and returning after inter¬ 
vals. It is very often preceded by, or al¬ 
ternates with, disorder of the digestive or 
other internal organs, and is generally char¬ 
acterized by affection of the first joint of 
the great toe, by nocturnal exacerbations 
and morning remissions, and by- vascular 
plethora; various joints, organs, or parts be¬ 
coming affected after repeated attacks with¬ 
out passing into suppuration. It may be 
acquired or hereditary. In the former case 
it rarely appears before the age of thirty- 
five; in the latter, it is frequently observed 
earlier. It appears that the disease is due 
to an excess of uric acid in the blood, this 
either being formed in the body in too large 
quantity, or not being removed from the 
blood by the kidneys in the urine as it 
ought to be. Indolence, inactivity, and 
too free use of tartareous wines, fermented 
liquors, and very high-seasoned and nitro¬ 
genous food, are the principal causes which 
give rise to this disease. Gout is also called, 
according to the part it may affect, Podayra 
(in the feet), Gonayra (in the knees), Chir~ 
ayra (in the hands), &c. It may be acute 
or chronic, and may give rise to concretions, 
which are chiefly composed of urate of soda. 
Strict regulation of the habits of life is one 
of the most important elements in the treat¬ 
ment of gout. 

Gout-weed. See Bishop-weed. 

Gov'an, a town of Scotland, county of 
Lanark, on the left bank of the Clyde, to 
the west of Glasgow, of which it forms a 
suburb. It is the site of extensive ship¬ 
building yards, engineering works, dye- 
works, &c. That part of Govan parish 
south of the Clyde, and beyond the boun¬ 
daries of Glasgow, forms a parliamentary 
division of Lanarkshire, returning one mem¬ 
ber. Pop. of town, 50,192. 

Government is a word used in common 
speech in various significations. It denotes 



GOVERNOR 


GOWER. 


the act of governing, the persons who govern, 
and the mode or system according to which 
the sovereign powers of a nation, the legis¬ 
lative, executive, and judicial powers are 
vested and exercised. Aristotle classified 
the forms of government into three classes: 
1st, Monarchy, or that form in which the 
sovereignty of the state is vested in one 
individual; 2d, Aristocracy, or that in which 
it is confided to a select portion of the com¬ 
munity supposed to possess peculiar aptitude 
for its exercise; and 3d, Democrac}^ or that 
in which it is retained by the community 
itself, and exercised, either directly, as in 
the small republics of ancient Greece, or 
indirectly, by means of representative insti¬ 
tutions, as in the constitutional states of 
modern times. Each of these forms if 
brought into existence by the general will 
of tlie community, maintained by its con¬ 
sent, and employed for its benefit, is said 
to be a legitimate government. But each 
of these legitimate forms was considered 
by the ancients to be liable to a particular 
form of corruption. Monarchy had a ten¬ 
dency to degenerate into tyranny, or a go¬ 
vernment for the special benefit of the single 
ruler; aristocracy became oligarchy ; and 
democracy degenerated into ochlocracy or 
mob rule. Through each of these various 
forms, each legitimate form being f-cdlowed 
by its corresponding perverted form, govern¬ 
ment was supposed to run in a perpetual 
cycle; the last form, ochlocracy, being fol¬ 
lowed by anarchy. As a means of avoiding 
these evils, a mixed government is supposed 
to have been devised. The best species of 
mixed government was believed by Aristotle 
to be a union of aristocracy and democracy. 
The most remarkable instance of this form 
is, however, supposed to be seen in that bal¬ 
ance of powers which forms the essence of 
the British constitution. See Aristocracy, 
Democracy, Monarchy, Oligarchy, Republic, 
Local Government, &c. 

Governor, a contrivance in mills and 
machinery for maintaining a uniform velo¬ 
city with a varying resistance. A common 
foi’in of steam-engine governor consists of a 
pair of balls (a b) suspended from a vertical 
shaft kept in motion by the engine. When the 
engine goes too fast the balls fly farther 
asunder, and depress the end of a lever (n p o), 
which partly shuts a throttle-valve, and 
diminishes the quantity of steam admitted 
into the cylinder; and on the other hand, 
when the engine goes too slow, the balls 
fall down towards the spindle and elevate 


the valve, thus increasing the quantity of 
steam admitted into the cylinder. By this in¬ 
genious contrivance, therefore, the quantity 
of steam admitted to the cylinder is exactly 



proportioned to the resistance of the engine, 
and the velocity kept constantly the same. 
A similar contrivance is employed in mills 
to equalize the motion of the machinery. 
When any part of the machinery is suddenly 
stopped, or suddenly set agoing, and the 
moving power remains the same, an altei’a- 
tion in the velocity of the mill will take 
place, and it will move faster or slower. 
The governor is used to remedy this. 

Gower, John, an early English poet, a 
contemporary and friend of Chaucer, born 
about 1320, died 1108, He w'as liberally 



John Gower. 


educated, ana was a member of the society 
of the Inner Temple. He appears to have 
been in affluent circumstances, as he con¬ 
tributed largely to the building of the con¬ 
ventual church of St. Mary Overy, in 

244 





















GOWRIE CONSPIRACY-GRACCHUS. 


Southwark. His chief works are his Spec¬ 
ulum Meditantis, Vox Clamantis, and Con- 
fessio Amantis; of which the first was a 
moral tract relative to the conjugal duties, 
written in French rhymes (now lost); the 
second a metrical chronicle of the insurrec¬ 
tion of the commons under Hichard IL, in 
I^atin elegaic verse; and the third an Eng¬ 
lish poem in eight books, containing 30,000 
lines, relative to the morals and metaphysics 
of love, one of the earliest products of the 
English press, being printed by Caxton in 
1483. 

-Gowrie Conspiracy, one of tlie strangest 
episodes in Scottish history, took place in 
August, 1601. King James VI. while 
hunting in Falkland Park, Fifeshire, was 
asked by Alexander Ruthven (brother of 
the Earl of Gowrie) to accompany him to 
Gowrie House, near Perth, on the pretext 
that they had caught a Jesuit with an urn 
of foreign golden pieces hid under his cloak. 
On arriving at Gowrie House an attempt 
was made on the life or liberty of the king, 
but an alarm being raised, both the Ruth- 
vens were slain, and James with difficulty 
escaped, as the Gowries were very popular 
with the inhabitants of Perth. 

Goya'na, a city of Brazil, prov. of Per¬ 
nambuco, 40 miles N.W'. of the port of Recife 
or Pernambuco. Commerce in cotton, sugar, 
rum, hides, timber, castor-oil, &c. Pop. 
5000. 

Goyaz, an inland province of Brazil, area 
288,462 sq. miles. Chief town, Goyaz. The 
chief occupation of the inhabitants is cattle 
rearing and agriculture. Gold was formerly 
plentiful, and diamonds and other precious 
stones have been found. Pop. 211,721. The 
chief town, formerly called Villa Boa, has 
a cathedral, government palace, &c. Pop. 
7000. 

Gozo, or Gozzo, an island of the Mediter¬ 
ranean, belonging to Britain, about 4 miles 
N.w. of Malta; length, 9 miles; breadth, 5 
niiles; area, about 40 sq. miles. A good 
deal of grain and fruit is raised; but the 
most important crop is cotton. Cattle of 
superior quality are reared. The chief town, 
Rabato, contains about 2000, and the w'hole 
island 17,882 inhabitants. 

Gozzi (got'se). Carlo, Italian dramatist, 
born at Venice 1722, died 1806. His prin¬ 
cipal w’ork consists of a series of dramas 
based on fairy tales, which obtained much 
popularity, and were highly praised by 
Goethe, Scblegel, De Stael, Sismondi, &c. 

Gozzoli (got'so-le), Bennozo, Italian pain- 
245 


ter, born at Florence 1424, died some time 
after 1496. He was a pupil of Fra Angelico, 
and wrought at Florence, Rome, Orvieto, 
and Pisa. His name is specially identified 
with the great series of mural paintings in 
the Campo Santo, at Pisa, consisting of 24 
subjects from the Old Testament, fi’om the 
Invention of Wine by Noah to the Visit of 
the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. 

Graaff-Reinet (gnif-rl'net), a town. Cape 
Colony, capital of a division of the same 
name, the oldest and largest town in the 
midland district of the colony. There are 
churches and schools of the English Episco¬ 
palian and the Dutch Reformed denomina¬ 
tions, a public library, and a college. It is 
regtilarly laid out with streets at right angles, 
the intervening squares being filled up with 
vineyards and gardens. Pop. 4562. 

Graafian Vesicles, in anatomy, numer¬ 
ous small globular transparent follicles found 
in the ovaries of mammals. Each follicle 
contains one ovum, w'hich is expelled w'hen 
it reaches maturity. Small at first, and 
deeply imbedded in the ovary, they gradu¬ 
ally approach the surface, and finally burst 
and discharge the ovum. 

Graal. See Grail. 

Gracchus, a Roman family of the Sem- 
pronian gens, several members of wffiich have 
become historical. Tiberius Sempronius 
Gracchus, a general of the Second Punic 
War, was consul 215 B.c., defeated Hanno 
214 B.C., and was killed 212 B.c.— Another 
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus became 
consul 178 B.C., and again 163 b.c. He 
married Cornelia, a daughter of Scipio Af- 
ricanus, and was the father of the two most 
celebrated Gracchi, Tiberius Sempronius 
and Caius, the former born about 169 B.c., 
killed 133 B.c.; the latter born 159 B.c., 
killed 121 B.c. The brothers having lost 
their father early, received from their mother 
Cornelia a careful education. At a more 
advanced age their minds w-ere formed and 
ennobled by the Greek philosophy. Tiberius 
early made himself conspicuous in the mili¬ 
tary service. Under the command of his 
brother-in-law, the younger Scipio, he served 
at the siege of Carthage. While he was yet 
a mere youth he was received into the 
College of Augurs—an honour usually con¬ 
ferred only upon distinguished statesmen. 
He was subsequently quaestor to the Consul 
Mancinus, and was employed in the Nu- 
mantian war, in which he greatly distin¬ 
guished himself by the conclusion of a treaty 
by which he saved the lives of 20,000 men 



GRACCHUS-GRACE. 


who were entirely at the mercy of the Nu- 
mantines. This treaty was, however, re¬ 
pudiated by the Romans, but it increased his 
popularity immensely. In 133 B.c. he offered 
himself as a candidate for the tribuneship, 
which office rendered his person inviolable 
so lonsf as he was invested with it, and 
placed him in a situation to advance his 
great plans for the improvement of the con¬ 
dition of the people in a legal way. His 
first efforts were directed to a reform of the 
Roman land system, by the restoration or 
enforcement of the old Licinian law, which 
enacted that no one should possess more 
than 500 acres of the public domains, and 
that the overplus should be equally divided 
among the plebeians. This law, which was 
now called, after Gracchus, the Sempronian, 
or, by way of eminence, the agrarian law, 
he revived, but with the introduction of 
several softening clauses. He was violently 
opposed by the aristocracy and the tribune 
Marcus Octavius, whose veto retarded the 
passage of the bill. Tiberius, however, by 
exerting all the prerogative of his office, 
managed to pass his bill, and three commis¬ 
sioners were appointed to carry it into exe¬ 
cution, namely, Tiberius himself, his bi*other 
Caius, and his father-in-law Appius Clau¬ 
dius. Soon after this Attains, king of 
Pergamus, died, bequeathing his treasures to 
the Roman people. Tiberius proposed that 
this bequest should be divided among the 
recipients of land under the new law, and 
to give the popular assembly instead of the 
senate the management of the state. But 
fortune turned against him; he was accused 
of having violated his office; of aspiring to 
be king; and at the next election for the 
tribuneship he was slain, with 300 of his 
followers, at the entrance to the Temple of 
rides. Ten years after the death of his 
brother Tiberius, the younger Gracchus 
obtained the tribuneship. In the discharge 
of his office he first of all renewed his bro¬ 
ther’s law, and revenged his memory by 
expelling many of his most violent enemies 
from the city. Several popular measures 
gained him great favour with the people, 
but the intrigues of the nobles ultimately 
caused his fall. Livius l)rusus, a tribune 
gained over to their interests, had the art 
to withdraw the affections of the populace 
from Caius by making greater promises to 
them, and thus obtained a superior popu¬ 
larity for himself and the senate. Hence it 
resulted that Caius did not obtain a third 
tribuneship, and Opirnius, one of his bitterest 


enemies, was chosen to the consulate. A 
tumult, in which a lictor of Opirnius was 
killed, gave the senate a pretence for em¬ 
powering the consuls to take strong mea¬ 
sures. Opirnius made an attack upon the 
supporters of Gracchus with a band of dis¬ 
ciplined soldiers. Nearly 3000 were slain, 
and Gracchus escaped to the grove of the 
Fui-ies, where he was slain at his own re¬ 
quest by a slave, who then killed himself. 

Grace, in theology, the divine influence or 
the influence of the Holy Spirit in renewing 
the heart and restraining from sin; or, that 
supernatural gift to man whereby he is en¬ 
abled to take to himself the salvation pro¬ 
vided and offered through Christ (s])ecial or 
saving grace). Before the fifth century little 
attention was paid to the dogmatic (juestion 
of grace and its effects. Pelagius, a native of 
Britain, having used some free expressions, 
which seemed to attribute too little to the 
assistance of divine grace in the renovation 
of the heart of man, and too much to his own 
ability to do good, Augustine undertook an 
accurate investigation of this doctrine. He 
came to the opinion, which has since been 
so much discussed, that God, of his own 
free-will, has foreordained some to eternal 
felicity and others to irrevocable and eternal 
misery. In accordance with this view of 
Augustine, is the doctrine of predestination. 
The majority of those who were considered 
Catholic or Orthodox coincided with Au¬ 
gustine, and, with him, pronounced the 
Pelagians heretics, for holding that human 
nature is still as pure as it was at its first 
creation, that all the corruption which pre¬ 
vails is the effect of the influence of bad 
example, and that, consequently, man being 
sufficient for his own purification, has no 
need, at least, of preventing grace. The 
Abbot Cassianus, of Marseilles, adopted a 
middle course, in order to reconcile the 
operations of grace and free-will in man’s 
renovation, by a milder and more scriptural 
mode. He considered the predestination of 
God, in respect to man’s salvation, as a 
conditional one, resting v;pon his own con¬ 
duct. His followers were named semi- or 
half-Pelagians, though the Catholic Church 
did not immediately declare them heretics. 
Subsequently a gradual change of sides was 
exhibited. During the middle ages the 
scholastic theologians so perverted the doc¬ 
trines of Augustine as to make them easily 
reconcilable with those of the Pelagians. 

o 

But at the Reformation Calvin and Beza, 
and the great body of their followers, re- 

246 



on ACE-GRiECiA MAGNA. 


turned to the fundamental principles of 
Augustine. In the meantime, however, the 
Catholics had not come to a final agreement 
concerning this dogma. This appears from 
the quarrels of the Dominicans and Jesuits, 
and from the case of the Jesuit Lewis Mo¬ 
lina, in 1588, from whom the Molinistic 
disputes in the Netherlands received their 
name. In the seventeenth century, also, 
two new parties, which had their origin, in 
the dispute concerning the doctrine of pre¬ 
destination, sprang up in the Netherlands, 
namely the Arminians or Remonstrants, 
among the Protestants, and the Jansenists 
among the Catholics. (See A rminians, Jan- 
senints.) From that time the members of 
the Christian church have continued to 
differ upon this subject. 

Grace, Days of, in commerce, a certain 
number of days immediately following the 
day, specified on the face of a bill or note, 
on which it becomes due. Till the expiry 
of these days payment is not necessary. In 
Britain and America the days of grace are 
three. Austria (three days) and Russia (ten 
days) are the only other countries which 
allow days of grace. 

Graces (Greek, Charites, translated by 
the Romans Gratia), the goddesses of grace, 
from whom, according to Pindar, comes 
everything beautiful and agreeable. Ac¬ 
cording to most poets and mythologists they 
were three in number, the daughters of 
Zeus and Eurynbme, and Hesiod gives them 
the names of Aglaia (brilliancy), Thalia (the 
blooming), and Euphros'yne (mirth). Homer 
mentions them in the Iliad as handmaids of 
Hera (Juno), but in the Odyssey as those of 
A[)hrodite (Venus), who is attended by them 
in the bath, &c. He conceived them as 
forming a numerous trooiD of goddesses, 
whose office it w^as to render happy the days 
of the immortals. The three graces are 
usually represented slightly draped or en¬ 
tirely nude, locked in each other’s embrace, 
or hand in hand. 

Gracio'sa, one of the Azores. Chief town, 
Santa Cruz. Pop. 8000. 

Gra'dient, in roads and railways, a term 
used to signify the departure of the track 
from a perfect level, usually expressed as a 
fraction of the length: thus 1 in 250 signi¬ 
fies a rise or fall of 1 foot in 250 feet mea¬ 
sured along the line. 

Grad'ual, the psalm, anthem, or hymn, 
said or sung in the service of the Roman 
Catholic Church between the Epistle and 
the Gospel; so named from being anciently 

247 


chanted on the "steps of the ambo or pulpit, 
or of the altar. By an easy transition the 
name was frequently applied to the Anti¬ 
phonary, which w'as originally one of the 
three service books of the church, but after¬ 
wards in the 11th or 12th century included 
in the missal. 

Graduation, the art of dividing into the 
necessary spaces the scales of mathematical, 
astronomical, and other philosophical in¬ 
struments. Common graduation is simply 
effected by copying from a scale prepared 
by a higher process; original graduation is 
chiefly performed either by stepping or 
bisection. Stepping consists in ascertaining 
by repeated trial with finely-pointed spring- 
dividers—which are made, as it were, to 
proceed by successive steps—the size of 
the divisions required, their number being 
known, and then finally marking them. In 
bisection the beam compasses are used, an 
arc \vith a radius of nearly half the line being 
described from either end of the line, and the 
short distance between the arcs bisected w’ith 
the aid of a magnifier and a fine pointer. The 
process is repeated, for each of the two halves 
thus obtained, until by subdivision the re¬ 
quired graduation is obtained. Ordinary 
instruments are graduated by machines, 
most of which are based upon the [ninciple 
of that invented by Ramsden in 1766. In 
this there is a horizontal wheel, turning on 
a vertical axis, with a toothed edge which is 
advanced a certain amount {e.g. 10' of arc) 
by each revolution of the endless screw with 
which it gears. The screw is worked by a 
treadle, and the machine can be so adjusted 
that a movement of the treadle shall secure 
either the whole or any desired part of a 
revolution of the screw. A dividing engine 
was invented by Troughton, but it was 
exceedingly complicated. That of Simms, 
which w'as self-acting and threw itself out of 
gear when its work was done, takes a high 
place among mechanical inventions. The 
most accurate was that of Andrew Ross 
(1831). For fine graduation Froment in¬ 
vented a machine in which the object to be 
graduated was slowly and intermittingly 
pushed forward by a screw, while a fine steel 
or diamond point, working automatically, 
made a cut at each cessation of the feeding 
motion. He thus drew 25,000 lines mark¬ 
ing equal intervals in the space of one inch, 
but the number has since been increased 
to 225,000 by Nobert. See Nobert’s Test 
Plates. 

Graecia Magna. See Magna Gracia, 



GRAFFITI 


GRAGNANO. 


Grafli'ti, the rude designs and inscriptions 
of popular origin drawn or engraved with 
a style upon the walls of ancient towns 
and buildings, particularly of Rome and 
Pompeii. Those in Pompeii are in Latin, 
Greek, and Oscan, showing that the ancient 
language of Campania was still extant among 
a portion of the populace. The inscriptions 
are mostly amatory or humorous, sometimes 
malicious or obscene. In Rome graffiti occur 
frequently in the catacombs. Many of these 
are by Christians, some by Pagans in ridi¬ 
cule of Christianity. 

Grafting, an operation by which a bud or 
scion of an individual plant is inserted upon 
another individual, so as to become organi¬ 
cally united with the stock on which it has 
been placed. Grafting can only take place 
between plants which have a certain affinity, 
individuals of the same species, gemis, or 
order. The graft does not become identified 



with the stock to which it is united, but 
retains its own peculiarities of variety or 
species. The parts between which grafting 
is effected must be actively vegetating. The 
advantages derived from grafting are the 
preservation of remarkable varieties, which 
could not be reproduced from seed; the 
more rapid multiplication of particular 
species, and the anticipation of the period 
of fructification, which may thus be ad¬ 
vanced by several years. The principal 
methods of grafting are—1. By approach .— 
This process is intended to unite at one or 
more points two plants growing from separ¬ 
ate roots. Plates of bark of equal size are 
removed, the wounds are kept together and 
protected from air. Stems, branches, or 
roots may be united in this way. 2. By 
scions. —Under this head there are a variety 
of methods, such as whip, splice, cleft, saddle. 


crown grafting, &c. In whip-grafting or 
tongue-grafting the stock is cut obliquely 
across and a slit or very narrow angular in¬ 
cision is made in its centre downwards across 
the cut surface, a similar deep incision is 
made in the scion upwards, at a correspond¬ 
ing angle, and, a projecting tongue left, 
which being inserted in the incision in the 
stock, they are fastened closely together. 
Splice-grafting is performed by cutting tho 
ends of the scion and stock completely across 
in an oblique direction, in such a way that 
the sections are of the same shape, then lay¬ 
ing the oblique surfaces together so that the 
one exactly fits the other, and securing them 
by tying or otherwise. In cleft-grafting, 
the stock is cleft down, and the graft, cut in 
the shape of a wedge at its lower end, is in¬ 
serted into the cleft; while, in saddle-graft¬ 
ing, the end of the stock is cut into the form 
of a wedge, and the base of the scion, slit up 
or cleft for the purpose, is affixed. Croton¬ 
grafting or rind-grafting is performed by 
cutting the lower end of the scion in a slop¬ 
ing direction, while the head of the stock is 
cut over horizontally and a slit is made 
through the inner bark. A piece of wood, 
bone, ivory, or other such substance, resem¬ 
bling the thinned end of the scion, is inserted 
in the top of the slit between the alburnum 
and inner bark and pushed down in order to 
raise the bark, so that the thin end of the 
scion may be introduced without being 
bruised. The edges of the bark on each 
side are then brought close to the scion, and 
the whole is bound with matting and a lump 
of clay put round it. 3. By buds .—This 
consists in transferring to another stock a 
plate of bark, to which one or more buds 
adhere. Bud - grafting is the most com¬ 
monly practised, especially for multipljdng 
fruit-trees and roses, owing to the facility 
with which it may be performed. 

Grafton, Augustus Henky, Third Duke 
OF, born 1735. He was secretary of state 
under Rockingham, first lord of treasury 
under the elder Pitt, and premier during 
the illness of the latter (now Lord Chatham). 
He subsequently held the privy seal under 
Lord North, and again under Rockingham. 
He died in 1811. He was the subject of some 
of the most brilliant of the letters of Junius. 

Grafton, Worcester co., Mass. Manu¬ 
factures boots and shoes. Pop. 1890, 5002. 

Gragnano (gra-nya'no), a town, Italy, 
province of Naples. It has two annual 
fairs, and is chiefly of interest for its wines 
and macaroni. Pop. 8611. 

248 


















GRAHAM-GRAHAM LAND. 


Graham (gram or grar'am), George, me¬ 
chanician and watchmaker, born in Cum¬ 
berland 1675. He succeeded Tompion the 
watchmaker in business in London, and in¬ 
vented several important astronomical in¬ 
struments. He invented the dead - beat 
escaijement and a compensation pendulum 
for clocks. 

Graham, James. See Montrose, Marquis 
of. 

Graham, John, Viscount Dundee, com¬ 
monly known as Claverhouse, eldest son of 
Sir William Gx’aham of Claverhouse, was 
born about 1650, and educated at St. An¬ 
drews. He went abroad and entered the 
service of France and afterwards of Hol¬ 
land, but, failing to obtain the command of 
a Scottish regiment in the Dutch service, he 
returned to Scotland in 1677, where he was 
appointed captain of a troop of horse raised 
to enforce compliance with the establishment 
of Episcopacy. He distinguished himself 
by an unscrupulous zeal in this service, espe¬ 
cially after the murder of Archbishop Sharpe 
in May, 1679. The Covenanters were driven 
to resistance, and a body of them defeated 
Claverhouse at Drumclog on 1st June. On 
the 22d, however, the Duke of Monmouth 
defeated the insurgents at Bothwell Brig, 
and Claverhouse was sent into the west 
with absolute power. In 1682 he was ap¬ 
pointed sheriff of Wigtonshire, and, assisted 
by his brother David, continued his persecu¬ 
tions. He was made a privy-councillor, and 
received the estate of Dudhope, with other 
honours from the king, and although on the 
accession of James his name was withdrawn 
from the privy-council it was soon restored. 
In 1686 he was made brigadier general, and 
afterwards major-general; and in 1688, after 
William had landed, he received from James 
in London the titles of Lord Graham of 
Claverhouse and Viscount Dundee. When 
the king fled he returned to Edinburgh, but 
finding the Covenanters in possession he 
retired to the north, followed by General 
Mackay. After making an attempt on 
Dundee, Claverhouse finally encountered 
and defeated Mackay in the Pass of Killie- 
crankie (17th July, 1689), but was killed 
in the battle. 

Graham, Thomas, D.C.L., F.R.S., master 
of the mint, an eminent chemist, was born at 
Glasgow in 1805, and educated at Glasgow 
University. In 1827 he commenced teach¬ 
ing private mathematical classes in Glasgow, 
and in 1829 succeeded to the lectureship of 
chemistry in the Mechanics’ Institution. In 

249 


1830 he was appointed professor of chemistry 
in the Andersonian University. In 1831 he 
established the law that gases tend to diffuse 
inversely as the square root of their specific 
gravities. He afterwards made a series of 
investigations into the constitution of ar- 
seniates, phosphates, and phosphoretted hy¬ 
drogen, and into the function of water in 
different salts. In 1837 he was elected 
professor of chemistry in the University of 
London, and soon after settling in the me¬ 
tropolis he was appointed assayer to the 
mint. In 1841 he was chosen first presi¬ 
dent of the Chemical Society, which he had 
assisted in founding; and in 1846 he assisted 
in founding the Cavendish Society, over 
which he presided. He read the Bakerian 
lecture in 1849 and in 1854, the subject 
of both being the diffusion of liquids, 
which he further treated before the Royal 
Society in 1861. He distinguished the crys¬ 
talloids and colloids in liquid solutions, and 
gave to their separation the name of dialysis, 
In a subsequent paper. Philosophical Trans¬ 
actions, 1866, he applied these discoveries 
to gases, under the name of atmolysis. The 
passage of gases through heated metal plates 
and the occlusion of gases were also ably 
investigated by him. He died in 1869. 

Grahame (gram or gra'am), James, Scot¬ 
tish poet, born in Glasgow in 1765. He 
studied law in Edinburgh, and in 1791 be¬ 
came a Writer to the Signet. In 1795 he 
was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates, 
of which he continued a member until 1809, 
when he took orders as a clergyman of the 
Church of England. Previous to this all 
his literary productions had been published. 
While at the university he printed and cir¬ 
culated a collection of poetical pieces. These 
appeared in an amended form in 1797. In 
1801 he published a dramatic poem entitled 
Mary, Queen of Scotland, and in 1802 ap¬ 
peared, anonymously. The Sabbath. The 
Birds of Scotland, and British Georgies fol¬ 
lowed. He subsequently held curacies at 
Shefton, Durham, and Sedgefield, but his 
health gave way, and he died at Glasgow 
in 1811. 

Graham Island, or Ferdinandea, a vol¬ 
canic island which in July, 1831, rose up 
in the Mediterranean, about 30 miles south¬ 
west of Sciacca, in Sicily. It attained a 
height of 200 feet, with a circuit of 3 miles, 
but disappeared in August. It reappeared 
for a short time in 1863. 

Graham Land, a tract of land in the 
Antarctic Ocean; discovered in 1832 by 



aRAHAMSTOWN-GRAMINE^. 


Biscoe, wbo took possession of it for Great 
Britain. It stretches between lat. 63° and 
68° s., and Ion. 61° and 68° w.; and is sup¬ 
posed to be of great extent. 

Grahamstown, a town of Cape Colony, 
district of Albany, about 480 miles east of 
Cape Town. It is a well-built thriving 
place, and is the seat of an Anglican bishop. 
Pop. 6900. 

Grail (variously spelt Great, Graal, Grazal, 
Grasal, &c.), the legendary holy vessel, sup¬ 
posed to have been of emerald, from which 
Christ dispensed the wine at the last supper. 
It was said to have been brought to England 
by Joseph of Arimathea, but to have been 
taken back to heaven until the appearance 
of heroes worthy to be its guardians. Tit- 
urel, a descendant of the Asiatic prince 
Perillus, whose descendants had allied them¬ 
selves with the family of a Breton sove¬ 
reign, was chosen as its keeper. He erected 
for it a temple on the model of that at Jeru¬ 
salem, and organized a band of guardians. 
It was visible only to the baptized and pure 
of heart. With this legend that of King 
Arthur became connected. Three of his 
knights, Galahad, Percival, and Bors, had 
sight of it, and on the death of Percival, its 
last guardian, it was again taken to hea¬ 
ven. 

Grain, the name of a small weight, the 
twentieth part of a scruple in apothecaries’ 
weight, and the twenty-fourth of a penny¬ 
weight troy. See Avoirdupois. 

Grain includes all those kinds of grass 
which are cultivated on account of their 
seeds for the production of meal or flour. 
All kinds of grain contain in varying quan¬ 
tities the following elements: gluten, fecula 
or starch, a sweet mucilage, a digestible 
aromatic substance contained in the hulls, 
and moisture, which is predominant even in 
the driest grain, and serves, after planting, 
t<i stimulate the first motions of the germ. 

Grain Coast, the former name of Liberia, 
on the west coast of Africa. See Grains of 
Paradise. 

Grain Elevator. See Elevator. 

Graining {LeuciscusLancastriensis), a fish 
of the dace kind, found chiefly in the Mer¬ 
sey and its tributaries, and in some of the 
Swiss lakes. The nose is more rounded 
than that of the dace, the eye larger, and 
the dorsal fin commences half-way between 
the point of the nose and the end of the 
fleshy portion of the tail. It seldom weighs 
more than half a pound; in habit and food 
it resembles the trout. 


Grain-leather, dressed horse-hides, goat¬ 
skins, seal-skins, &c., blacked on the grain 
side, that is the hair side, for shoes, boots, 
&c. 

Grain-moth, a minute moth of w'hich two 
species are known. Tinea granella and 
Butalis cerealelLa, whose larvse or grubs de¬ 
vour grain in granaries. The moths have 
narrow, fringed wings, of a satiny lustre. 

Grains of Paradise, Guinea grains or 
Malaguetta pepper, the pungent somewhat 
aromatic seeds of Amomum Meleguetta, nat. 
order Zingiberacese, a plant of tropical 
Western Africa. They are chiefly used in 
cattle medicines and to give a fiery pun¬ 
gency to cordials. The ‘Grain Coast’ of 
Africa takes its name from the production 
of these seeds in that region. 

Grak'le {Gracula), a genus of birds of the 
order Passeres, and of the starling family 
(Sturnidse), inhabiting India and New 
Guinea. One of the genus is the Indian 
mina bird {G. musica), which can be taught 
amusing tricks and can imitate the human 
voice. It is of a deep velvet black, with a 
white spot on the wing, yellow bill and feet, 
and two yellow wattles on the back of the 
head. A considerable number of other 
birds not belonging to this genus have also 
been called grakles, such as the purple grakle, 
or crow-blackbird of America. See Crow- 
hlackbird. 

Grallato'res, an order of birds which for¬ 
merly included the heron, ibis, stork; but 
these are now put into another order, and 
the Grallatores, pro¬ 
perly so called, consist 
of the following fa¬ 
milies, namely, those 
of the snipe, stint, and 
ruff; the red-shanks, 
green-shanks, and 
sand-pipers; the cur¬ 
lews, phalaropes, stilts, 
and avocets; the plov¬ 
ers, oyster-catchers, 

turnstones, lapwings, 
coursers; the jacanas, 
the bustards; the rails 

and coots; and the cranes. They are gener¬ 
ally known as wading-birds, as they frequent 
shores and banks of streams, marshes, &c., 
and their legs and beak are commonly rather 

long- 

Gram, the chick-pea {Cicer arietinum), 
used extensively in India as fodder for 
horses and cattle. 

Gramineae. See Grasses. 

250 



Grallatores.—Head and 
Foot of Crane. 








GRAMMAR-GRANADA. 


Grammar, in reference to any language, 
is the system of rules, principles, and facts 
which must be known in order to speak and 
write the language correctly. Comparative 
(jrammar treats of the laws, customs, and 
forms which are shown by comparison to be 
common to various languages; general or 
iiniversal grammar, of those laws which, by 
logical deduction, are demonstrated to be 
common to all. The divisions of grammar 
vary with the class and also with the method 
of treatment. In common English gram¬ 
mars the division is generally fourfold: or¬ 
thography, which treats of the proper spell¬ 
ing of words, and includes orthoepy, treating 
of the proper pronunciation; etymology, 
which treats of their derivations and inflec¬ 
tions; syntax, of the laws and forms of con¬ 
struction common to compositions in prose 
and verse; prosody, of the laws peculiar 
to vei*se. Although the systematization of 
grammar had begun in some sort in Plato’s 
time it was chiefly to the Alexandrian writers 
that it owed its development. The first 
Greek grammar for Roman students was 
that of Dionysius Thrax, in use about 80 
B.c. Comparative grammar can only be 
said to have existed from the beginning of 
the present century, w’hen the critical study 
of Sanskrit established the affinities of the 
languages of the Indo-European group. 

Grammax-scliools, an old name of a clasii 
of schools at which a secondary education 
is given, as a preparation for a university 
course. The term seems to have arisen from 
the once almost exclusive occupation of these 
schools in the teaching of the elements or 
grammar of the Latin and Greek languages. 
In England the character of the teaching in 
secondary schools, where not restricted by 
endowments, is necessarily influenced by the 
course of instruction in the universities, in 
which the classical element still preponder¬ 
ates. In Scotland, however, the grammar- 
schools appear rather to have led the move¬ 
ment to adapt the higher education to the 
practical requirements of modern life, as 
also in the U. S., where the term High 
School or College is generally used. Many 
of these present diplomas to graduates. 

Gramme, the unit of weight in France 
=:15'4323 grains. A decagramme or ten 
grammes = 5‘644 drams; a hectogramme 
(100 grammes) = 3’527 oz.; a kilogramme 
(1000grammes) 2'205 lbs.; amyriagramme 
(10,000 grammes) =:22‘046 lbs. 

Grammont, a town of Belgium, East 
Flanders, 22 miles s.s.e. of Ghent, on both 

251 


sides of the Dender. Chief manufactures; 
linen, lace, thread, paper, tobacco-pipes, &c. 
Pop. 9964, 

Grammont, Order of [Grandmontains), 
a monastic order established by Stephen of 
Thiers in 1076 at Muret, but afterwards 
(1124) removed to Grandmont. The order 
became extinct at the Revolution, 

Gramont, or Grammont, Philibert, 
Count de, son of Anthony, duke of Gram¬ 
mont, born in 1621. He served under the 
Prince of Cond6 and Turenne, went to Eng¬ 
land two years after the Restoration, and 
was highly distinguished by Charles II. 
After a long course of gallantry he married, 
under compulsion, Miss Elizabeth Hamilton, 
and died in 1707. His memoirs were dic¬ 
tated to his brother-in-law, Anthony, count 
Hamilton, who followed James II., entered 
the French service, and died in 1720. The 
Gebbie Pub. Co., Phila., Pa., has published 
his Memoirs with handsome illustrations. 

Grampian Mountains, a range, or ratner 
series of ranges and elevated masses, stretch¬ 
ing across Scotland diagonally S.w. to n.e. 
for about 150 miles. It commences in Ar- 
gyleshire, and at the boundaries of Perth¬ 
shire and Aberdeenshire may be said to 
separate into two distinct branches—one on 
the north side of the Dee, terminating near 
Huntly; the other running on the south 
side of that river, and terminating near 
Stonehaven. With exception of Ben Nevis, 
the Grampians comprise all the highest 
mountains in Scotland, Ben Cruachan, Ben 
Lomond, Ben Lawers, Schiehallion, Ben 
Macdhui (4296 feet). Cairngorm, Cairntoul, 
&c. 

Grampus, a name for several marine 
cetaceous mammals allied to the dolphins, 
especially Orca gladiator of the Atlantic 
and North Sea, which grows to the length 
of 25 feet, and is remarkably thick in pro¬ 
portion to its length. The spout-hole is on 
the top of the neck. The colour of the back 
is black; the belly is of a snowy whiteness, 
and on each shoulder is a large white spot. 
The grampus is carnivorous and remarkably 
voracious, even attacking the whale. 

Gran, a town in Hungary, at the con¬ 
fluence of the Gran with the Danube, 25 
miles north-west of Budapest. It was the 
residence of the Hungarian monarchs, and 
their finest city till ruined by the Turks 
about 1613. It is an archbishop’s see and 
has a fine cathedral. Pop. 8932. 

Granada (gra-na'da), a city in the south 
of Spain, capital of the province of Gra- 



GRANADA - 

nada. The streets rise picturesquely above 
each other, with a number of turrets and 
gilded cupolas, the whole being crowned by 
the Alhambra (which see), or palace of the 
ancient Moorish kings. In the background 
lies the Sierra de Nevada, covered with 
snow. The streets, however, are narrow 
and irregular, and the bidldings inferior to 
those of many other towns in Spain. The 
town is partly built on two adjacent hills, 
between which the Darro flows, traversing 
the town and falling into the Genii, which 
flows outside the walls. The cathedral is an 
irregular but splendid building, and the arch¬ 
bishop’s palace and mansion of the captain- 
general are also noteworthy; but the special 
features of the town are the Alhambra, and 
another Moorish palace called the Generalife, 
built on an opposite hill. Granada has no 
manufactures of importance. Its university 
was founded about 1530, and is attended by 
some 1000 students. The city was founded 
by the Moors before 800, and from 1036 to 
1234 was included in the Kingdom of Cor¬ 
dova. In 1235 it became the capital of the 
Moorish kingdom of Granada, and attained 
almost matchless splendour. In 1491 it re¬ 
mained the last stronghold of the Moors in 
Spain, but was taken by the Spaniards under 
Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, along with 
the kingdom, having then a population of 
perhaps 500,000. Its prosperity continued 
almost without diminution till 1610, when 
the decree expelling the Moors from all 
parts of Spain told severely upon it, and it 
has never recovered. Pop. 73,006.—The 
province, w'hich is partly bounded by the 
Mediterranean, has an area of 5610 sq. 
miles. Pop. 484,341. See next article. 

Granada, formerly a IVIoorish kingdom 
in Spain, bordering on the Mediterranean, 
now represented by the three provinces, 
Granada, Almeria, and Malaga; area, 11,000 
sq. miles. The interior is mountainous, being 
traversed from east to west by several 
ranges, particularly the Sierra Nevada; but 
many of its valleys and low grounds are 
distinguished by beauty and fertility. The 
olive and vine are extensively cultivated, 
and fruit is very abundant. The sugar-cane 
thrives in some parts. After long forming 
part of the kingdom of Cordova, Granada 
became a separate kingdom in 1235. In 
1492 it passed into the possession of the 
Spaniards. 

Granadil'la, the West Indian name for 
the fruits of various species of Passijldra, a 
genus of the passion-flower family. Some 


- GRANDEE. 

species have been introduced into Europe, 
chiefly for their flowers, the chief being the 
purple-fruited, P. eduUs; the water-lemon, 
P. laurifolia; the flesh-coloured granadilla, 
and the P. quadrangular is, the most valu¬ 
able for cultivation in Great Britain. 

Granby, John Manners, Marquis of, 
son of the Duke of Rutland, born 1721; 
educated at Eton and Cambridge; raised a 
foot rei^iment in 1745; became colonel of 
horse-guards in 1758 and lieutenant-general 
in 1759; commanded the British troops in 
the Seven Years’ war (1760-63), and was 
commander-in-chief of the British army 
from 1766 to 1770, the year of his death. 
He was elected to parliament in 1754, 1761, 
and 1768. His immense popularity, which 
was, however, scarcely earned by his merits 
as a general, was in part attested by the 
frequent use of his name for inns and public- 
houses. 

Gran Chaco, El, a territory of the Ar¬ 
gentine Republic, lying mainly between the 
Vermejo, Parang, and Salado. In the w^est 
it is intersected by offsets of the Andes, and 
in the east forms extensive plains and marshes, 
while in the south are sandy deserts inter¬ 
spersed with salt pools. Greater part, how¬ 
ever, is covered with primeval forest. It 
is inhabited by various Indian tribes, the 
total Indian population being estimated at 
from 20,000 to 40,000. The Central Chaco, 
recently explored with a view to coloniza¬ 
tion, seems w’ell adapted for growdng sugar¬ 
cane, tobacco, maize, rice, &c., but not for 
cereals generally. The name is also applied 
to a much more extensive territory of simi¬ 
lar character extending into Bolivia. 

Grand Coustumier of Normandy, a col¬ 
lection of ancient laws or customs of the 
Duchy of Normandy, in use in England 
during the reigns of the early Norman sove¬ 
reigns, and which still form the basis of the 
laws of the Channel Isles, which formerly 
belonged to that duchy. It is supposed to 
have been compiled subsequently to the 
reign of Richard I. 

Grand-duke, the title of the sovereign 
of several of the states of Germany, who are 
considered to be of a rank between duke 
and king; also applied to members of the 
imperial family of Russia. 

Grandee', in Spain ^a noble of the first 
rank, which consisted partly of the relatives 
of the royal house, and partly of such mem¬ 
bers of the high feudal nobility distinguished 
for then.- wealth as had, by the grant of a 
banner received from the king, the right to 

252 



GRANITE. 


GRAND HAVEN 


enlist soldiers under their own colours. Be¬ 
sides the general prerogatives of the higher 
nobility, and the priority of claim to the 
highest offices of state, the grandees possessed 
the right of covering the head in the pres¬ 
ence of the king, with his permission, on 
all public occasions. The king called each 
of them ‘ my cousin ’ (mi primo), while he 
addressed the other members of the high 
nobility only as ‘my kinsman’ {viipariente). 
Under Ferdinand and Isabella and Charles 
Y. the independent feudal noliility became 
a dependent order of court nobles.' 

Grand Haven, Ottawa co., Mich., a 
summer resort. R(3p. 1890, 5023. 

Grand Island, Hall co., Nebraska, 154 
m. west of Omalui. Pop. 1890, 7536. 

Grand Pensionary, formerly an officer of 
the Dutch Republic. In the great towns 
the first magistrate was called a pensionary, 
his office being a paid one. The grand pen¬ 
sionary was the secretary of state of the 
Province of Holland. He held,office for 
five years, and was eligible for re-election. 
The office was abolished on the formation 
of the Kingdom of Holland in 1806. 

Grand Pre, a beaxitiful village on the 
basin of Minas, King’s County, Nova Scotia; 
the scene of Longfellow’s Evangeline. The 
French settlers there were expelled by Vir¬ 
ginian colonists in 1613. Pop. 1600. 

Grand Prix (gran pre). See Ecole des 
Beaux Arts. 

Grand Rapids, a city. United States, 
capital of Kent county, Michigan, situated 
on the rapids of the Grand River, 40 miles 
from its mouth. It is handsomely built, and 
has a pleasant and healthy situation. It is 
connected with the railway system of the 
United States and Canada, and is an im¬ 
portant centre for the distribution of pine 
and hard-wood lumber. It has large manu¬ 
factures of furniture, wooden ware, agricul¬ 
tural implements, brushes, machinery, &c. 
Pop. 60,278. 

Grand Sergeanty, an ancient tenure of 
land similar to knight-service, but of supe¬ 
rior dignity. Instead of serving the king 
generally in his wars, the holder by this 
tenure was bound to do him some specified 
honorary service, to carry his sword or ban¬ 
ner, to be the marshal of his host, his high- 
steward, butler, champion, or other officer. 
It was practically abolished with other mili¬ 
tary tenures by Charles IT. 

Grange, in the United States, a combina¬ 
tion, society, or lodge of farmers for the pur¬ 
pose of promoting the interests of agriculture, 

2o3 


more especially for abolishing the restraints 
and burdens imposed on it by the commer¬ 
cial classes, the railroad and canal com¬ 
panies, &c., and for doing away with middle¬ 
men. Granges originated in the great agri¬ 
cultural regions of the Mississippi, and still 
prevail most generally there. 

Grangemouth, a seaport and police burgh, 
Stirlingshire, Scotland, at the entrance of the 
Foi-th and Clyde Canal, 3 miles e.n.e. of 
Falkirk. ’The town was founded in 1777 
in connection with the construction of the 
canal; its prosperity w'as increased by the 
opening of docks in 1843, 1859, and 1882. 
It has shipbuilding-yards, saw-mills, a rope 
and sail factory, and brick-works. Pop. 
4560. 

Granier de Cassagnac. See Cassar/nac. 

Gran'ilite, indeterminate granite; granite 
that contains more than three constituent 
parts. 

Granil'la, the dust or small grains of the 
cochineal insect. 

Granite, an unstratified rock, composed 
generally of the minerals quartz, felspar, and 
mica, mixed up without regular arrangement 
of the crystals. The grains vary in size 
from that of a pin’s head to a mass of 2 or 
3 feet, but they seldom exceed the size of a 
large gaming die. When they are of this 
size, or larger, the granite is said to be 
‘ coarse-grained.’ Granite is an igneous or 
fire-formed rock which has been exposed to 
great heat and pressure deep down in the 
earth. It is one of the most abundant of 
the igneous rocks seen at or near the sur¬ 
face of the earth, and was formerly con¬ 
sidered as the foundation rock of the globe, 
or that upon which all sedimentary rocks 
repose; but it is now known to belong to 
various ages from the Pre-Cambrian to the 
Tertiary, the Alps of Europe containing 
granite of the later age. In Alpine situa¬ 
tions it presents the appearance of havirg 
broken through the more superficial strata; 
the beds of other rocks in the vicinity rising 
towards it at increasing angles of elevation 
as they approach it. It forms some of the 
most lofty of the mountain chains of the 
eastern continent, and the central parts of the 
principal mountain ranges of Scandinavia, 
the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Carpathian 
Mountains are of this rock. Granite supplies 
the most durable materials for building, as 
many of the ancient Egyptian monuments 
testify. It varies much in hardness as well 
as in colour, in accordance with the nature 
and proportion of its constituent parts, so 



GEANJA-GRANT. 


that there is much room for care and taste in 
its selection. Granite in which felspar pre¬ 
dominates is not well adapted for buildings, 
as it cracks and crumbles down in a few 
years. The Aberdeen bluish-gray granite is 
celebrated for its great durability, and also 
for its bea^t 3 ^ The Peterhead red granite, 
the hue of which is due to its felspar being 
the flesh-coloured potash variety called or- 
thoclase, is highly esteemed for polished 
work, as columns, pillars, graveyard monu- 
ment-J, &c. Granite in which mica is re¬ 
placed by hornblende is called syenite; when 
both mica and hornblende are present it is 
called syenitic granite; when talc supplants 
mica it is called protogene, talcosc, or chlo- 
ritic granite; a mixture of quartz and hy- 
persthene, with scattered flakes of mica, is 
called hypersthenic granite; and the name 
of graphic granite, or pegmatite, is given to 
a variety composed of felspar and quartz, 
with a little white mica, so arranged as to 
produce an irregular laminar structure. 
When a section of this latter mineral is 
made at right angles to the alternations of 
the constituent materials, broken lines re¬ 
sembling Hebrew characters present them¬ 
selves ; hence the name. Granite abounds 
in crystallized earthy minerals; and these 
occur for the most pai’t in veins traversing 
the mass of the rock. Of these minerals 
beryl, garnet, and tourmaline are the most 
abundant. It is not rich in metallic ores. 
The oriental basalt, found in rolled masses 
in the deserts of Egypt, and of which the 
Egyptians made their statues, is a true 
granite, its black colour being caused by the 
presence of hornblende and the black shade 
of the mica. The oriental red granite chiefly 
found in Egypt, and of which Pompey’s 
Pillar and Cleopatra’s Needles were con¬ 
structed, is composed of large grains or im¬ 
perfectly formed crystals of flesh-coloured 
felspar, of transparent quartz, and of black 
hornblende. 

Granja (gran'Aa), La. See Ildefonso. 

Grano, a money of account in Malta, 
equal to about ^d. sterling. 

Gran Sasso D’ltalia, or Monte Cokno, 
a mountain of Naples, the culminating peak 
of the Apennines; height, 9519 feet. 

Grant, in law, a gift in writing of such 
a thing as cannot be passed or conveyed 
by word only; thus, a grant is the regular 
method by the common law of transferring 
the property of incorporeal hereditaments, 
or such things whereof no actual delivery of 
possession can be had. 


Grant, Sm Alexander, Bart., born in 
1826; educated at Harrow and Oxford, 
where he became public examiner. In 18.58 
he was appointed inspector of schools in the 
Madras presidency; became professor of his¬ 
tory and political economy in Elphinstone 
College, Madras, in 1860, and its principal 
in 1862; vice-chancellor of Bombay Univer¬ 
sity in 1863; director of public instruction 
in Bombay Presidency, 1865; and vice- 
chancellor and principal of Edinburgh Uni¬ 
versity in 1868. He died in 1884. He is 
best known by his annotated edition of 
Aristotle’s Ethics (first published 1857), and 
his Story of the University of Edinburgh 
(1884), published in connection with the 
University Tercentenary. 

Grant, George Munro, D.D., Canadian 
author and educationalist, born in Nova 
Scotia in 1835. He was educated at Pictou 
Academy, and at West River Seminary of 
the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia, 
gaining there a bursary which entitled him 
to continue his studies at Glasgow Univer¬ 
sity. Here he studied with distinction both 
in arts and theology, and took the degree of 
M.A. Returning to Canada he was for 
some time a missionary, then pastor of St. 
Matthew’s Church, Halifax. In 1877 he 
was appointed principal of Queen’s Uni¬ 
versity, Kingston, Ontario, a position which 
he has filled with great ability. He has 
written Ocean to Ocean, being the account 
of a tour across the Dominion; has edited 
Picturesque Canada, and contributed to 
various periodicals. 

Grant, James, novelist, born at Edin¬ 
burgh 1822; lived in America from 1832 to 
1839, in which year he returned to England, 
and was gazetted ensign in the 62d Foot. 
He resigned his commission in 1843; began 
to contribute to periodical literature, and in 
1846 published his first book. The Romance 
of War. A large number of works followed, 
most of them bearing marks of his military 
training, or based on historical events. 
Adventures of an Aide-de-Camp (1848), 
Bothwell (1851), Jane Seton (18.53), Philip 
Rollo (1854), Frank Hilton (1855), Yellow 
Frigate (1855), Harry Ogilvie (1856), Lucy 
Arden (1859), Mary of Lorraine (1860), 
Dick Rodney (1861), King’s Own Borderers 
(1865), White Cockade (1867), British 
Battles on Land and Sea (1873), Old and 
New Edinburgh (1880-83), &c. He became 
a Roman Catholic in 1875, and died in 1887. 

Grant, Mrs., of Laggan, a distinguished 
Scottish authoress, born at Glasgow in 1755, 

254 


GRANULATION. 


GRANT 


maiden name M‘Vicar. Her husband, the 
llev. James Grant of Lagsfan, died in 1801, 
and left her a widow, with eight children, 
in very embarrassed circumstances. In 
1803 she published by subscription a volume 
of poems, and in 1806 won reputation by 
her Letters from the Mountains, a series 
of letters describing her life in the High¬ 
lands, the character of the people, and the 
natural scenery. For some time she con¬ 
ducted a boarding establishment for young 
ladies in Edinburgh. Her chief subsequent 
works are her Memoirs of an American 
Lady, and Essays on the Superstitions of 
the Highlanders of Scotland (1811); Eighteen 
Hundred and Thirteen, a poem (1814), and 
her Memoirs, published in 1844. Died 1838. 

Grant, Ulysses S., general and president 
of the U, States, b. Apr. 27, 1822, at Point 
Pleasant, Clermont co., Ohio. His real 
name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, the name 
afterwards used by him having arisen out 
of an error in the registration of his cadet¬ 
ship. After graduating in the military aca¬ 
demy at West Point he served during the 
Mexican w^ar, taking part in every battle 
except Buena Vista, and being brevetted 
captain for gallantry. In 1851 he resigned 
his commission and engaged first in farming 
near St. Ijouis, and then in the leather trade 
with his father at Galena, Illinois. On the 
declaration of war in 1861 he was chosen 
captain of a company of volunteers, and was 
rapidly promoted to a brigadier-generalship 
of volunteers. He seized Paducah, com¬ 
manding the Tennessee and Ohio naviga¬ 
tion; checked the departure of reinforce¬ 
ments from Belmont, captured Fort Henry 
and Fort Donelson, and won the two days’ 
battle of Shiloh. He then gained a new vic¬ 
tory at luka, and after repulsing the Con¬ 
federates before Corinth commenced opera- 
’ tions against Vicksburg. After a siege of 
some months, in the course of which he took 
the town of Jackson and scattered an army 
under Johnston, the town surrendered. For 
this Grant was made major-general in the 
regular army, and placed in command of the 
IMississippi division. The battles of Chicka- 
mauga and Chattanooga, which followed, 
opened the way into Georgia for the Federal 
troops. In March, 1864, he was appointed 
lieutenant-general, and assumed command 
of the armies of the United States. In a 
succession of hotly-contested battles at the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, and 
Cold Harbour, he steadily advanced on Pe¬ 
tersburg and Richmond. These speedily 

255 


fell, and Lee, defeated at Five Forks and 
completely surrounded, surrendered to 
Grant, April 9, 1865. Grant returned to 
Washington, and in 1866 was made general 



General Grant. 


of the armies of the United States. After 
exercising an important infiuence during the 
presidency of Johnson, Lincoln’s successor, 
he was himself elected president in 1868. 
His administration allayed the soreness 
which still survived from the great struggle 
between the states, and was also noteworthy 
for the reduction of the national debt and 
the settlement of the Alabama dispute with 
England. He was re-elected in 1872. On 
his retirement he spent some time in travel. 
Latterly he became involved in a bubble 
company which exploited his name and left 
him heavily in debt. He manfully endea¬ 
voured to repair his fortune by writing and 
publishing his Memoirs, and in this he was 
successful, though suffering greatly from 
the cancerous disease of which he died at 
Mt. McGregor, N. Y., July 23, 1885. He 
was buried at Riverside, N. Y., Aug. 8,1885, 
in a handsome mausoleum built by the 
voluntary contributions of his admiring 
fellow-citizens. The procession at the fun¬ 
eral was never equaled in the U. S. in the 
number of distinguished men attending. 

Grantham (grant'am), municipal and 
parliamentary borough of England, in Lin¬ 
colnshire, 22i miles S. S. W. of Lincoln, 
returning one member to parliament. It is 
well built, principally of brick, and has a 
fine Gothic church of the 13th century, 
with a tower and spire 273' high. Pop. 
17,345. 

Granulation, the subdivision of a metal 
into small pieces or films. It is employed 



GRANULATION 


GRAPHITE. 


in chemistry to increase the surface, so as 
to render the metal more susceptible to the 
action of reagents, and in metallurgy for the 
subdivision of a tough metal like copper. 
Small shot is made by a species of granula¬ 
tion. 

Granulation, in surgery, the formation 
of little grain-like fleshy bodies on the sur¬ 
faces of ulcers and suppurating wounds, 
serving both for filling up the cavities and 
bringing nearer together and uniting their 
sides. The colour of healthy granulations 
is a deep florid red. When livid they are 
unhealthy, and have only a languid circula¬ 
tion. 

Granvella, or Granvelle, Antoine Per- 
EENOT, Cardinal de, minister of state to 
Charles V. and Philip II. of Spain, was 
born in 1517 near Besangon. He studied 
at Padua and at Louvain, in his twenty- 
third year was appointed Bishop of Arras, 
and was present at the diets at Worms and 
Ratisbon. In 1545 he was sent to the 
Council of Trent, and on the death of his 
father in 1550 was appointed by Charles V. 
to succeed him in the office of chancellor. 
In 1552 he negotiated the Treaty of Passau, 
and in 1553 arranged the marriage of Don 
Philip with Mary Queen of England. Under 
Philip II. he remained chief minister, and 
in 1559 negotiated the Peace of Cateau- 
Cambr^sis. Philip immediately after quitted 
the Netherlands, leaving Margaret of Parma 
as governor, and Granvella as her minister. 
Ill 1560 he became Archbishop of Mechlin, 
and in 1561 was made a cardinal; but in 
1564 he was obliged to yield to the growing 
discontent aroused by his tyranny in the 
Netherlands, resign his post, and retire to 
Besanyon. In 1570 Philip sent him to Rome 
to conclude an alliance with the pope and 
the Venetians against the Turks, and after¬ 
wards to Naples as viceroy. In 1575 he 
was recalled to Spain, and placed at the 
head of the government with the title of 
President of the Supreme Council of Italy 
and Castile. In 1584 he was created Arch¬ 
bishop of Besangon, and died at Madrid in 
1586. He preserved all letters and de¬ 
spatches addressed to him, nine volumes of 
which, published 1851-62, are of value in 
illustrating the history of the 16th century. 

Granville (gran-vel), a fortified seaport, 
France, department of Manche, at the mouth 
of the Boscq, in the English Channel. Pop. 
11,620. 

Granville, Granville George Leveson- 
Gower, 2d Earl, K.G., English statesman, 


was born in London in 1815; educated at 
Eton and Christ Church, Oxford; entered 
parliament in 1836 for Morpeth, afterwards 
L)r Lichfield, both in the Ijiberal interest. In 
1840 he became under-secretary for foreign 
affairs, in 1846 succeeded to the peerage, in 
1848 was a[)pointed vice-president of the 
Board of 'I’rade, and in 1851 succeeded Pal¬ 
merston as foreign secretary. In 1855 he 
became chancellor of the Duchy of Lan¬ 
caster, president of the council, and minis¬ 
terial leader of the House of Lords '1855- 
58), and in 1856 represented the British 
crown at the coronation of the Czar Alex¬ 
ander. From 1859 to 1866 he was again 
president of the council. In 1868 he was 
colonial secretary under Gladstone, and on 
the death of Clarendon in 1870 succeeded 
to the secretaryship for foreign affairs, which 
he held until 1874. During this period he 
negotiated the Treaty of 1870, guaranteeing 
the independence of Belgium, and ‘pro¬ 
tested’ against the Russian repudiation of 
the Black Sea clause of the Treaty of Paris. 
On the return of Gladstone to office in 1880 
Lord Granville again became foreign secre¬ 



tary, until Lord Salisbury came into power 
in 1885. The close of the struggle with the 
Boers, the protest against the French occu¬ 
pation of Tunis, the revolt of Arabi Pasha 
in Egypt, the appearance of the Mahdi, the 
occupation of Egypt, the Gordon mission, 
and Wolseley expedition belong to this 
period. During the short Gladstone ad¬ 
ministration of 1886 he was 
colonial secretary. Died 1891. 

Grape. See Vine. 

Grape-shot, a kind of shot 
generally consisting of three 
tiers of cast-iron balls arranged, 
three in a tier, between four 
])arallel iron discs connected 
together by a central wrought- 
iron pin. Case-shot is now more used than 
grape-shot. 

Grape-sugar. See Glucose. 

Graphite, one of the forms“under which 
carbon occurs in nature, also known under 
the names of Pluvibago, Black-lead, a.ml IFarZ. 
It occurs not unfrequently as a mineral pro¬ 
duction, and is found in great purity at 
Borrowdale in Cumberland, and in large 
quantities in Canada, Ceylon, and Bohemia. 
Graphite may be heated to any extent in 
close vessels without change; it is exceed¬ 
ingly unchangeable in the air; it has an 
iron-gray colour, metallic lustre, and gran¬ 
ular texture, and is soft and unctuous to 


Grape-shot. 


256 


I 



GRAPHOTYPE-GRASSES. 


the touch. It is used chiefly in the manu¬ 
facture of pencils, crucibles, and portable 
furnaces, in burnishing iron to protect it 
from rust, for giving a smooth surface to 
casting moulds, for coating wax or other 
impressions of objects designed to be electro- 
typed, and for counteracting friction between 
the rubbing surfaces of wood or metal in 
machinery. 

Graph'otype, a process for obtaining 
blocks for surface printing, discovered in 
1860 by De Witt Clinton Hitchcock, who 
observed that, on rubbing the enamel from 
a visiting-card with a brush and water, the 
printed letters stood out in relief, the ink 
having so hardened the enamel that it re¬ 
sisted the action of the brush. The first 
graphotype drawings were made on blocks 
of chalk with siliceous ink, but the chalk- 
block was soon superseded by the use of 
French chalk ground to the finest powder, 
laid on a smooth plate of zinc, submitted to 
intense hydraulic pressure, and then sized. 
The drawing is made with sable-hair brushes 
and ink composed of lamp-black and glue, 
and when finished is gently rubbed with 
silk velvet or fitch-hair brushes until the 
chalk between the ink Hues is removed to 
the depth of ^ inch. The block is then 
hardened by being steeped in an alkaline 
silicate, and moulds being taken from it, 
stereotype plates are cast for printing. 

Grapnel, or Grapling, a sort of small 
anchor, fitted with four or five flukes or 
claws, and commonly used to fasten boats 
or other small vessels. The name was also 
given to the grappling-iron formerly used 
in naval engagements to hold one ship to 
another. 

Grapple-plant, the Cape name of the 
Ilarpagophytuni procumbens, a South Afri¬ 
can procumbent plant of the nat. order Pe- 
daliaceee. The seeds have many hooked 
thorns, and cling to the mouths of grazing 
cattle, causing considerable pain. 

Grap'tolite, one of a genus (Graptolithus) 



Block of Stone containing Graptolites. 


of fossil hydrozoa, agreeing with the living 
sertularians in having a horny polypary, 
and in having the separate zooids protected 
VOL. IV 257 


by little horny cups, all springing from a 
common flesh or coenosarc, but differing in 
that they were not fixed to any solid object, 
but were permanently free. Graptolites 
usually present themselves as silvery im¬ 
pressions on hard black shales of the Silu¬ 
rian system, presenting the appearance of 
fossil pens, &c.; whence the name. 

Graslitz, a town of Bohemia, on the 
Zwoda, 89 miles w.n.w. Prague. Pop. 
7850. 

Grasmere, a beautiful lake, England, 
county of Westmoreland, of oval form, about 
1 mile long by ^ mile broad. The village 
of Grasmere is at the head of the lake. 

Grass-cloth, the name of certain beauti¬ 
ful light fabrics made in the East from the 
fibre of Boehmeria nivea, or China grass, 
Bromelia Pigna, &c. None of the plants 
yielding the fibre are grasses. 

Grasse (gras), a town, France, department 
of Alpes Maritimes, 23 miles e.n.e. of Dra- 
guignan. It has extensive manufactures of 
perfumery. Pop. 7624. 

Grasses, a name equivalent to the botani¬ 
cal order Graminaceae, a very extensive and 
important order of endogenous plants, com¬ 
prising about 250 genera and 4600 species, 
including many of the most valuable pasture- 
plants, all those which yield corn, the sugar¬ 
cane, the tall and graceful bamboo, &c. The 
nutritious herbage and farinaceous seed fur¬ 
nished by many of them render them of 
incalculable importance, while the stems 
and leaves are useful for various textile and 
other purposes. The roots are fibrous; the 
stem or culm is usually c^dindrical and 
jointed, varying in length from a few inches 
to 80 or 90 feet, as in the bamboo (in the 
sugar-cane the stem is solid, but porous), and 
coated with silex; leaves, one to each node 
or joint, with a sheathing petiole; spike- 
lets terminal, panicled, racemose, or spiked; 
flowers hermaphrodite or polygamous, desti¬ 
tute of true calyx or corolla, surrounded by 
a double set of bracts, the outer constituting 
the glumes, the inner the pahce; stamens hy- 
pogynous, three or six; filaments long and 
flaccid; anthers versatile; ovary solitary, 
simple, with two (rarely three) styles, one- 
celled, with a single ovule; fruit known as 
a caryopsis, the seed and the pericarp being 
inseparable from each other. The more 
important divisions of the natural order of 
grasses are: (1) Panicaccce, including the 
Panicece (millet, fundi, Guinea grass); the 
AndropogonecB (sugar-cane, dhurra, lemon- 
grass); the EoUboelliece (gama-g ass); &c. 


GRASS-FINCH-GRATIAN. 


(2) Phalaridece (maize, Job’s tears, canary- 
grass, foxtail-grass, soft-grass, Timothy 
grass). (3) Poacece, including the Oryzece 
(rice); Stipece (feather-grass, esparto); Ag- 
rostecB (bent-grass); Avenece (oats, vernal 
grass); Festucece (fescue, meadow-grass, 
manna-grass, teff, cock’s-foot grass, tussac 
grass, dog’s-tail grass); Bambusece (bamboo); 
Hordece (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, rye-grass, 
lyme-grass). In its popular use the term 
grasses is chiefly applied to the pasture 
grasses as distinct from the cereals, &c.; 
but it is also applied to some herbs, which 
are not in any strict sense grasses at all, e.g. 
rib-grass, scurvy and whitlow grass. After 
the culture of herbage and forage plants 
became an important branch of husbandry, 
it became customary to call the clovers, tre¬ 
foils, sainfoin, and other flowering plants 
grown as fodder, artificial grasses, by way 
of distinction from the grasses proper, which 
were termed natural grasses. Of the pas¬ 
ture grasses, some thrive in meadows, others 
in marshes, on upland fields, or on bleak 
hills, and they by no means grow indiscri¬ 
minately. Indeed the species of grass will 
often indicate the quality of the soil; thus, 
IIolcus, Dactylis, and Bromus are found on 
sterile land, Festuca and Alopecurus on a 
better soil, Poa and Cynosurus are only 
found in the best pasture land. See Dog's- 
tail Grass, Fescue, Foxtail, Meadow-grass, 
Tussac, &c. 

Grass-finch, Gkass-quit, names given to 
several birds belonging to the finch family, 
so called from feeding chiefly on the seeds 
of grasses. 

Grass'hopper, the name of various leap¬ 
ing insects of the order Orthoptera nearly 
akin to the locusts. They are characterized 
by very long and slender legs, the thighs of 
the hinder legs being large and adapted for 
leaping, by large and delicate wings, and 
by the wing-covers extending far beyond 
the extremity of the abdomen. Grasshop- 
j)ers form an extensive group of insects, and 
are distinguished by the power which they 
possess of leaping to a considerable distance, 
and by the stridulous or chirping noise the 
males produce by rubbing their wing-covers 
together. They are generally of a greenish 
colour. 

Grass of Parnassus, a genus of plants, 
variously referx'ed to the natiiral orders 
Droseraceae and Hypericaceae, and found for 
the most part in boggy situations in the 
colder northern countries. The common 
grass of {Panmsiapodmtris) is a 


beautiful autumnal plant with heart-shaped 
leaves and a single yellowish-white flower. 

Grass-oil, Oil of Geranium, or Oil of 
Spikenard, a fragrant volatile oil, used 
chiefly in perfumery, and obtained fi’om 
Indian grasses of the genus Andropogon. 

Grass-tree, the popular name of a genus 
of Australian plants {Xanthorrhcea) of the 
nat. order Liliaceae, having shrubby stems 
with tufts of long grass-like wiry foliage, 
from the centre of which arise the tall 



Grass-tree {Xanthorrhoea hastilis ). 


flower-stalks, which sometimes reach the 
height of 15 or 20 feet, and bear dense cy¬ 
lindrical spikes of blossom at their summit. 
The base of the leaves forms, when roasted, 
an agreeable article of diet, and the leaves 
themselves are used as fodder for all kinds 
of cattle. A resin, known in commerce as 
alxiroid resin, is obtained from all the spe¬ 
cies, wdiich are also popularly knowm as 
black-boys. 

Grass-wrack, or Sea-grass {Zostera ma- 
rina), a phanerogamous plant belongfing to 
the Naiadeae, forming green beds at the bot¬ 
tom of the sea where it is of no great depth. 
When dried it is used for stuffing mat¬ 
tresses, and packing goods. It has been 
recommended as a substitute for cotton. 
The ash contains soda. 

Gratian, otherwise Gratianus Augus¬ 
tus, Roman Emperor, eldest son of the 
Emperor Valentinian I. was born a.d. 359, 
and when only eight years of age raised by 
his father to the rank of Augustus. On the 
death of Valentinian in 375 the Eastern 
Empire remained subject to Valens, and 
Gratian w’^as obliged to share the western 
part with his half-brother, Valentinian II., 
then four years old. In 378 he succeeded to 
the Eastern Empire, which he bestowed on 
Theodosius I. He was deserted by his 
soldiers while leading them against Max- 
imus, and put to death at Lyons in the eighth 
year of his reign. 






GRAVESEND. 


GRATIAN — 

Gratian, otherwise Franciscus Gra- 
TIANUS, a Benedictine of the 12th century, 
a native of Chiusi, and author of the De- 
cretum; or, Concordia discordantium Cano- 
num, a rich storehouse of the canon law of 
the middle ages. 

Grati ola, a genus of plants, the hedge- 
hyssop genus, nat. order Scrophulariaceae, 
containing about twenty species of herbs, 
widely dispersed through the extra-tropical 
regions of the globe. G. officinalis grows in 
meadow's in Europe. It is extremely bitter, 
and acts violently both as a purgative and 
emetic, and in overdoses it is a violent poi¬ 
son. G. Virginica is a native of the U. S. 

Grattan, Henry, Irish orator and states¬ 
man, born at Dublin in 1746, educated at 
Irinity College and Middle Temple; called 
to the Irish bar in 1772, and in 1775 elected 



Henry Grattan. 


member for Charlton in the parliament of 
Ireland. In 1780 he moved resolutions as¬ 
serting the crown to be the only link be¬ 
tween Britain and Ireland, and in 1782 led 
the volunteer movement, which was instru¬ 
mental in securing the concession of inde¬ 
pendence to Ireland. For these services 
the Irish parliament voted him £50,000 
and a house and lands. The corruption of 
its members and the uncertain relations with 
England resulted in the failure of ‘Grattan’s 
parliament.’ Grattan himself became op¬ 
posed to the popular feeling as represented 
by the United Irishmen, and in 1707 tem¬ 
porarily seceded from parliament, and lived 
ip retirewtsut. In 1800 he came forward 


as member for Wicklow to oppose the Union, 
and on the passage of Pitt’s measure was 
returned to the imperial parliament in 1805 
for Malton in Yorkshire, and in 1806 for 
Dublin. He supported the war policy of 
the administration, but was latterly chiefly 
occupied in promoting Catholic emancipa¬ 
tion. He died in 1820, and was interred in 
Westminster Abbey. 

Gratz, or Graz, a town of Austria, capital 
of Styria, picturesquely situated on the Mur, 
90 miles south-w'est of Vienna. The older 
tow'n, on the left bank, is connected with 
the suburbs Lend and Gries on the right by 
several bridges, besides a railway bridge. 
The Schlossberg rises 400 ft. above the river, 
but the fortifications of the town have given 
place to avenues and pleasure grounds. The 
cathedral of St. Glgidius, built in 1456, is a 
majestic Gothic structure with a fine altar 
and paintings; near it is the mausoleum of 
Ferdinand II. The university, founded in 
1586, has over 1100 students and a library 
of 80,000 vols. The Joanneum, for the pro¬ 
motion of agriculture and scientific educa¬ 
tion, has a large library and museums. The 
manufactures consist of woollen, cotton, and 
silk tissues, machinery, steel, rails, wagons, 
soap, leather, &c. Pop. 1891, 113,540. 

Graubunden. See Orisons. 

Graudenz (grou'dents), a town of Ger¬ 
many, West Prussia, right bank of the Vis¬ 
tula, 18 miles s.s.w. of Marienwerder. The 
manufactures include machinery, castings, 
cigars, tobacco, brushes, &c., and there are 
several breweries and distilleries. Pop. 
17,336. 

Gravel, in pathology, small concretions 
or calculi in the kidneys or bladder. See 
Calculus. 

Gravelines (grav-len), a small seaport and 
second-class fortress, France, department 
Nord. Pop. 2228. 

Gravelotte (grav-lot), a village, Germany, 
province of Elsass-Lothringen, 7 miles west 
of Metz, the scene of one of the fiercest 
battles of the Franco-German war, resulting 
in the retreat of the French to Metz. 

Graver. See Engravivg. 

Gravesend, a municipal and parliamentary 
borough of England in Kent, on the south 
bank of the Thames, 21 miles east of London. 
It is a great rendezvous for shipping, the 
boundary port of London, and troops and 
passengers frequently embark there to avoid 
the passage down the river. There is some 
trade in supplying ships’ stores, and boat¬ 
building, iron-founding, &c., are carried on. 




GRAVINA 


GRAY. 


It returns one member to parliament. Pop. 
mun. bor. 1891, 24,067 ; pari. bor. 35,492. 

Gravi'na, a town of South Italy, province 
of Bari, on the Gravina. It has a cathedral, 
convents, and a college. Pop. 14,125. 

Graving, the act of cleaning and repairing 
a ship’s bottom. At seaports this is usually 
done in a dry-dock called a graviny-dock. 
See DocJlS. 

Gravitation, the force by reason of which 
all the bodies and particles of matter in the 
universe tend towards one another. Accor¬ 
ding to the law of gravitation discovered by 
Newton, every portion of matter attracts 
every other portion with a force directly 
proportional to the product of the two masses, 
and inversely proportional to the square of 
the distance between them. Kepler had 
given the laws, deduced from observation, 
according to which the planets describe their 
orbits. From these Newton deduced the 
laws of the force in the case of the planets; 
and subsequently he generalized the state¬ 
ment of them, by showing the identity of 
the nature of the force that retains the 
moon in her orbit, with that which attracts 
matter near to the surface of the earth. 
The application of the grand law that he 
had discovered subsequently occupied a large 
part of the mathematical labours of Newton. 
Attacking the problem of lunar inequalities, 
he accounted for them by considering the 
perturbations due to the attraction of various 
bodies of the solar system; and by account¬ 
ing for all the observed perturbations by 
means of his newly-discovered law he con¬ 
firmed the truth of the law itself in such a 
way as to put it beyond all question. The 
computation of these various attractions 
has reached such a degree of accuracy in 
the hands of mathematicians since Newton, 
that the most complicated motions of the 
heavenly bodies can be predicted. The law 
has also been applied successfully in weigh¬ 
ing the planets, explaining the paths of 
comets, the motions of the tidal wave, &c. 
It has also been demonstrated to hold good 
in the case of comparatively small bodies. 
Thus Maskelyne determined the attraction 
of a particular mountain, and Cavendish 
and Bailly measured the attraction of balls 
of lead on light finely-balanced bodies, and 
thus determined the mean density of the 
earth. 

Gravity, the term applied to the force 
with which the earth attracts every particle 
of matter. The force of gravity is least at 
the equator, and gradually increases as we 


recede toward the poles. Thus a given 
mass, if tested by means of a spring-balance 
of sufficient delicacy, would appear to. weigh 
least at the equator, and would seem to get 
heavier and heavier as the latitude increases. 
This is due to two causes: first, the centri¬ 
fugal force at the equator is greater than 
that in high latitudes, because of the greater 
radius of the circle described at that place; 
and, second, the attraction is diminished by 
the greater distance of objects on the sur¬ 
face from the earth’s centre. From both 
causes combined a body which weighs 194 
lbs. at the equator would weigh 195 lbs. 
at either pole. Experiments to determine 
the force of gravity from point to point 
are made by determining the length of a 
pendulum that beats seconds at each place. 
By experiments made by Captain Kater at 
Leith Fort it was found that the force of 
gravity at that place is such that a body, 
unresisted by air or otherwise, would acquire 
in one second, under its influence, a velocity 
of 32”207 feet per second. At Greenwich 
the acceleration is 32T912 feet. 

Gravity, Specific. See iSpeciJic Gravity. 

Gray (gra), a town, France, department of 
Haute-Sa6ne, on the Saone. Pop. 6826. 

Gray, Asa, American botanist, born 1810. 
He was appointed Fisher professor of natural 
history in Harvard University in 1842, and 
held the chair till 1873, when he retired 
from its more active duties. His death 
took place in 1888. His works include 
Elements of Botany (1836), A Manual of 
Botany (1848), and other botanical text¬ 
books; also portions of works on the flora 
of North America and the Genera Boreali- 
Americana, a Free Examination of Dar¬ 
win’s Treatise (1861), a volume entitled 
Darwiniana (1876), &c. 

Gray, David, Scottish poet, born at Merk- 
land, Dumbartonshire, in 1838; studied at 
Glasgow University, from which he went, 
with Robert Buchanan, to London in 1860 
to try his fortune' in literatui-e. After a 
brief struggle consumption set in, and he 
died at Merkland in 1861. A small volume 
containing the poem entitled The Luggie, 
some lyrics, and a few sonnets, with the 
title In the Shadows, represents the whole 
of his work. 

Gray, Thomas, English poet, born in 
Loudon in 1716; educated at Eton with 
Horace Walpole, and at Cambridge. In 
1738 he entered himself at the Inner 
Temple, but accompanied Walpole in his 
tour of Europe until they quarrelled in 

260 



GRAY-GREAT FISH RIVER. 


Italy. He returned to England in 1741, 
and on the death of his father took up resi¬ 
dence at Cambridge. In 1747 his Ode on a 
Distant Prospect of Eton College appeared, 
and in 1751 his Elegy written in a Country 
Churchyard, which went through four edi¬ 
tions in two months. In 1757 he declined 
the laureateship, and the same year pub¬ 
lished his odes, On the Progress of Poesy, 
and The Bard. In 1759 he removed to 
London, where he resided for three years, 
and in 1768 the Duke of Grafton presented 
him with the professorship of modern his¬ 
tory at Cambridge. He died in 1771, and 
was buried at Stoke Pogis, Buckingham¬ 
shire. His chief poems other than those 
mentioned were the Ode for Music and the 
fragmentary Essay on the Alliance of Edu¬ 
cation and Government. In Latin verse 
lie is surpassed by few, and his letters are 
admirable specimens of the epistolary style. 

Gray. See Grey. 

Gray-lag, a popular name for the A user 
ferus, or common wild goose. See Goose. 

Grayling, a genus of fishes of the family 
Salmonidae. The common grayling {Thy- 
mall'us vulydris) is found in many English 
streams, but not in Scotland or Ireland. It 



Grayling (Thymallus vulg & ris ). 


is scattered over Europe from Lapland to 
North Italy, and also over part of Asia. 
The grayling prefers rapid streams where 
the water is clear and cool, and the bottom 
sandy or pebbly, and it requires on the 
whole deeper water than the trout, to which 
it has a certain similarity in habit. The 
general colour is yellowish-brown, including 
the fins; several deeper brown lines run 
along the body; under the belly white. The 
colour often varies in different streams. It 
is a favourite fish of the angler. In N. 
America there is also a grayling, T. tricolor, 
which is both delicate eating and furnishes 
good sport. 

Gray-owl, the tawny-owl {Slrixstridula), 
inhabits Northern Europe and America. 

Graywacke (gra-wak'e), a metamorphic 
sandstone in which grains or fragments of 
various minerals, as quartz and felspar, or 
of rocks, as slate and siliceous clay rocks, 
are embedded in an indurated matrix, which 

261 


may be siliceous or argillaceous. The colours 
are gray, red, blue, or some shade of these. 
The term, as used by the earlier writers, 
included all the conglomerates, sandstones, 
and shales of the older formations, when 
these had been subjected to considerable 
change. At first it was nearly synonymous 
with the Silurian strata, these, especially in 
Scotland, yielding the only genuine gray¬ 
wacke. The term is now little used. 

Grazale'ma, a town of Spain, in Andalusia, 
province of Cadiz, on a slope at the foot of 
a sierra, 58 miles e.n.e. of Cadiz. It has a 
handsome Gothic church. Pop. 8388. 

Great Bahama. See Bahamas. 

Great Bear Lake. See Bear LaTce. 

Great Britain. See the articles Britain, 
England, Scotland, and Wales. 

Great Circle Sailing, or Tangent Sail¬ 
ing, a method of navigating a vessel accor¬ 
ding to which her course is always kept as 
nearly as possible on a great circle of the 
sphere, that is, a circle which has for its 
centre the centre of the sphere. An arc of 
such a circle joining two places gives the 
shortest distance between them, conse¬ 
quently the course of a vessel sailing on 
this arc will be the shortest possible. A 
simple instrument called a spherograph is 
employed for finding the great circle course 
between places, and this is accompanied by 
tables compiled for the same purpose. 

Great Eastern, an iron steamship, the 
largest vessel yet constructed, built (1854- 
58) at Millwall, on the Thames, for the 
Eastern Steam Navigation Co., by Mr. Scott 
Russell, from plans by Mr. I. K. Brunei; 
length, 680 feet; breadth, 82^, or, including 
paddle-boxes, 118 feet; height, 58 feet (70 
to top of bulwarks). She’had six masts, 
five of iron and one of wood, and could 
spread 7000 yards of sail, besides having 
eight engines, divided between her screws 
and paddles, and capable of working at 
11,000 horse-power. From the first her 
career was unfortunate, the launching pro¬ 
cess alone lasting three months and costing 
$300,000. After several unremunerative 
trips to New York she was employed first 
as a troopship, and then as a cable-laying 
ship for which her size and steadiness spe¬ 
cially qualified her. Various attempts were 
afterwards made to utilize her, but she at 
last came to be a mere holiday spectacle, 
and was broken up in 1888. 

Great Fish River, a river of South-east 
Africa, near the eastern frontier of Cape 
Colony. It rises in the Snowy Mountains^ 



GREECE. 


GREAT FISH RIVER 


and falls into the sea after a course of 230 
miles. 

Great Fish or Back River, a river of 
Northern Canada, rising in Sussex Lake, and 
flowing, after a course of about 500 miles, 
into Cockburn Bay, an inlet of the Arctic 
Ocean; discovered by Sir George Back. 

Great Marlow, a town of England, coun¬ 
ties Bucks and Berks, on the Thames, 5 miles 
N.N. w. of Maidenhead. Manufactures, chairs, 
lace, and paper. Pop. 6778, 

Great Salt Lake, a lake, United States, 
L^tah Territory, 4000 feet above sea-level, 
70 miles in length north to south and 48 
miles east to west. Five gallons of its water 
yield, by evaporation, 14 pints of salt. It 
has several islands, which, with its shores, 
are whitened by the salt; and it receives 
the Bear, the Utah, and several other streams. 
It contains no fish, but has several species 
of insects and a crustacean, and is frequented 
by immense flocks of gulls, ducks, geese, 
and swans. 

Great Slave Lake. See Slave Lake. 

Greaves, armour worn on the front of the 
low’er part of the legs, across the back of 
which it was buckled. 

Grebe, the common name of the birds of 
the genus Podiceps, family Colymbidifi, cha¬ 
racterized by a straight conical bill, no tail, 
tarsus short, toes flattened, separate, but 
broadly fringed at their edges by a firm 



Horned Grebe [Podiceps cornutus) 


membrane, and legs set so far back that on 
land the grebe assumes the upright position 
of the penguin. The geographical distribu¬ 
tion of the genus is very wide, these birds 
haunting seas as well as ponds and rivers. 
They are excellent swimmers and divers; 
feed on small fishes, frogs, crustaceans, and 
insects; and their nests, formed of a large 
quantity of grass, &c., are generally placed 
c mong reeds and sedges, and rise and fall 
with the water. Five species are British, 
the great crested grebe {P. cristdtus), the 
(little grebe or dabchick {P. minor), the 
^clavonian or horned grebe (P. cornutus), 
the red-neck (P. ruhricollis), and the rare 
eared-grebe {P. aurltus). The three last 


are winter visitors, but the two first remain 
all the year. Nine species are N. Ameri¬ 
can, some of them (crested grebe, horned 
grebe) being the same as those of Europe. 
The great crested grebe is about 21 to 22 
inches long, and has been called satin grebe 
from its beautiful silvery breast-plumage, 
much esteemed as material for ladies’ muffs. 

Greece, a country, now a kingdom, of 
South-eastern Europe, the earliest portion 
of this continent to attain a high degree of 
civilization, and to produce works of art and 
literature as yet unsurpassed. It forms 
the southern extremity of what is called the 
Balkan Peninsula, and itself partly consists 
of a well-marked peninsula, the Morea or 
Peloponnesus, united to Northern Greece 
by the Isthmus of Corinth, The name 
Greece (Latin, Grcecia) is of Roman origin, 
the native name for the country being Hellm, 
and the people calling themselves Hellenes. 
Anciently Hellas was used in a wider sense, 
so as to include both Greece itself and all 
countries that had become Greek by colo¬ 
nization. Modern Greece is separated from 
Turkey on the north by a winding, mostly 
artificial, boundary extending from the Gulf 
of Arta on the west to the Gulf of Salonica 
on the east, and comprising rather less than 
ancient Greece, which also took in part of 
what is now Albania. Ancient Greece was 
divided into a number of independent states 
or territories, natnely, in Northern Greece, 
Thessaly, Epirus (not in the modern king¬ 
dom), Locris, Phocis, Bceotia, yEtolia, Acar- 
nania, Attica, Megaris; in the Pelopon¬ 
nesus, Corinth, Argolis, Achaia, Elis, Mes- 
senia, Laconia (Sparta), and Arcadia, the 
last entirely inland. These names are still 
kept up, but the country is now divided 
into nomes, or nomarchies, some of which 
are formed of the Greek islands, namely, 
Euboea, Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, and the 
Cyclades. The total area is 25,014 sq. 
miles; the population 2,187,208. 

Physical Features. — Greece proper is 
remarkable for the extent of its coast-line, 
formed by numerous gulfs which penetrate 
into it in all directions. The largest, the 
(’orinthian Gulf, or Gulf of Lepanto, on the 
east, and the Saronic Gulf, or Gulf of 
H^gina, on the west, which nearly meet at 
the Isthmus of Corinth, separate Northern 
Greece from the Morea. Another strik¬ 
ing feature is the mountainous character of 
the interior. On the north are the Cam- 
bunian Mountains, with Mount Olympus 
(9754 ft.) at their eastern extremity. From 

2G2 






GREECE. 


this range a lofty chain, called Mount Pin- 
du8, runs southwards almost parallel to the 
eastern and western coasts of Greece. At 
a point in this chain called Mount Tym- 
phrestus or Typhrestus (Mount Velukhi) 
two chains proceed in an easterly direction, 
the northern being called Mount Othrys, 
the southern terminating at Thermopyke, 
Mount Oita (8240 ft.). The Cambunian 
Mountains, Pindus and Othrys, inclose the 
fertile vale of Thessaly, foi*ming the basin of 
the Peneus (Salambria), and the ranges of 
Othrys and CEta inclose the smaller basin 
of the Sperchius (Hellada). Another range, 
that of Parnassus (highest summit 8068 ft.), 
branches off from Mount CEta and runs still 
more to the south. The peaks of Cithaeron, 
Parnes, Pentelicus, and Hymettus lie in the 
same direction, and the range in which they 
are found is continued to the south-east 
point of continental Greece. This range on 
the south and that of (Eta on the north 
inclose the basin of the Cephissus, with 
Lake Copais. The chief rivers on the west 
side of the Pindus chain are the Arachthus 
(Arta) and the Achelous (Aspropotamo). 
The chief feature in the mountain system 
of the Peloponnesus is a range or series of 
ranges forming a circle round the valley of 
Arcadia in the interior, having a number 
of branches proceeding outward from it in 
different directions. The highest range in 
the Peloponnesus, Mount Taygetus (7904 
feet), branches off from the circle round 
Arcadia, strikes southwards, and terminates 
in the promontory of Taenarum (Cape Ma- 
tapan). The chief rivers in the Pelopon¬ 
nesus are the Eurotas (Basilipotamo), the 
Alpheus (Ruphia), draining Arcadia and 
Elis; and the Peneus, draining Elis. The 
rock most largely developed in the moun¬ 
tains of Greece is limestone, which often 
assumes the form of the finest marble. 
Granite occurs in patches. Tertiary foi-ma- 
tions prevail in the north-east of the Pelo¬ 
ponnesus; and in the north-west, along the 
shores of Elis, are considerable tracts of 
alluvium. Silver, lead, zinc, and copper 
are found and worked to some extent, the 
famous ancient silver mines of Laurium in 
Attica still yielding a little of the precious 
metal. 

Climate .—The climate is generally mild, 
in the parts exposed to the sea equable and 
genial, but in the mountainous regions of 
the interior sometimes very cold. None of 
the mountains attain the limit of perpetual 
snow; but several retain it far into the 

263 


summer. In general the first snow falls in 
October and the last in April. During sum¬ 
mer rain scarcely ever falls, and the channels 
of the minor streams become dry. Towards 
the end of harvest rain becomes frequent 
and copious; and intermittent fevers, &c., 
become common. In ancient times, when 
the country was more thickly peopled and 
better cultivated, the climate seems to have 
been better. 

Vegetation, Agriculture, (t’C .—Greece is 
mainly an agricultural country, though 
agriculture is in a somewhat backward 
state. The land is largely held by peasant 
proprietors. The principal crops are wheat, 
barley, and maize. The cultivated land 
produces all the fruits of the latitude—figs, 
almonds, dates, oranges, citrons, melons, 
&c. The vine also grows vigorously, as it 
did in ancient Greece. But a much more 
important product of Greece, especially on 
the coasts of the Peloponnesus, and in the 
islands of Cephalonia, Zante, Ithaca, and 
Santa Maura, is the Corinthian grape or 
currant. The olive is also largely grown 
(as in ancient times), and the culture of the 
mulberry, for the rearing of silk-worms, has 
recently been gi’eatly extended. The exten¬ 
sive forests contain among other trees a pecu¬ 
liar kind of oak {Quercus ^gilops), which 
yields the valoniaof commerce. The domestic 
animals are neither numerous nor of good 
breeds. Asses are almost the only beasts 
of burden employed; and dairy produce is 
obtained from the sheep and the goat. 

Manufactures, Trade, Communications, chc. 
—The manufactures are extremely limited, 
but with all other branches of industry in 
Greece are increasing. They include cot¬ 
tons, woollens, earthenware, leather, &c.; 
and ship-building is carried on largely at 
various points of the coast, and at the 
Piraeus, d’he merchant marine of Greece 
had anaggregateburden(1891-92)of;^41,4(i0 
tons. A large ])art of the shipping of Greece 
is engagetl in the carrying trade between 
Britain, Germany, &c., and Greece, Turkey, 
and other Mediterranean countries. The 
chief ports are Corfu, Syra, Piraeus (the port 
of Athens^, and Patras. The principal ex¬ 
ports are currants and olive-oil; but valonia, 
emery, silk, dried figs, raisins, honey, wax, 
lead, tobacco, and other articles are also 
exported; the principal imports are cereals, 
and cotton, woollen, and silk goods, sugar, 
iron goods, coffee, &c. The greatest hind¬ 
rance to the development of Greece at the 
present time is the want of good roads, but 


GREECE. 


this is being gradually remedied. A canal 
across the Isthmus of Corinth is almost 
completed. In 1883 there were only 58 miles 
of railways oj)en, butin 1892 there were 560 
miles opened, and 270 miles constructing. 
The telegraph lines were of a total length 
of 4686 miles. The money unit of Greece 
is the drachma of 100 lepta, which is nomi¬ 
nally 1 franc. 

Constitution, &c. —According to the pre¬ 
sent constitution the throne is hereditary in 
the family of King George (second son of 
the King of Denmark). The legislative 
authority is vested in a single chamber, 
called the Boule, the members of which (pro¬ 
portioned in number to the amount of the 
population) are elected for four years by 
ballot by manhood suffrage. The executive 
power rests with the king and ministry. 
The Greek Church alone is established, but 
all forms of religion enjoy toleration. Jus¬ 
tice is administered, on^ the basis of the 
French civil code, by a supreme court [Areios 
Pagos), at Athens.; four royal courts (Ejohi- 
teia), at Athens, Nauplia, Patras, and Corfu; 
sixteen courts of primary resort ( Protodokeia), 
one in each principal town. The public 
revenue, derived chiefly from customs, land 
tax, tobacco and petroleum monopoly, state 
domains and national property, &c., was es¬ 
timated for 1892,103,550,792 drachmai; the 
expenditure 99,986,129 drachmai. Greece 
has a large debt, the total for 1890 being 
$107,306,518. All able-bodied males are 
liable to military service during a term of 
nineteen years, of which in the infantry one 
year and in special corps two years must be 
spent with the colours, the remainder in the 
reserve and in the landwehr or militia. In 
1892 the total nominal strength of the army 
was 28,115. The navy consisted of two 
small ironclads, and a number of other 
vessels. Other ironclads and gunboats are 
being added. 

People. — The ancient Greeks were an 
Aryan race, probably most closely akin to 
the Italian peoples. They were noted for 
physical beauty and intellectual gifts. The 
present population contains a considerable 
intermixture of foreign stocks, among which’ 
the Albanese, or Arnauts, are the most nu¬ 
merous; but the great majority, though not 
without some taint in their blood, are of 
Greek extraction. While the population of 
Greece proper, in year 1890, was 2,187,208, 
the whole Greek nationality reaches nearly 
8,000,000, of whom 3,500,000 are found in 
European Turkey and 2,000,000 in Asia 


Minor. Education in Greece is free and 
compulsory in theory (from the age of five 
to twelve), but a large proportion of the 
people can neither read nor write. There 
are three grades of schools, the primary 
national schools, the Hellenic or secondary 
grammar-schools, and the gymnasia, which 
are higher grammar-schools or colleges. In 
addition there is a university at Athens. 
The national dress of the Greeks resembles 
the Albanian costume. In the men it consists 
of a tight jacket, generally scarlet, wide 
trousers descending as far as the knee, and 
embroidered gaiters; in the women it con¬ 
sists of a vest fitting close to the shape, and 
a gown flowing loosely behind. 

History. — The earliest inhabitants of 
Greece were the Pelasgians, of whom little or 
nothing is known with certainty. To them 
are attributed certain remains of ancient 
buildings, especially the so-called Cyclopean 
w’orks in the Peloponnesus. The Pelasgians 
were succeeded by the Hellenes, or Greeks 
proper, who may have been simply one of 
the Pelasgian tribes or races. To the early 
period of the Hellenic occupation of Greece 
belong the legends of the Trojan War, of 
Theseus, of Jason and the Argonauts, &c. 
The Hellenes were divided into four chief 
tribes—the H)iolians, occupying the northern 
parts of Greece (Thessaly, Boeotia, &c.); the 
Dorians, occupying originally a small region 
in the neighbourhood of Mount (Eta; the 
Achseans, occupying the greater part of the 
Peloponnesus; and the lonians, occupying 
the northern strip of the Peloponnesus and 
Attica. Of the four principal tribes the 
lonians were most influential in the devel¬ 
opment of Greece. The distribution of the 
Hellenic tribes was greatly altered by the 
Dorian migration, sometimes called ‘ the 
return of the Heracleidae ’ (descendants of 
Hercules), placed by Thiicydides about 
eighty years after the fall of Troy, or about 
B.c. 1104, according to the ordinary chro¬ 
nology. Before the great migration several 
smaller ones had taken place, causing con¬ 
siderable disturbance; and at last the hardy 
Dorian inhabitants of the mountainous re¬ 
gion about Mount (Eta conquered a large 
part of northern Greece, and then entered 
and subdued the greater part of the Pelo¬ 
ponnesus, driving out or subjugating the 
Achfeans, as the Achaeans had the Pelas¬ 
gians. In the legend the Dorians are repre¬ 
sented as having entered the Peloponnesus 
under Temenus, Cresphontes, and Aristo- 
demus, three descendants of Heracles (Her* 

264 


GREECE. 


cules), who had come to recover the terri¬ 
tory taken from their ancestors by Eurys- 
theus. Of the Achaean inhabitants of the 
Peloponnesus a large section occupied the 
territory formerly in possession of the lonians, 
henceforward called Achaia. The lonians 
driven out of the Peloponnesus found at first 
a refuge among their kindred in Attica, but 
owing to its limited territory were soon 
compelled to leave it and found Ionic colo¬ 
nies on several of the islands of the ^gean 
Sea and on the middle part of the coast of 
Asia Minor, where they built twelve cities, 
’ latterly forming an Ionic Confederacy. The 
principal of these were Ephesus and Mile¬ 
tus, About the same time another body of 
Greeks, from Thessaly and Bmotia, are said 
to have founded the yEolian colonies on some 
of the northern islands of the ^gean, and 
on the northern part of the western coast of 
Asia Minor. The .^olic colonies of Asia 
Minor also formed a confederacy of twelve 
cities, afterwards reduced to eleven by the 
accession of Smyrna to the Ionic Confeder¬ 
acy. The southern islands and the southern 
part of the west coast of Asia Minor were 
in like manner colonized by Dorian settlers. 
The six Doric towns in Asia Minor, along 
with the island of Rhodes, formed a confed¬ 
eracy similar to the Ionic and iEolic ones. 
In course of time many Greek settle¬ 
ments were made on the coasts of the Hel¬ 
lespont, the Propontis (Sea of Marmora), 
and the Black Sea, the most important being 
Byzantium (Constantinople), Sinope, Cer- 
asus, and Trapezus (Trebizonde). There 
were also flourishing Greek colonies on the 
coasts of Thrace and Macedonia; for ex¬ 
ample, Abdera, Amphipolis, Olynthus, Po- 
tidfea, &c.; and the Greek colonies in Lower 
Italy were so numerous that the inhabitants 
of the interior spoke Greek, and the whole 
region received the name of Greater Greece 
(Magna Graecia). The most famous of the 
Greek colonies in this quarter were Taren- 
tum, Sybaris, Croton, Cumae, and Neapolis 
(Naples). Sicily also came to a great ex¬ 
tent into the hands of the Greeks, who 
founded on it or enlarged many towns, the 
largest, most powerful, and most highly 
cultured of the Greek colonies here being 
the Corinthian colony of Syracuse, founded 
in the eighth century b.c. Other important 
colonies were Cyrene on the north coast of 
Africa, and Massilia (Marseilles) on the south 
coast of Gaul, All these colonies as a rule 
preserved the customs and institutions of 
the mother city, but were quite independent. 

265 


Although ancient Greece never formed a 
single state, the various Greek tribes always 
looked upon themselves as one people, and 
classed all other nations as Barharoi (foreign¬ 
ers). There were four chief bonds of union 
between the Greek tribes. First and chiefly 
they had a common language, which, despite 
its dialectic peculiarities, was understood 
throughout all Hellas or the Greek world. 
Secondly, they had common religious ideas 
and institutions, and especially, in the oracle 
of Delphi, a common religious sanctuary. 
Thirdly, there was a general assembly of 
the Greeks, the Amphictyonic League, in 
which the whole people was represented by 
tribes (not by states), and the chief func¬ 
tions of which were to guard the interests 
of the sanctuary of Delphi, and to see that 
the wars between the separate states of 
Greece were not too merciless. The fourth 
bond consisted in the four great national 
festivals or games, the Olympian, Isthmian, 
Nemean, and Pythian, on the first of which 
the whole of Greece based its calendar. 

The various separate states of Greece may 
be divided, according to the form of their 
constitution, into the two great classes of 
aristocratic and democratic. Sparta or Lace¬ 
daemon, the chief town of Laconia and of 
the Doric tribe, was the leading aristocratic 
state; and Athens, the capital of Attica 
and the chief town of the Ionic tribe, was 
the leading democratic state; and as a rule 
all the Doric states, and subsequently all 
those under the influence of Sparta, re¬ 
sembled that city in their constitution; and 
all the Ionic states, and those under the in¬ 
fluence of Athens, resembled it. These two 
tribes or races are the only ones that come 
into prominence during the earlier part of 
Greek history subsequent to the Doric mi¬ 
gration. Sparta is said to have derived its 
form of government, and all its institutions, 
in the ninth century B.C., from Lycurgus, 
whose regulations developed a hardy and 
warlike spirit among the people, the results 
of which were seen in their’conquests over 
surrounding states, especially over the Mes- 
senians in the eighth and seventh centuries 
B.c. 

The constitution of Athens appears from 
the legends of Theseus and Codrus to have 
been at first monarchical, and afterwards 
aristocratic, and to have first received a more 
or less democratic character from Solon 
at the beginning of the sixth century b.c. 
This was followed about fifty years later by 
a monarchical usurpation under Pisistratus, 


GREECE. 


and his sons Hippias and Hipparchus, the 
last survivor of whom, Hippias, reigned in 
Athens till 510 B.c. After the expulsion of 
Hippias the republic was restoi’ed, luider 
the leadership of Cleisthenes, in a more 
purely democratic form than at first. A 
brief struggle with the Spartans, whose aid 
was invoked by some of the nobles, now 
took place, and Athens emerged from it 
well prepared for the new danger which 
threatened Greece, 

The Greek colonies in Asia Minor and 
the adjacent islands, after being conquered 
by Croesus, king of Lydia, fell with the fall 
of Croesus into the power of Cyrus, king of 
Persia. In B.c. 500, hovvev^er, the lonians 
revolted with the assistance of the Athen¬ 
ians and Eretrians, and pillaged and burned 
Sardis. The rebellion was soon crushed by 
Darius, who destroyed Miletus, and pre¬ 
pared to invade Greece. In 492 he sent 
an expedition against the Greeks under his 
son-in-law Mardonius, but the fleet which 
carried his army was destroyed in a storm 
off Mount Athos, A second army, under 
the command of Datis and Artaphernes, 
landed on Euboea, and after destroying Ere- 
tria, crossed the Euripus into Attica; but it 
was totally defeated in B.c. 490 on the plain 
of Marathon by 10,000 Athenians and 1000 
Plataeans, under Miltiades. In the midst of 
preparations for a third expedition Darius 
died, leaving his plans to be carried out by his 
son Xerxes, who, with an army of 1,700,000 
men, crossed the Hellespont in 481 by means 
of two bridges of boats, and marched through 
Thrace, Macedonia, and Thessaly, while his 
fleet followed the line of coast. In the pass 
of Thermopylae he was held in check by Leo¬ 
nidas with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians; 
but the small band was betrayed and anni¬ 
hilated (480 B.C.); and the way through 
Phocis and Boeotia being now open he ad¬ 
vanced into Attica, and laid Athens in 
ruins. The deliverance of Greece was 
chiefly due to the genius and courage of 
Themistocles. 'The united fleet of the Greeks 
had already contended with success against 
that of the Persians off Artemisium, and 
had then sailed into the Saronic Gulf, fol¬ 
lowed by the enemy. Themistocles suc¬ 
ceeded in inducing the Persians to attack 
in the narrow strait between Attica and 
Salamis, and totally defeated them. 

From a neighbouring height Xerxes him¬ 
self witnessed the destruction of his fleet, 
and at once began a speedy retreat with his 
land army through Thessaly, Macedonia, 


and Thrace, leaving behind him 300,000 
men in Thessaly. In the spring of the 
following year (479) these advanced into 
Attica and compelled the citizens once more 
to seek refuge in Salamis ; but were so com¬ 
pletely defeated at Platsea by the Greeks 
under Pausanias, that only 40,000 Persians 
reached the Hellespont. On the same day 
the remnant of the Persian fleet was de^ 
feated by the Greeks off Mount Mycale. 

The brilliant part taken by the Athenians 
under Themistocles in repelling this invasion 
of Athens greatly increased her influence 
throughout Greece. From this date begins 
the period of the leadership or hegemony of 
Athens in Greece, which continued to the 
close of the Peloponnesian war, 404 B.C. 
The first thing which Athens exerted her 
influence to effect was the formation of a 
. confederacy, including the Greek islands and 
maritime towns, to supply means for the 
continuance of the w'ar by payments into a 
common treasury established on the island 
of Delos, and by furnishing ships. In this 
way Athens gradually increased her power 
so much that she was able to render tribu¬ 
tary several of the islands and smaller mari¬ 
time states. In 469 B.c. the series of victories 
won by the Athenians over the Persians was 
crowned by the double victory of Cimon 
over the Persian fleet and army on the 
Eurymedon, in Asia Minor, followed by the 
Peace of Cimon, which secured the inde¬ 
pendence of all Greek towns and islands. 
Shortly after followed the brilliant admin¬ 
istration of Pericles, during which Athens 
reached the height of her grandeur. 

The position of Athens, however, and the 
arrogance and severity with which she treated 
the states that came under her power made 
her many enemies. In the course of time 
two hostile confederacies were formed in 
Greece, one consisting of Athens and the 
democratic states of Greece; the other of 
Sparta and the aristocratic states. At last, 
in 431, war was declared by Sparta on the 
complaint of Corinth that Athens had fur¬ 
nished assistance to Corcyra in its war 
against the mother city; and on that of 
Megara, that the Megarean ships and mer¬ 
chandise were excluded from all the ports 
and markets of Attica; and thus began the 
Peloponnesian war which for twenty-seven 
years devastated Greece. 

In the first part of the war the Spartans, 
who invaded Attica in 431 B.c. and throe 
times in the five years following, had con¬ 
siderable successes, which were aided by 

266 




GREECE. 


the pestilence that broke out at Athens 
and the death of Pericles. In 425, however, 
Pylos was captured by the Athenian general 
Demosthenes, and the Spartan garrison on 
the island of Sphacteria was compelled to 
surrender to Cleon. Soon after Cythera 
fell into the hands of the Athenians, but 
they were defeated in Boeotia at Delium 
(424) and at Amphipolis in Thrace by Brasi- 
das in 422, when both Cleon and Brasidas 
were killed. The Peace of Nicias (421 B.C.), 
wliich followed the death of Cleon, brought 
disaffection into the Spartan Confederacy, 
the Corinthians endeavouring with Argos 
and Elis to wrest from Sparta the hegemony 
of the Peloponnesus. In this design they 
were supported by Alcibiades; but Sparta 
was victorious at the battle of Mantinea in 
418. Soon after this the Athenians resumed 
hostilities, fitting out in 415 B.c. a magnifi¬ 
cent army and fleet, under the command of 
Alcibiades, Nicias, and Lamachus, for the 
reduction of Syracuse. Alcibiades, how^ever, 
being subsequently deprived of his command 
on a charge of impiety, betook himself to 
Sparta, and exhorted the city to renew the 
war wijbh Athens. By his advice one Spar¬ 
tan army was despatched to Attica, where 
it took up such a position as prevented the 
Athenians from obtaining supplies from 
Euboea, while another was sent under Gylip- 
pus to assist their kindred in Sicily. These 
steps w'ere ruinous to Athens. The Athenian 
army and fleet at Syracuse were completely 
destroyed, and though the war was main¬ 
tained with spirit the prestige of Athens 
was seriously diminished. Many of her 
allies joined Sparta, and a revolution and 
brief change of government tended still fur¬ 
ther to weaken her. Still she made not 
unsuccessful efforts to regain her position, 
conquered the revolted towns about the Bos¬ 
phorus, and defeated the Spartan admiral 
Callicratidas off the islands of Arginusfe in 
406. Sparta, however, was now in receipt 
of Persian aid, and Lysander, having cap¬ 
tured nearly the whole Athenian fleet at 
.^Egospotamos (405), retook the towns of 
Asia Minor, surrounded Athens, and blocked 
the Piraeus. In 404 B.C. the Athenians 
were starved into surrender, the fortifica¬ 
tions were destroyed, and an aristocratic 
form of government established by Sparta, 
placing the supreme power in the hands of 
thirty individuals, commonly known as the 
Thirty Tyrants. Only a year later, how¬ 
ever (403), Thrasybulus was able to re¬ 
establish the democracy. 

267 


The period which follows the fall of 
Athens is that of Sparta’s leadership or 
hegemony in Greece, which lasted till the 
battle of Leuctra, in 371 B.c. The Spartan 
rule was not more liked than that of Athens, 
and the character of the Spartan state itself, 
with its increase of wealth and power, under¬ 
went great change. To escape the stigma 
of having ceded the cities of Asiatic Greece 
to Persia, Agesilaus was sent to retake 
them, but was defeated by the fleet of 
Pharnabazus under Conon the Athenian; 
and the states of Greece, the Spartans in¬ 
cluded, at last, in 387, agreed to the dis¬ 
graceful Peace of Antalcidas, by which the 
whole west coast of Asia Minor was ceded 
to the Persians. An act of violence com¬ 
mitted by a Spartan general in garrisoning 
Thebes in 380, was the commencement of 
the downfall of Sparta. The Thebans re¬ 
volted under Pelopidas and Epaminondas, 
and the Spartans on invading Boeotia were 
so completely defeated at Leuctra in 371 
B.c. that they never fully recovered from 
the blow. With this victory Thebes won 
the leading place in Greece, which she main¬ 
tained during the lifetime of Epaminondas, 
whose influence was paramount in the Pelo¬ 
ponnesus. Epaminondas fell in defeating 
the Spai’tans and Arcadians near Mantinea 
in 362, and his death reduced once more 
the authority of Thebes in Greece. 

Two years after the death of Epaminon¬ 
das Philip, the father of Alexander the 
Great, became king of Macedonia. An 
occasion for interference in the affairs of 
Greece was furnished him by the war known 
as the Sacred war (355-346), arising from 
the Phocians having taken possession of 
some of the land belonging to the sanctuary 
of Delphi. The Phocians were besieged by 
the Thebans, who called in the aid of Philip 
of Macedon, who was accorded the place 
till then held by the Phocians in the Am- 
phictyonic League. It was not, however, 
till the Locrian war (339-338) that Philip 
acquired a firm hold in Greece. The Loc- 
rians had comniitted the same offence as 
the Phocians, and Philip, as one of the mem¬ 
bers of the league, received the charge of 
punishing them. The real designs of Philip 
soon became apparent, and the Athenians, 
on the advice of Demosthenes, hastily con¬ 
cluded an alliance with the Thebans, and 
sent an army to oppose him. The battle of 
Chaeronea which ensued (338) turned out, 
however, disastrously for the allies, and 
Philip became master of Greece. He then 


GREECE. 


collected an army for the invasion and con¬ 
quest of the rotten empire of Persia, and 
got himself declared commander-in-chief by 
the Amphictyonic League at Corinth in 
337 B.C.; but before he was able to start he 
was assassinated, b.c. 336. 

The design of Philip was taken up and 
carried out by his son Alexander the Great, 
during whose absence Antipater was left 
behind as governor of Macedonia and Greece. 
Soon after the departure of Alexander, Agis 
III. of Sparta headed a rising against Anti¬ 
pater, but was defeated at Megalopolis in 
330 B.C., and no other attempt was made by 
the Greeks to recover their liberty for nearly 
a hundred years. At the close of the wars 
which followed the death of Alexander, and 
which resulted in the division of his empire, 
Greece i-emained with Macedonia. 

The last efforts of the Greeks to recover 
their independence proceeded from the 
Achfeans, who though frequently mentioned 
by Homer as taking a prominent part in 
the Trojan war, had for the most part kept 
aloof from the quarrels of the other states, 
and did not even furnish assistance to repel 
the Persian invasion. They had taken part, 
though reluctantly, in the Peloponnesian 
war on the side of Sparta, and had shared 
in the defeat of Megalopolis in b.c. 330. In 
the course of the first half of the third cen¬ 
tury B.C. several of the Achfean towns ex¬ 
pelled the Macedonians, and revived an 
ancient confederacy, which was now known 
as the Achaean League. Aratus of Sicyon 
became its leading spirit. It was joined 
also by Corinth, and even by Athens and 
..fEgina. The Spartans, however, who had 
maintained their independence against Ma¬ 
cedonia, naturally looked with jealousy on 
the efforts of Aratus, and during the reign 
of Cleomenes a war broke out between 
Sparta and the Achaean League. The league 
was at first worsted, and was only finally 
successful when Aratus sacrificed the ulti¬ 
mate end of the league by calling in the aid 
of the Macedonians. In the battle of Sel- 
lasia (222 B.c.) Cleomenes was defeated, and 
the Macedonians became masters of Sparta. 
Aratus died in 213, and his place was taken 
by Philopoemen, ‘the last of the Greeks,’ 
who succeeded in making the league in 
some degree independent of Macedonia. 

About this time the Romans, who had 
just come out victorious from a second war 
with Carthage, found occasion to interfere 
in the affairs of Greece. Philip V. of Mace- 
don having allied himself with Hannibal, 


the Romans sent over Flamininus to punish 
him, and in this war with Philip the Romans 
were joined by the Achaean League. Philip 
was defeated at Cynoscephalae in 197 b.c., 
and was obliged to recognize the indepen¬ 
dence of Greece. The Achaean League thus 
became supreme in Greece, having been 
joined by all the states of the Peloponnesus. 
But the league itself was in reality subject 
to Rome, which found constant ground for 
interference until 147 b.c., when the league 
openly resisted the demand of the senate, 
that Sparta, Corinth, Argos, and other cities, 
should be separated from it. In the war 
which ensued, which was concluded in 146 
B.C. by the capture of Corinth by the Roman 
consul Mummius, Greece completely lost its 
independence, and was subsequently formed 
into a Roman province. 

On the division of the Roman Empire 
Greece fell of course to the eastern or By¬ 
zantine half. From 1204 to 1261 it formed 
a part of the Latin Empire of the East, 
and was divided into a number of feudal 
principalities. In the latter year it was 
reannexed to the Byzantine Empire, with 
which it remained till it was conquereil 
by the Turks between 1460 and 1473. In 
1699 the Morea was ceded to the Venetians, 
but was recovered by the Turks in 1715. 
From 1715 till 1821 the Greeks were with¬ 
out intermission subject to the domination 
of the Turks. In 1770, and again in 1790, 
they made vain attempts at insurrection, 
but in 1821 Ali, the pasha of Janina, re¬ 
volted against the sultan Mahmoud II., and 
secured the aid of the Greeks by promising 
them their independence. The rising of the 
Greeks took place on the 6th of IMarch, 
under Alexander Ypsilanti, and on the 1st 
of January, 1822, they published a declara¬ 
tion of independence. In the same year 
Ali was assassinated by the Turks, but the 
Greeks, encouraged by most of the Euro¬ 
pean nations, continued the struggle under 
various leaders, of whom the chief were 
Marcos Bozzaris, Capo d’Istria, Constantine 
Kanaris, Kolocotroni, &c. In 1825 the 
Turks, with the aid of Ibrahim Pasha, took 
Tripolitza, the capital of the Morea, and 
Missolonghi, and though Lord Cochrane 
organized the Greek fleet, and the French 
colonel Fabvier their army, the Turks con¬ 
tinued to triumph everywhere. A treaty 
was then concluded at London (July 6, 
1827) between Britain, France, and Russia, 
for the pacification of Greece, and when the 
mediation of these three powers was de- 

268 


GREECE. 


clined bv the sultan, their united fleets, 
under Admiral Codrington, annihilated the 
Turkish fleet off Navarino, Oct. 20, 1827. 
In the beginning of the following year 
(1828) Count Capo dTstria became presi¬ 
dent of the state, and later on in the same 
year Ibrahim Pasha was forced to evacuate 
Greece. At last, on the 3d of February, 
1830, a protocol of the allied powers declared 
the independence of Greece, which was re¬ 
cognized by the Porte on the 2.5th April of 
this year. The crown was offered to Leo¬ 
pold, prince of Saxe-Coburg, and when he 
refused it, to Otho, a young prince of Ba¬ 
varia, who was proclaimed king of the Hel¬ 
lenes at Nauplia in 1832. But his arbitrary 
measures, and the preponderance which he 
gave to Germans in the government, made 
him unpopular, and although after a rebel¬ 
lion in 1843 a constitution was drawn up, 
he was compelled by another rebellion in 
1862 to abdicate. A pi'Ovisional govern¬ 
ment was then set up at Athens, and the 
National Assembly offered the vacant throne 
in succession to Prince Alfred of England 
and Prince William George of Denmark. 
The latter accepted it, and on March 30, 
1863, was proclaimed as King George I. 
In 1864 the Ionian Islands, which had 
hitherto formed an independent repriblic 
under the protection of Britain, were an¬ 
nexed to Greece. 

From the first Greece has sought an oppor¬ 
tunity of extending its frontier northwards, 
so as to include the large Greek population 
in Thessaly and Epirus. In January 1878, 
after the fall of Plevna, Greek troops were 
moved into Thessaly and Epirus, but were 
withdrawn on the remonstrance of Britain. 
The promises held out to Greece by the 
Berlin congress were in danger of being 
withdrawn, but the persistence of Greece 
led in 1881 to the cession to her of Thes¬ 
saly and part of Epirus, or about one-third 
less than the territory promised at Berlin. 
The situation, however, always remained 
somewhat strained. The union of Eastern 
Ivoumelia with Bulgaria, in 1885, gave rise 
to a demand for a rectification of frontiers, 
and war with Turkey was only prevented 
by the great powers, who enforced the re¬ 
duction of the Greek array to a peace foot¬ 
ing by blockading the Greek })orts. The 
same occurred in 1896, when war was de¬ 
clared against Turkey on the people of 
Crete demanding their right to become a 
portion of Grecian territory. The result 
was disastrous to their a.spirations^ Turkey 

268 


pouring troops into Thessaly and defeat¬ 
ing the Greek troops. The incompetency 
of the Greek generals was notorious in the 
nation. Prince George ot Greece being held 
as mainly responsible. 

Religion of Ancient Greece .—The religion 
of the ancient Greeks was polytheism, there 
being a great number of divinities, many of 
whom must be regarded as personifications 
of natural powers, or of phenomena of the 
external world, personified sentiments, &c. 
Thus there were gods corresponding to Earth 
and Heaven, the Ocean, Night, &c. The 
Homans, when they became acquainted with 
the literature and religion of the Greeks, 
identified the Greek deities with those of 
their own pantheon. In this way the Greek 
and Roman deities came to be confounded 
together, and the names of the latter even 
came to supersede those of the former. The 
supreme ruler among the gods was Zeus 
(Roman .Jupiter or Juppiter), the son of 
Kronos (Roman Saturn), who after the sub¬ 
jugation of the Titans and Giants ruled in 
Olympus, while his brother Pluto reigned 
over the lower world (Hades, Tartarus), and 
Poseidon (Neptune) ruled in the sea. Like 
reverence was paid to Hera (Juno), the 
sister and wife of Zeus, and the queen of 
Heaven; to the virgin Pallas Athene (Mi¬ 
nerva) ; to the two children of Leto (Latona), 
namely, Apollo, the leader of the Muses, 
and his sister the huntress ArtSmis (Diana), 
the goddess of the moon; to the beautiful 
daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite (Venus), the 
goddess of love; to Ares (Mars), the god of 
war, Hermes (Mercury), the herald of the 
gods, and others besides. In addition to 
these there was an innumerable host of in¬ 
ferior deities (Nymphs, Nereids, Tritons, 
Sirens, Dryads and Hamadryads, &c.) who 
presided over woods and mountains, fields 
and meadows, rivers and lakes, the seasons, 
&c. J'here was also a race of heroes or 
demigods (such as Heracles or Hercules, 
Perseus, &c.) tracing their origin from Zeus, 
and forming a connecting link between gods 
and men, while on the other hand the Satyrs 
formed a connecting link between the race 
of men and the lower animals. The true 
teachers of the Greek religion were the 
poets and other writers, and it is to the 
hymns, epics, dramas, and histories of the 
Greeks that we must turn in order to learn 
how they regarded the gods. No degree of 
consistency is to be found in them, however, 
the personality and local origin of the writers 
largely moulding their views, A belief itt 


GEEECS. 


the justice of the gods as manifested in the 
punishment of all offences against them was 
cardinal. The man himself might escape, 
but his children would suffer, or he might 
be punished in a future state—the latter 
view being less commonly held than the 
former of an entailed curse. The gods are 
also represented by the Greeks as holy and 
truthful, although they are in innumerable 
other passages described as themselves guilty 
of the grossest vices, and likewise as prompt¬ 
ing men to sin, and deceiving them to their 
own destruction. In their general attitude 
towards men the gods appear as inspired by 
a feeling of envy or jealousy. Hence they 
had constantly to be appeased, and their fav¬ 
our won by sacrifices and offerings. Certain 
classes were, however, under the peculiar pro¬ 
tection and favour of the gods, especially 
strangers and suppliants. The Greeks be¬ 
lieved that the gods communicated their will 
to men in various ways, but above all, by 
means of oracles, the chief of which were 
that of Apollo at Delphi, and that of Zeus 
at Dodona. Dreams ranked next in impor¬ 
tance to oracles, and divination by birds, re¬ 
markable natural phenomena, sneezing, &c., 
was practised. The Greeks appear to have 
had at all times some belief in a future ex¬ 
istence, but in the earliest times this belief 
was far from being clearly defined. 

Greek Language .—The Greek language 
belongs to the Indo-European group, and is 
thus a sister of the Sanskrit, Latin, Teu¬ 
tonic, and Celtic tongues. It is customary 
to distinguish three leading dialects according 
to the three leading branches of the Greeks, 
the iEolic, the Doric, and the Ionic, to which 
was afterwards added the mixed Attic dia¬ 
lect; besides these there are several secon¬ 
dary dialects. Akin to the Ionic is the so- 
called Epic dialect, that in which the poems 
of Homer and Hesiod are written, and 
which was afterwards adopted by otlier Epic 
writers. The Doric was hard and harsh; 
the Ionic was the softest. The H^olic was 
spoken on the north of the Isthmus of Co¬ 
rinth (except in Megara, Attica, and Doris), 
in the ^Eolian colonies of Asia Minor, and 
on some of the northern islands of the 
^gean Sea. The Doric was spoken in the 
Peloponnesus, in Doris, in the Doric colo¬ 
nies of Asia Minor, of Lower Italy (Taren- 
tum),of Sicily (Syracuse, Agrigen turn); the 
Ionic in the Ionian colonies of Asia Minor, 
and on the islands of the Archipelago; and 
the Attic in Attica. In each of these dia¬ 
lects there are celebrated authors. The 


Ionian dialect is found pure m Herodotus 
and Hippocrates. The Doric is used in 
the poems of Pindar, Theocritus, Bion, and 
Moschus. In Hllolic we have fragments of 
Alcaeus and Sappho. After Athens had 
obtained the supremacy of Greece, and 
rendered itself the centre of all literary cul¬ 
tivation, the master-pieces of ^schylus, 
Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Thucy¬ 
dides, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, 
Demosthenes, &c., made the Attic the com¬ 
mon dialect of literature. Grammarians 
afterwards distinguished the genuine Attic, 
as it exists in those masters, from the Attic 
of common life, calling the latter the com¬ 
mon Greek or Hellenic dialect. In this 
latter dialect wrote Theophrastus, Apol- 
lodorus, Polybius, Plutarch, and others. 
Many later writers, however, wrote genuine 
Attic, as Lucian, ^lian, and Arrian. Ex¬ 
cept the dramatists, the poets by no means 
confined themselves to the Attic; the dra¬ 
matists themselves assumed the Doric, to a 
certain degree, in their choruses, and the 
other poets retained the Homeric style, 
which was a congeries of forms occurring 
as peculiarities in the various dialects. 

At what time this language first began to 
be expressed in writing has long been a sub¬ 
ject of doubt. According to the usual ac¬ 
count Cadmus the Phoenician introduced 
the alphabet into Greece; and it is an un¬ 
doubted fact that the most of the Greek 
letters are derived from the Phoenician ones. 
The Greek alphabet possesses the following 
twenty-four letters;—A, a (alpha), a; B, /3 
(beta), h’, r, 7 (gamma), < 7 ; A, 5 (delta), cf; 
E, e (epsilon), e; Z, f (zeta), 2 ; H, g (eta), e; 
0, 6 , S- (theta), I, t (iota), f; K, k (kappa), 
k-, A, X (lambda), f; M, /x (mu), m; N, v, 
(nu), w; S, ^ (xi), ic; 0, 0 (omicron, i.e. small 
0 ), 5; n, TT (pi), i?; P, p (rho), r; S, < 7 , 5 
(sigma), s; T, r (tau), ^; T, v (upsilon), «, 
commonly transliterated by y; ^>, <p (phi), 
ph\ X, X (chi), ch guttural (as in Scotch 
lock)-, 'P, yf/ (psi), ps; D, co (omega, or great 
o), 0 . The alphabet originally introduced 
into Greece is said to have consisted of but 
sixteen letters; 02‘hXZH'ED being 
of later introduction. 

Modern Greek, as spoken by the unedu¬ 
cated classes, is called Romaic, from the 
fact that those who speak it considered them¬ 
selves before the descent of the Turks upon 
Europe as belonging to the Roman Empire, 
and hence called themselves Romaioi, or Ro¬ 
mans. The Greek of the educated classes, 
th^t used in the newspapers ^ifld other 


GREECE. 


literature of the present day, is distinguished 
from it by a greater resemblance to the 
Greek of antiquity, which renders it easy 
for any one who has a satisfactory acquain¬ 
tance with ancient Greek to read the mo¬ 
dern literary Greek. Besides the foreign 
■words introduced into modern Greek, many 
words have changed their original significa¬ 
tion. The grammar has also undergone 
considerable modification. For example, 
the numbers have been reduced to two by 
the suppression of the dual; and the cases 
to four by the disappearance of the dative, 
which is now expressed by a preposition 
with the accusative. The first cardinal nu¬ 
meral is now used as an indefinite article. 
The degrees of comparison are sometimes 
expressed by the use of pleon (more). The 
past and future tenses are formed by the 
aid of the verbs echo (I have), and thelo (I 
will). The infinitive mood has its place 
supplied by a periphrasis with the verb in 
the subjunctive, and the middle voice has 
disappeared. The ancient orthography is 
still preserved, but the vowels tj, i, and v, 
and the diphthongs ei, ot, vi, are all pronounced 
like ee in English seen; ^ is now pronounced 
as V, and the sound of h is expressed by fiir; 
A is pronounced like th in thus, and d like 
th in think. 

Greek Literature .—The commencement 
of extant Greek literature is to be found 
in the two epic poems attributed to Homer, 
the Iliad and the Odyssey, which it is com¬ 
monly believed took shape on the Ionian 
coast or its islands somewhere between 950 
and 850 b.c., and came thence to Greece 
proper (but see Homer). The former deals 
directly with the Trojan war, the latter de¬ 
scribes the wanderings of Ulysses in return¬ 
ing from it. Another poem, of a humorous 
character, the Batrachomyomachia, or Battle 
of the Frogs and Mice, one of the first and 
best of parodies, was also ascribed to Homer, 
but on altogether insufficient grounds, being 
of comparatively recent origin. In European 
Greece there appeared about the middle of 
the 9th century, at Ascra in Boeotia, the 
poet Hesiod, who stood at the head of an¬ 
other epic school. Of the sixteen works at¬ 
tributed to him there have come down to us 
the Theogony or Origin of the Gods, the 
Shield of Heracles (a fragment of a larger 
poem of later authorship), and, most im¬ 
portant of all, the Works and Days, a 
didactic work on agriculture. The works 
of Homer and Hesiod constituted in a cer- 
degree the foundation of youthful edu¬ 


cation among the Greeks. The Homeric 
and Hesiodic schools begin to meet in the 
Homeric hymns composed by different hands 
between 750 and 500 B.c. Next came the 
period of Elegiac and lambic poetry (700- 
480), both Ionian, in which the poet’s own 
feelings and personality became distinctly 
manifested, the chief names being those of 
Callinus of Ephesus (flourished about 690 
B.C.), Tyrtseus, originally of Attica (675), 
Archilochus of Paros (670), Simonides of 
Amorgos (660), Mimnermus of Smyrna 
(620), Solon of Athens (594), Theognis of 
Megara (540), Phocylides of Miletus (540), 
Xenophanes of Colophon (510), Hipponax 
of Ephesus (5-10), Simonides of Ceos (480). 
Greek lyric poetry was inseparably linked 
with music, the lyric period proper lasting 
from about 670 to 440 b.c. Two principal 
schools may be distinguished, the Aeolian 
and the Dorian. To the former belong 
Alcaeus (611-580), Sappho (610), and Ana¬ 
creon (530), though the works which now 
bear Anacreon’s name are spurious. To the 
Dorian school belong Aleman of Sparta (660 
B.C.), credited with the invention of the 
strophe and antistrophe, Stesichorus (Tisias) 
of Himera (620), who added to these the 
epode, Arion (600), who gave shape to the 
dithyramb, and Ibycus of Rhegium (540). 
Simonides of Ceos (480) was even more fa¬ 
mous as lyric poet than as elegist, his lyrics 
marking the commencement of a school of 
national lyric poetry. His nephew, Bacchy- 
lides, was also famous, but the chief was 
undoubtedly Pindar (522-443). About this 
time began a new literary development, that 
of the drama, the earliest names in which 
are Thespis (536) and Phrynichus (512- 
476). The performance at first, however, was 
merely a sort of oratorio or choral enter¬ 
tainment, until ^Eschylus (525-456) intro¬ 
duced a second actor, and subordinated 
choral song to dialogue. A third and even a 
fourth actor was added by Sophocles (495- 
405 B.C.), who supplemented the heroic 
tragedy of ..Eschylus with the tragedy of 
human character and the fundamental pas¬ 
sions. Euripides (480-406) brought new 
qualities of picturesqueness, homeliness, and 
pathos with a less rigid artistic method, and 
formed a fitting third in the great tragic 
triad. With this rapid growth of tragedy 
there was a corresponding development of 
comedy which assumed an artistic form about 
470 B.c. The names of Cratinus (448) and 
Eupolis (430) are overshadowed by that of 
Aristophanes (448-385)^ who for nearly forty 


GREECE, 


years was the burlesque commentator upon 
the life of the period. Aristophanes may 
be regarded as closing the period of the old 
comedy; the middle comedy of from 390 to 
320 (Antiphanes, Alexis, and others) was 
transitional from the great political comedy 
to the new comedy of manners, which was 
vigorous from 320 to 250 in the hands of 
Menander, Philemon, and Piphilus. 

In the meantime a prose literature had 
arisen, commencing with the group of early 
Ionian writers (550-450), of which Phere- 
cydes of Syros, Anaximenes, and Anaxi¬ 
mander, philosophers, and the logographer 
or compiler Hecatseus of Miletus were 
chief. Hellanicus of Mitylene (450) was 
one of the earliest critical historians, but 
Herodotus (484-428) was the first writer 
of great historic rank, as he was also the 
first great prose stylist. Thucydides (471- 
400?) was the founder of philosophic his¬ 
tory, and Xenophon (431-354), who has 
left excellent historic narratives, was also 
the earliest Greek essayist. The oldest 
piece of Attic prose is the essay on Athe¬ 
nian polity wrongly assigned to Xenophon. 
Other writers in history were Ctesias (415- 
398), Philistus (363), Theopompus (352), 
and Ephorus (340). Emm 360 onwards 
Attic history and archaeology were preserved 
in works by various writers, of whom Philo- 
chorus (306-260) was chief. The study 
which oratory and rhetoric received in 
Athens was an important factor in shaping 
Attic prose, the chief orators being Antiphon 
(480-411), Andocides (415-390), Lysias 
(403-381), Isocrates (436-338), Isaeus (390- 
353), and above all, Demosthenes (384-322) 
with his contempt)raries .^Eschines, Lycur- 
gus, and others, and Demetrius of Phalerum 
(318) who ushered in the decline of oratory. 
Philosophy shared the development of his¬ 
tory and oratory, reaching a rare elevation 
in Plato (429-347), a rare comprehensive¬ 
ness in Aristotle (384-322), the founders of 
the academic and peripatetic schools. Mi¬ 
nor Socratic schools were the Cyrenaic, 
founded by Aristippus (370), the Megaric, 
founded by Euclid (399), and the Cynic, 
founded by Antisthenes. In the earlier 
part of the 3d century the rival schools of 
Epicurus (342-270) and of Zeno (344-260) 
became prominent. 

From about the year 300 b.c. the literary 
decadence may be held to date; the period 
300 to 146 being known as the Alexan¬ 
drian. It comprises the learned poetry of 
Callimachus (who flourished at Alexandria 


250 B.c.) and of Lycophron (260), the epic 
of Apollonius Rhodius (194), the didactic 
poetry of Aratus (270), and Nicander (150), 
the pastoral poetry of Theocritus, Bion, and 
Moschus, the satirical Silloi of Timon (280), 
the philology and criticism of Zenodotus 
(280), Aristophanes of Byzantium (200), Ar¬ 
istarchus (156), and Apollodorus (140), the 
version of the Septuagint, and the scientific 
w'orks of Eucleides (300), Archimedes and 
Eratosthenes (240). From 146 B.c. dates the 
Graeco-Roman period in Greek literature, to 
which belong the historians Polybius (145 
B.C.), Diodorus Siculus (40 B.c.), Dionysius 
of Halicarnassus (25 B.c.), Josephus, Arrian 
(100 A.D.), Appian (140 .'V.d.), and Herodian 
(240 A.U.), the biographies of Plutarch (90 
A.D.), of Diogenes Laertius and of Plavius 
Philostratus (235 A.D.), the geographies of 
Strabo (18 A.D.) and of Pausanias (160 A.D.), 
the astronomy and geography of Ptolemy, 
the inforrnatory works of Athenaeus (190), 
jElian (220), and Stobaeus (480), the rhe¬ 
torical and belles-lettristic works of Hermo- 
genes (170), Apthonius and Cassius Longinus 
(260), the medical works of Galen (160), the 
satirical works of Lucian (160) and of Julian 
(331-363), the development of the Greek ro¬ 
mance, best represented in Heliodorus (390), 
Achilles Tatius, and Chariton, &c. During 
this period philosophy is in the main divided 
between Stoicism and Neoplatonism, the 
former represented by Epictetus (90 a.d.) 
and Marcus Aurelius (170), the latter by 
Plotinus (240), Porphyry, and lamblichus. 
The school of Athens had for chief expo¬ 
nent the eclectic Proclus (450). In verse 
the best names w’ere the fabulist Babrius 
(40), Oppian (180), Nonnus, Quintus Smyr- 
n«us (400-450), and Musaeus (500). The 
special feature of the later Graeco-Roman 
period was the rise of a Christian Greek 
literature represented by the patristic 
epistles, homilies, &c., and ecclesiastical 
histories, such as those of Eusebius, Socra¬ 
tes, and Sozomen. Among the chief writers 
were Justin Martyr, Origen, and Clement 
of Alexandria, Eusebius, Gregory of Nazi- 
anzus, Basil, Gregory of N^^ssa, Chrysostom, 
&c. After 529 and until 1453 came the 
Byzantine period, of which the most impor¬ 
tant section w'as from about 850 to 1200. 
It w^as characterized by such writers as Eu¬ 
stathius, Photius, and Suidas, mainly occu¬ 
pied in the attempt to reduce to system a 
large ill-ordered and aimless erudition. 

On the Ml of Constantinople in 1453 the 
cultivated classes who still retained the pure 

'^72 




GREECE. 


Greek either perished or took to flight, or 
adopted the language of the conquerors. 
The popular Greek, however, survived, and 
despite its vulgarization and the modifica¬ 
tion of its grammatical forms and syntax, 
it cannot be said that Greek has been a 
dead language at any period since Homer. 
By some modern Greek literature is dated 
from Theodore Prodromes (1143-80), a 
monk and writer of popular verse, but the 
only names of importance until the close of 
the 18th century are those of Maximus 
Margunius (1530-87), Anacreontic poet and 
letter writer, Leo Allatius (1586-1669), 
Sciote scholar and poet, George Chortakes 
(17th cent.), Cretan poet, Franciscus Scu- 
phos, Cretan writer on rhetoric (1681), Elias 
Meniates (1669-1714), a Cephalonian eccle¬ 
siastic, Vincentius Kornarosj Cretan poet, 
author of Erotocritos (1756), Kosmas, the 
H^tolian (1714-79), preacher and founder of 
schools, Rhegas Pherraios (latter half of 
18th cent.), patriotic poet, Eugenios Bul- 
garis (1716-1806), writer of scientific and 
religious works, and Nicephorus Theotokes 
(1736-1800), writer on metaphysics and 
theology. At this period the patriotic move¬ 
ment found one outlet in the purification of 
the language and the development of a new 
literary impulse. The most important figure 
was that of Adamantros Koraes or Coray 
(1748-1833), who did more than all his pre¬ 
decessors to found a literature. Anthimos 
Gazes (1764-1837) and Athanasius Christo- 
pulos (1772-1847) were eminent as gramma¬ 
rians and lexicographers, the latter also as a 
lyric poet. Neophytus Bambas (1770-1855), 
miscellaneous educational writer, Constan¬ 
tine. zEconomos (1780-1857), theological 
writer, Theoclytus Pharmakides (1784- 
1862), ecclesiastic and journalist, Spiridion 
Zampelios, literary antiquary, and Trikoupis, 
orator of the struggle for independence, 
were also prominent. The poetry of the 
people is represented chiefly in the songs of 
the Klephts and other songs dating from 
the war of independence. At this period 
the war-songs of Rhigas were sung by the 
whole nation, and at a later period the two 
Soutzos, Panagios and Alexander, Calvos, 
Solomos, and others, earned distinction in 
the same kind of poetry. The Soutzos were 
further distinguished as satirists, and Alex¬ 
ander ranks also with the dramatists Rhisos 
Neroulos and Zampelios. Among the most 
gifted of recent writers is Rhisos Rangab^, 
distinguished in lyric, dramatic, and epic 
poetry, also as a novelist and a scholar. 

VOL IV. 273 


Ancient Greek Art. — As in literature 
so in art the Greeks attained the highest 
pitch of excellence, and in architecture and 
sculpture furnished models for the rest of 
the world. In no other race has the artistic 
spirit been so generally diffused throughout 
the people, expressing itself in the minor 
arts of life, in the practical application of 
ornament in the forms of domestic furni¬ 
ture, pottery, metal work, mosaics, and the 
like, not less perfectly than in the master- 
works of architecture and sculpture. 

The earliest architectural remains in 
Greece are pre-Hellenic in origin and Asia¬ 
tic in character, Greek architecture proper 
dating from about the close of the 8th cen¬ 
tury B.c. The earliest known example—the 
Doric temple at Corinth—belongs to about 
the middle of the 7th century B.c., and points 
to an Egyptian origin, the style being re¬ 
motely derived from the so-called ‘proto- 
Doric’ temple of Beni Hassan in Lower 
Egypt. Throughout the history of the art 
it is the public buildings, more particularly 
the temples, in which the genius of the 
Greeks displayed itself. The private houses 
remained simple and even rude in appear¬ 
ance, rarely rising above a single storey, 
and having no external decoration. The 
temples were for the most part rectangular, 
though the circular form sometimes occurs 
in the later periods of Greek art. In the 
simplest form of the rectangular temple 
(the apteral) there were no columns; but, 
by an easy development from this, the side 
walls were carried out beyond those consti¬ 
tuting the ends of the building, so as to 
form a porch. The extended walls termi¬ 
nated in pilasters [anta;) between which, in 
the front line of the porch, two columns 
were placed. As a further development, 
four additional columns were placed in ad¬ 
vance of the line connecting the anUe, some¬ 
times in front only (prostyle), sometimes at 
both ends (amphiprostyle). More complex 
forms were known as peripteral, where the 
columns were carried completely round the 
building; as dipteral, where a double range 
of columns surrounded it; and as pseudo' 
dipteral, where a double range of columns 
was placed in front and rear, but only a 
single range at the sides. The dipteral and 
pseudo - dipteral styles were seldom em¬ 
ployed, the chief example of the dipteral 
having been the temple of Diana at Ephe¬ 
sus, built by Ctesiphon in the 6th century b.c. 
Most of the famous temples in Greece were, 
however, peripteral. Three orders are dis* 

IH 


GREECE. 



The 


ex¬ 


tinguished in Greek architecture according the temple of Ilissus (about 488 B.C.), but 
to the treatment of the pillars and of the the oldest of which remains are still visible 
entablature—the Doric, Ionic, and Corin- is that dedicated to Juno at Samos, and 
thian (which see). Of these the Doric is there are remains of a fine temple of this 
the most ancient, the 
most important ex¬ 
amples in Greece, be¬ 
sides that already 
mentioned, being the 
temple at ^d^gina 
(middle of the 6th 
century B.C.), the 
temple of Theseus 
at Athens, and the 
Parthenon, con¬ 
structed about 448 
B.c. by the architects 
Ictinus and Calli¬ 
crates, and adorned 
with unsurpassed 
sculpture by Phi¬ 
dias and his pupils. 


order at Teos. 
most perfect 
ample, however, is 
the Erechtheum at 
Athens, The Corin¬ 
thian order, though 
Grecian in its ori¬ 
gin, is represented 
amongst the Greek 
temples by a single 
example only, that 
of the Zeus Olym- 
pius at Athens; and 
even this temple be¬ 
longs to the Roman 
period. TheChoragic 
monument of Lysi- 
crates at Athens 

Next to these came the temple of Zeus at also belongs to this order. The beaiity 
Olympia, the temple of Apollo at Basste, of the Greek buildings was heightened in 
the frieze of which is in the British Mu- respect of form by a deviation from 
seum, the temple of Minerva at Sunium, ordinary rectilinear construction, in the 
the great temple at Rhamnus, and those at systematic substitution of delicately-curved 
Selinus in Sicily (middle of 7th century), lines for straight lines in the columns and 
Agrigentum, Segesta, and Psestum. The steps of their temples, and wherever the 
oldest Ionic temple in Greece was probably illusion attending the sight of straight 


Temple of Zeus at Olympia—Boric order. 



The Erechtheum at Athens—louic order. 


lines in perspective was likely to prove an 
element of weakness. Colour and gilding 
also played an important part in the total 
effect, the old tufa temples being coloured 
throughout, and even in the marble tem¬ 
ples, though it is doubtful if the marble 
columns were ever coloured, the mouldings 
of cornices and ceilings, the capitals of the 
antse, the mouldings of the pediment and the 
triglyphs were aU decorated with colour. 


The colonnades and porticoes, which were 
usually built round market-places and along 
quays in seaport towns, were similar in 
style to the temples. See also A rchitecture. 

Greek sculpture has been divided into 
five principal periods, namely, 1. The Dae¬ 
dalian or Early (-580 b.c.), 2. The .dilgine- 
tan or Archaic (580-480 b.c.). 3. The 

Phidian or Grand (480-400 b.c.). 4. The 

Praxitelean or Beautiful f400-250 B.C.). 5, 

274 


























































































































GEEECE-GREEK CHURCH 


The Decline (250 b.c. onwards). The age of 
Dffidalus marks an advance from an earlier 
primitive sculpture in which blocks of wood 
and stone were rudely fashioned into the 
semblance of life, the imperfections of the 
art being concealed by real hair and adven¬ 
titious draperies. During the Dsedalian 
period the treatment was highly conven¬ 
tionalized, a single type serving for a var¬ 
iety of divinities and heroes, the hair being 
often entirely curled and gathered into a 
club behind, and the dresses of the female 
divinities being divided into a few perpen¬ 
dicular folds. Many of these characteristics 
survived in the H^ginetan period, but a 
higher knowledge of anatomy and greater 
freedom and boldness of treatment are ap¬ 
parent. The sculptures of the Theseum 
form a connecting link between the H^gine- 
tan school and that of Phidias. To Phidias, 
besides his statues of Athena and Zeus, 
were due the designs for the sculptures of 
the Parthenon, the actual work of these, 
however, being probably done by his pupils 
Alcamenes, Agoracritus, and other artists 
of his time. To this age belonged the 
sculptor and architect Polycletus (about 
452-412 B.C.), whose statue of a youth hold¬ 
ing a spear obtained the name of The 
Canon, as being a standard of form. About 
the same time the Boeotian sculptor Myron 
flourished, the famous Discobolus being a 
reproduction in marble of one of his bronzes. 
The Praxitelean period is characterized by 
greater gi’ace and elegance in choice of sub¬ 
ject and treatment, together with more of 
the sensual element making for ultimate 
decline. Praxiteles excelled in female fig¬ 
ures, his Aphrodite at Cnidus in Caria be¬ 
ing his most famous work. His rival, Sco- 
pas of Paros, was employed on the bas- 
reliefs of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, 
and was the sculptor of the famous group 
representing the destruction of the children 
* of Niobe. In Lysippus of Sicyon, in the 
time of Alexander the Great, the Praxite¬ 
lean school found its last great figure prior 
to the decline of the art. 

Painting in Greece is said to have had 
its origin in Sicyon, and to have existed as 
mere outline and monochrome until Cimon 
of Cleonse introduced variety in colouring, 
foreshortening, and a less rigid art. The 
Greek artists worked in wax or resin or in 
water-colour, brought to the required con¬ 
sistency by mixing with gum, glue or white 
of egg; and they painted upon wood, clay, 
plaster, stone, parchment, and canvas. Until 


a late period, however, they rarely painted 
upon walls, usually painting upon panels 
or tablets to be encased in walls. The 
earlier masters appear to have used only 
four colours—red, yellow, white, and black, 
but by the time of Apelles and Protogenes 
many other pigments were in use. The 
earliest painters of renown were Micon of 
Athens (about 460 b.c.), and Polygnotus of 
Thasos and of Athens (about 463-430 b.c.); 
but a higher degree of illusion and realism 
appears to have been reached under Zeuxis 
and his rival Parrhasius, towards the close 
of the 5th century B.c. A greater name 
than any of these is that of Apelles, the 
friend of Alexander the Great, contem¬ 
poraneously with whom flourished Proto¬ 
genes of Caria, painter and statuary, and 
Nicias of Athens, a distinguished encaustic 
painter. Of the work of these artists only a 
general conception can be formed from the 
mosaics and frescoes of Pompeii. 

Greek Church, or Holy Oriental Or¬ 
thodox Apostolic Church, that section of 
the Christian church dominant in Eastern 
Europe and Western Asia, especially in 
Turke}^ Greece, Russia, and some parts of 
Austria. In the first ages of Christianity 
numerous churches were founded by the 
apostles and their successors in Greek¬ 
speaking countries; in Greece itself, in Syria,' 
Egypt, IMesopotamia, Asia Minor, Thrace, 
and Macedonia. These were subsequently 
called Greek, in contradistinction to the 
churches, in which the Latin tongue pre¬ 
vailed. The removal of the seat of empire 
by Constantine to Constantinople, and the 
subsequent separation of the eastern and 
western empires afforded the opportunity 
for diversities of language, modes of think¬ 
ing, and customs to manifest themselves, 
and added political causes to the grounds of 
separation. During the earliest period the 
chief seats of influence in the Eastern Church 
were Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria, 
the seat of that mystical philosophy, by 
which the oriental church was distinguished. 
In 341, soon after the synod of Antioch, the 
rivalry between the Bishop of Rome and 
the Bishop of Constantinople began to as¬ 
sume importance, and before 400 differences 
of doctrine with respect to the procession of 
the Holy Spirit appeared. The council of 
Chalcedon in 451 accorded to the eastern 
bishop the same honours and privileges in 
his own diocese as those of the Bishop of 
Rome, and in 484 each bishop excommuni¬ 
cated the other. The title of (Ecumenical 




GREEK CHURCH. 


Patriarch was assumed by John, Bishop of 
Constantinople, in 588, and in the following 
year the phrase ‘Filioque’ (‘and the Son’) 
was added by the Latins to the Nicene 
creed (which now read ‘proceeding from 
the father and the son’), an addition to 
which the Greek Church was opposed. In 
648 Pope Theodore deposed Patriarch Paul 
II.; but a reconciliation of the churches was 
effected at the Council of Rome (680). The 
doctrines of the Greek Church were defined by 
John Damascenus in 730. The disruption 
was hastened by the banishment of Ignatius 
by Michael the Drunken and the consecra¬ 
tion of Photius (858). The Pope Nicholas I. 
and Photius excommunicated each other in 
867. The schism was temporarily healed 
after the death of Photius, but Michael 
Cerularius reopened it by charging the 
Latins with heterodoxy. He was excom¬ 
municated by Leo IX. in 1054, and in turn 
excommunicated the pope in the same year, 
since which the Greeks have been severed 
from the Roman communion, though the 
Russo - Greek Church was not separated 
until the 12th century. The presence of 
the Crusaders in the East aggravated the 
quarrel; Latin patriarchates were estab¬ 
lished in Antioch and Jerusalem, and, though 
on the capture of Constantinople by the 
Crusaders a Latin patriarchate was set up 
there (1204), the schism was revived there 
as soon as the Latin empire fell (1262). 
Reunion was proposed in 1273 by Patriarch 
Joseph, and effected, with the acknowledg¬ 
ment of the pope as primate, at the council 
of Lyons (1274). The union, however, was 
annulled in 1282 by Emperor Andronicus 
II., and in 1283 and 1285 by synods of 
Constantinople. It was again effected under 
John Palaeologus at Florence in 1439, but 
was repudiated in 1443 by the Patriarchs 
of Alexandria, Antioch, and J erusalem. In 
1453, when the patriarch fled from the 
Turks, a schismatic Gregory Scholarius was 
chosen in his place. In 1575 unsuccessful 
negotiations were commenced with a view 
to union with the Lutherans, and in 1723 
the English bishops even proposed that the 
Greek and Anglican churches should unite, 
a proposal revived by the Archbishop of 
Mosco win 1866. The claims of the czar 
in 1853 to the protectorate of the Greek 
churches in Turkey was one of the causes 
of the Crimean war. 

The Greek Church is the only church 
which holds that the Holy Ghost proceeds 
from the Father only; the Catholic and 


Protestant Churches deriving the Holy 
Ghost from the Father and the Son. Like 
the Catholic Church, it has seven sacra¬ 
ments—baptism; chrism; the eucharist, pre¬ 
ceded by confession ; penance; ordination ; 
marriage; and supreme unction. But it is 
peculiar—1, in believing in baptism by im¬ 
mersion, the chrism (confirmation) being 
united with it; 2, in adopting, as to the 
eucharist, the doctrine of transubstantiation, 
as well as the Catholic views of the host; 
but in ordering the bread to be leavened, 
the wine to be mixed with water, and both 
elements to be distributed to every one, 
even to children, the communicant receiving 
the bread broken in a spoon filled with the 
consecrated wine; 3, the clergy are per¬ 
mitted to marry, but only once and to a 
virgin; widowed clergy are not permitted 
to retain their livings, but go into a cloister, 
where they are called hitromonachi. Rarely 
is a widowed bishop allowed to preserve his 
diocese. The Greek Church grants divorces, 
but does not allow the laity a fourth mar¬ 
riage. It differs from the Catholic Church 
in anointing with the holy oil, not only the 
dying but the sick, for the restoration of 
health, forgiveness, and sanctification. It 
rejects the doctrine of purgatory, works of 
supererogation, indulgences, and dispensa¬ 
tions, but admits prayers for the dead, whose 
condition appears to be considered undeter¬ 
mined until the final judgment. It recog¬ 
nizes no visible vicar of Christ on earth, but 
the spiritual authority of patriarch is little 
inferior to that of the pope. It allows no 
carved, sculptured, or molten image of holy 
persons or subjects; but the representations 
of Christ, of Mary, and the saints, must be 
merely painted, and at most inlaid with 
precious stones. In the Russian churches, 
however, works of sculpture are found on 
the altars. In the invocation of the saints, 
and especially of the Virgin, the Greeks are 
as zealous as the Catholics They also hold • 
relics, graves, and crosses sacred; and cross¬ 
ing in the name of Jesus they consider as 
having a wonderful and blessed influence. 
Among the means of penance, fasts are par¬ 
ticularly numerous with them. They fast 
Wednesday and Friday of every week, and 
besides observe four great annual fasts, 
namely, forty days before Easter; from 
Whitsuntide to the days of St. Peter and 
Paul; the fast of the virgin Mary, from the 
1st to the 15th of August; and the apostle 
Philip’s fast, from the 15th to the 26th of 
November; besides the day of the behead- 

276 


GREEN. 


GREEK FIRE 


Ing of John the Baptist, and of the eleva¬ 
tion of the cross. The calendar of the Greek 
Church is in the old style, their new year’s 
day falling on Jan. 13th. 

The services of the Greek Church consist 
almost entirely in outward forms. Preach¬ 
ing and catechizing constitute the least part 
of it. Instrumental music is excluded alto¬ 
gether. The mass is considered of the first 
importance. The convents conform, for the 
most part, to the strict rule of St. Basil. 
The Greek abbot is termed higumenos, the 
abbess liigumene. The abbot of a Greek 
convent which has several others under its 
inspection is termed archimandrite^ and 
ranks next a bishop. The lower clergy in 
the Greek Church consist of readers, singers, 
deacons, &c., and of priests or popes and 
protopopes or archpriests, who are the first 
clergy in the cathedrals and metropolitan 
churches. The members of the lower clergy 
can rise no higher than protopopes, for the 
bishops are chosen from among the monks, 
and from the bishops are selected the arch¬ 
bishops, metropolitans, and patriarchs. In 
Kussia there are twenty-four dioceses. With 
which of them the archiepiscopal dignity 
shall be united depends on the will of the 
emperor. The seats of the four metropoli¬ 
tans of the Russian Empire are St. Peters¬ 
burg, Kiev, Kasan, and Tobolsk. In the 
Turkish dominions the dignities of Patriarch 
of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and 
Jerusalem still subsist. The Patriarch of 
Constantinople still possesses the ancient 
authority of his see ; the other three patri¬ 
archs exercise a very limited jurisdiction, 
and live for the most part on the aid afforded 
them by the Patriarch of Constantinople. 

Greek Fire, an inflammable and destruc¬ 
tive compound used in mediaeval warfare, 
especially by the Byzantine Greeks. It was 
poured from cauldrons and ladles, vomited 
through long copper tubes, or flung in pots, 
phials, and barrels. The art of compounding 
it was concealed at Constantinople with the 
greatest care, but it appears that naphtha, 
sulphur, and nitre entered into its composi¬ 
tion. 

Greek Language, Literature, &c. See 
under Greece. 

Greek Wines, though formerly well known 
in England under the names of Cyprus and 
Malmsey, are now less known than they 
deserve, being strong, rich, full wines. 
Thera is said to be peculiarly luscious; 
Patras resembles Hock; St. Elie and Kephi- 
sia are respectively of the Amontillado and 

277 


Chablis character. The Noussa, Patras, and 
Kephisia red wines have some kinship with 
the unfortified Rh6ne or Burgundy wines. 
Vinsanto and Lachrym® Christi, the former 
white, the latter red, are excellent dessert 
wines, and the Santorin wines are also fav¬ 
ourably known. 

Greeley, Horace, American journalist 
and politician, born in 1811; worked first 
on a farm, then as compositor. In 1831 he 
went to New York, where, after an unsuc¬ 
cessful attempt to start the Morning Post, 
the first penny paper, he commenced in 1834 
to issue the Weekly New Yorker, which ran 
for seven years. The Log Cabin, another 
weekly, established by him in 1840, reached 
a circulation of 80,000, and gave him a re¬ 
putation which ensured the success of his 
Daily Tribune, founded in 1841, and edited 
by him till his death. In 1848 he was elected 
to Congress, but failed to impress his con¬ 
stituents with the necessity of returning him 
a second time. In 1851 he visited Europe, 
and was one of the jurors in the Great Ex¬ 
hibition. He opposed the civil war, but was 
a firm supporter of the Union and of Presi¬ 
dent Lincoln, and at the close of the war advo¬ 
cated a general amnesty and universal suf¬ 
frage. In 1872 he was nominated for the 
presidency in opposition to General Grant, 
but was defeated. The strain of electioneer¬ 
ing and the death of his wife brought on an 
illness, of which he died a few weeks later. 
Chief among his miscellaneous works are 
his Hints towards Reforms (1850), Glances 
at Europe (1851), History of the Struggle 
for Slavery Extension (1856), The American 
Conflict (1864), Recollections of a Busy Life 
(1869). 

Green, John Richard, historian, born in 
1837; ordained curate in 1860, subsequently 
vicar of St. Philips, Stepney, and librarian 
to the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lam¬ 
beth. For some time he wrote constantly 
for the Saturday Review; but he was com¬ 
paratively little known until the publication 
in 1874 ©f his Short History of the English 
People, which secured him immediate fame. 
It was followed by a larger edition of the 
same work entitled A History of the Eng¬ 
lish People (1877-80), a volume of Stray 
Studies from England and Italy, and the 
Making of England (1882). Latterly his 
work was carried on in distressing conflict 
with lung disease, and he died in 1883. The 
Conquest of England, his last work, was 
published posthumously by his wife, being 
almost complete at his death. 



green-GREENFINCH. 


Green, Thomas Hill, English philoso¬ 
phical writer, born 1838; fellow of Balliol 
College in 1862, and first lay tutor on that 
foundation in 1867. In 1877 he was ap¬ 
pointed Whyte’s professor of moral philo¬ 
sophy ; but his work was abruptly closed by 
his death in 1882. Apart from his Pro- 
logomena to Ethics, published posthum¬ 
ously in 1883, the bulk of his work was in 
the form of articles contributed to the North 
British and Contemporary Reviews. He was 
one of the strongest opponents of the Eng¬ 
lish empirical school. 

Greenbacks, the popular name given to 
the paper currency first issued by the United 
States government in 1862 during the civil 
war. It is sometimes used also to include 
United States bank-notes. 

Green Bay, a city of Wisconsin, U. S., 
on Fox River, near the head of Green Bay. 
It has a great trade in lumber and various 
flourishing industries. Pop. 1890, 9069. 

Green-brier, a popular name in theUnited 
States for a very common thorny climbing 
shrub, Smilax rotUTidifoUa, having a yel¬ 
lowish-green stem and thick leaves, with 
small bunches of flowers. 

Green Bush, Rensselaer co., N. Y. A 
manufacturing town. Pop. 1890, 7301. 

Green-dragon, a North American her¬ 
baceous plant, the Ariscema Dracontium^ 
one of the arum family, called also wake- 
robin. For another green-dragon, see Dra- 
cunculus. 

Greene, Maurice, an English composer, 
born about 1696. He was in turn organist 
at St. Paul’s, at the Chapel Royal, and held 
the chair of music at Cambridge. His works 
include a Te Deum, several oratorios, a 
masque. The Judgment of Hercules, an 
opera, Phoebe (1748), and various glees and 
catches. His collection of Forty Anthems 
is well known. 

Greene, Nathaniel, a general of the 
American revolutionary army, born at Po- 
towhommet, Rhode Island, in 1742. In 
1770 he was elected to represent Coventry 
in the general assembly of Rhode Island, 
and was soon after excommunicated by the 
Quakers for taking arms on the prospect of 
war with Britain. In 1774 he joined the 
Kentish Guards as a private, and in May, 
1775, he was appointed brigadier-general 
and commander of the Rhode Island con¬ 
tingent in the army before Boston. He 
gained at once the confidenceof Washington, 
was made major-general, and appointed to 
the command in New Jersey. At Trenton 


(1776) and Princeton (1777) he led a divi¬ 
sion, and in the subsequent fighting he held 
important commands, and repeatedly dis¬ 
tinguished himself. In 1778 he was quarter¬ 
master-general, and in 1780 presided at the 
trial of Major Andr^. In the same year 
he was appointed to the command of the 
southern army, and succeeded, after repeated 
defeats, in wresting Georgia and the Caro- 
linas from the British. He died in 1786. 

Greene, Robert, British dramatist, born 
about 1560; studied at Cambridge, and took 
his degree of B.A. in 1578, after which he 
travelled on the Continent. He graduated 
M.A. in 1583, lived a wild and profligate 
life, and died in poverty in 1592. His works 
consist of plays, poems, tales, and tracts. 
His chief romances are Pandosto (1588), 
The History of Arbasto (1617), A Pair of 
Turtle Doves (1606), Menaphon (1587). His 
plays include The Honourable Historie of 
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1594), Orlan¬ 
do Furioso (1594), Alphonsus, king of Arra- 
gon (1597),and JamesIV. (1598). Amongst 
his miscellaneous works are The Myrrour of 
Modestie (1584), Morando (1584), Euphues, 
his censure to Philautus (1587), Perimedes 
(1588), Alcida (1588), Spanish Masquerado 
(1589), and various pamphlets and autobio¬ 
graphical works, such as his Never-too-late 
(1590), Greene’s Vision (1592), The Re¬ 
pentance of Robert Greene (1592), and 
Farewell to Folly (1591). His Groat’s worth 
of Wit bought with a Million of Repentance 
(1592), is remarkable for the allusion to 
Shakspere, ‘ an upstart crow, beautified with 
our feathers.’ His Pandosto furnished the 
basis for Shakspere’s Winter’s Tale. 

Green Earth, an opaque, dull, olive-green, 
soft, earthy mass, generally met with in 
cavities in amygdaloidal rocks. It consists 
of silicate of iron and aluminium, with potas¬ 
sium and sodium in water. 

Green-ebony, an olive-green wood ob¬ 
tained from the South American tree Jaca- 
randa ovalifolia, nat. order Bignoniacese, 
used for round rulers, turnery, marquetry 
work, &c., and also much used for dyeing. 

Greenfield, Franklin co., Mass. A hand¬ 
some summer resort. Pop. 1890, 5252. 

Greenfinch, Green-linnet, or Green 
Grosbeak {Coccothraustes chlorts), a bird of 
the finch family, and one of the most com¬ 
mon of British and European birds. It 
frequents hedges, gardens, and small plan¬ 
tations, and feeds on grain, seeds, or insects. 
Its song is not melodious, but it easily be¬ 
comes tame. It builds in hedges, bushes, 

278 



GREEN GAGE- 

and low trees, the nest being of green moss 
and coarse fibrous roots, lined with finer 
roots, horse-hair, and feathers. The egjis 
(four to six) are bluish white, spotted at the 
larger end with purplish gray and dark 
brown. The general colours of the male 
are green and yellow, those of the female 
inclining to brown. 

Green Gage, a variety of the plum, the 
reme claude of the French, introduced into 
Britain by a person named Gage. It is 
large, of a green or yellowish colour, and 
has a juicy, greenish pulp of exquisite 
flavour. It is well known in the U. S. 

Greenheart [Nectandra Rodicei), a tree 
of the nat. order Lauracese, a native of 
Guiana, called also the behceru. Its wood 
is hard and durable, and is used in ship¬ 
building, not being liable to attacks from 
the Teredo. The bark contains the alkaloid 
bebeerine. See Bebeerine, 

Greenhouse, a building constructed chief¬ 
ly of glass for the preservation of delicate 
plants. A greenhouse is sometimes distin¬ 
guished from a hothouse by not requiring 
artificial heat during summer, and from a 
conservatory in having the plants in pots 
and not in the ground. The lean-to form, 
in which advantage is taken of a house or 
garden wall as a support, is frequently used, 
but the growth of plants in such houses is 
one-sided, and the span or arch-roofed struc¬ 
tures, with glass on all sides, are to be pre¬ 
ferred. The materials used are chiefly glass, 
wood, and iron. 

Greenland (Danish and German, Grbn- 
land), an extensive island belonging to 
Denmark, sitiiated on the north-east of the 
continent of N. America, from which it is 
separated by Davis’s Straits, Batfin’s Bay, 
and Smith’s Sound. Great part of its nor¬ 
thern and precipitous eastern coast is yet 
unknown; but it does not extend further 
north than about lat. 83°. Like the nor¬ 
thern parts of N. America generally, Green¬ 
land is colder than the corresponding lati¬ 
tudes on the east side of the Atlantic. In 
June and July the sun is constantly above 
the horizon, the ice on the coast is broken 
up and floats southward, and a few small 
lakes are opened; but the short summer is 
followed by a long and dreai-y winter. The 
interior, which is lofty and has the appear¬ 
ance of one vast glacier, is uninhabitable, 
and all the villages are confined to the 
coasts, which are lined with numerous 
islands, and deeply penetrated by fiords. 
The Danish colony extends north, on the 

279 


- GREENLAND. 

western coast, to the Bay of Disco, in lat. 
69° N. Cultivation is confined to the low 
shores and valleys, where grassy meadows 
sometimes occur with stunted shrubs and 
dwarfed birch, alder, and pine trees. At¬ 
tempts to raise oats and barley have failed, 
but potatoes have been grown towards the 
southern extx’emity. Turnips attain the size 
of a pigeon’s egg, and cabbages grow very 
small. The radish is the only vegetable 
which grows unchecked. The inhabitants 
are largely dependent upon hunting and 
fishing. Whale blubber and seal oil are 
used as fuel. Despite the proximity of 
America the flora and fauna are rather of 
an European character. The land animals 
are the Esquimaux dog, the reindeer, the 
polar bear, the Arctic fox (blue and white), 
the ermine, the Arctic hare, and the musk 
ox. Among the amphibia the walrus and 
several species of seal are common. The 
seas abound in fish, the whale and cod 
fisheries being of special importance. Sea- 
fowl are abundant in summer, and largely 
killed. The chief mineral product is cryolite, 
but graphite and miocene lignitic coal are 
also found. Oil, eider down, furs, and cryo¬ 
lite are exported. The population, which is 
chiefly Esquimaux, numbers (1890) 9780. 
For administrative purposes (Greenland, or 
rather its coast, is divided into two inspec¬ 
torates of North and South Greenland. The 
residences of the inspectors are at Disco 
Island and Godhaab, but the most populous 
district is Julianshaab (pop. 2200). 

Greenland was discovered by an Icelander 
named Gunnbjorn about 876 or 877. It was 
colonized from Iceland about end of 10th 
century, and other Scandinavians followed. 
In 1264 it was politically united with Nor¬ 
way, and about the middle of the 14th cen¬ 
tury possessed two flourishing colonies on 
the west coast, named West Bygd and East 
Bygd. These settlements, however, gradu¬ 
ally disappeared from history, and the ex¬ 
peditions sent by Denmark in 1585, 1606, 
1636, 1654, and 1670 for the purpose of 
finding the colony were unsuccessful. Various 
relics, inscriptions, &c. have been found. In 
the reisrn of Elizabeth Frobisher and Davis 
rediscovered the coast, but nothing was done 
to explore it until the Danish government 
in 1721 assisted Hans Egede, a clergyman, 
to establish a European mission settlement. 
Good Hope (Godhaab), which was success¬ 
fully carried on by him and his son (see 
Egede, Esquimaux). Whale-fisheries were 
established on the coast by the English and 



GREEN MOUNTAINS-GREENSHANK. 


Dutch about 1590. The interior of the 
country was first crossed from east to west 
by Nansen in 1888. Peary in 1886 pene¬ 
trated the ice-cap for 100 miles, lat. 69*^ 
30' N. He made two other trips in 1891- 
92 and 1895-96. 

Green Mountains, a mountain range, 
United States, commencing near Newhaven, 
Connecticut, and extending north through 
Massachusetts and Vermont, between Lake 
Champlain and the Connecticut River. 

Greenock, a parliamentary burgh and 
seaport town of Scotland, county Renfrew, 
on the southern shore of the estuary of the 
Clyde, here between 3 and 4 miles wide, 
about 20 miles west by north of Glasgow. 
It stands partly on a narrow level tract of 
land stretching along the margin of the sea: 
and partly on some heights, which rise be¬ 
hind, and to the south and west of the lower 
parts of the town. The lower and older 
parts of the town are mean and crowded. 
The principal public buildings are the cus¬ 
tom-house, the tontine, the Watt monument, 
containing the Greenock library, and the 
Watt Museum and Lecture Hall, the muni¬ 
cipal buildings, the sheriff court buildings, 
post-office, &c. South-west of the town is 
a beautiful cemetery. There are several 
pieces of ground devoted to recreation, and 
the river esplanade, 100 ft. wide and 6200 ft. 
long, forms a fine promenade. The manu¬ 
factures include numerous sugar-refineries, 
ship-building yards, iron-foundries and ma¬ 
chine establishments; chemical works; wor¬ 
sted, woollen, and paper mills; grain, saw, 
and sundry other mills; jute and bagging 
factories, roperies, and sail-making establish¬ 
ments. Greenock carries on a considerable 
coasting and foreign shipping trade, especi¬ 
ally with East and West Indies, America, 
and Australia. The docks are spacious and 
possess every accommodation for shipping, 
including five graving docks, hydraidic and 
steam cranes, &c.; and the harbour accom¬ 
modation is being increased. Large numbers 
of vessels unload at Greenock and ascend to 
Glasgow for cargoes. Pop. 1891, 63,498. 

Greenough, Horatio, sculptor,was born 
in Boston, Mass., in 1805. Graduated from 
Harvard in 1825, at that time making the 
design from which Bunker Hill monument 
was constructed. His works were mostly 
produced in Italy, and are highly prized. 
His colossal statue of Washington is 
among the most important. Died in 1852. 

Green Paints are for the most part com¬ 
pounds of copper and of chromium. The 


best known greens are the following;— Bre¬ 
men green, or verditer, consisting mainly 
of a basic carbonate of copper. Brunswick 
green, a hydrated oxychloride of copper; 
but the name is sometimes given to a hy¬ 
drated basic carbonate, also known as moun¬ 
tain green. Chrome and emerald green are 
oxide of chromium. Emerald green (which 
see) is also used as synonymous with/S'cAicem- 
furt green. English green is a mixture of 
Scheele’s green with gypsum. Guignet's 
green is oxide of chromium prepared in a 
peculiar way. Hungary green is a kind of 
malachite found in Hungary. Rinman’s 
green is got by heating zinc oxide with a 
cobalt compound. Saxony green is an in¬ 
digo colour used in printing. Scheele’s green 
is arsenite of copper, and Schweinfurt green, 
Veronese green, and Vienna green, are also 
compounds of arsenic and copper. Verdigris 
is a hydrated basic carbonate of copper, 
often seen in copper saucepans. Besides 
these are green colours derived from plants. 
Of these may be mentioned chlorophyll, the 
green colour of leaves; sap green, the juice 
of Rhamnus catharticus or buckthorn, made 
into a green lake with alumina; Chinese 
indigo-green, &c. 

Green River, United States, Kentucky, 
flows generally west and north-west, and 
enters the Ohio 200 miles below Louisville. 
It is navigable for boats for about 200 
miles. 

Greens, a common name given to various 
species of green vegetables used for table, 
as open-leaved cabbage, spinach, &c. 

Greensand, a name common to two groups 
of strata, occurring in the south-east of 
England, the Isle of Wight, &c., the one 
(lower greensand) belonging to the lower 
cretaceous series, the other (upper green¬ 
sand) to the upper cretaceous series: between 
them is the clay called the gault. They 
consist chiefly of sands, with clays, lime¬ 
stones, and chert bands. They were named 
on account of the green colour, due to sili¬ 
cate of iron, which some of the beds show, 
though some tertiary sands are as green. 
In the United States it is known as marl, 
and is used as a fertilizer. 

Greenshank, a well-known species of 
sand-piper {Totdnus glottis or T. ochrupus), 
often called the whistling snipe from the 
shrill note it utters when first flushed. It 
breeds pretty commonly in the Hebrides, 
and sometimes in the north of Scotland, and 
is found as a visitor in the coast districts, 
lakes, and marshes of Britain. 

280 



GREEN-TEA 


GREGORIAN CALENDAR. 


Green-Tea, a tea of a greenish colour. 
I'he green colour should be due to the mode 
in which the leaves of the tea-plant are 
treated in the process of drying. 

Greenville, Darke co., Ohio, 94 m. w. of 
Columbus. Pop. 1890,5473. 

Greenville, Washington co., Miss., has 
an active trade. Pop. 1890, 6655. 

Greenville, Greenville co., S. C., site of 
the Furman Baptist University, Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary. Pop. 8607. 

Greenwich (gren'ich), a parliamentary bor¬ 
ough of England, county Kent, on the right 
bank of the Thames, about 5 miles s.e. of 
London Bridge. It is built partly on an 
acclivity, but chiefly on the level ground 
skirting the river. There are extensive iron 
foundries and engineering works, barge and 
boat-building yards, boiler works, mast, 
block, and sail works, telegraph cable works, 
roperiesj chemical factories, &c. The object of 
greatest interest is the magnificent hospital, 
the oldest portion of which was originally a 
palace of Charles II. It was converted to 
its charitable purpose in the reign of William 
and Mary. Three additional wings were 
built from designs by Sir Christopher Wren, 
who also completed the unfinished pile of 
Charles II. As an hospital for aged and dis¬ 
abled seamen of the navy, it was opened in 
1705, and subsequently accommodated about 
3000. In 1865, however, it ceased to he an 
asylum for seamen, and is now the seat of 
the Royal Naval College for the education 
of naval officers. It also contains a naval 
museum and picture gallery. Adjoining it 
are the Royal Naval School for boys, and 
an infirmary for sick and disabled seamen. 
Greenwich Park, an open, undulating piece 
of ground, area 180 acres, finely wooded and 
well stocked with deer, is a favourite resort 
of holiday-making Londoners during the 
summer. The celebrated observatory of 
Greenwich, erected by Charles II. for Flam¬ 
steed, stands upon an eminence in the park. 
The longitude of all British maps and 
charts, and also of those issued by the gov¬ 
ernment of the United States of America, 
as well as many of those published in other 
countries, is computed from this observa¬ 
tory, which is 2° 20' 23" w. from the ob¬ 
servatory of Paris, and 18°*e. from the 
meridian of Ferro. Greenwich (including 
Deptford and Woolwich) was erected into 
a parliamentary borough in 1832. 

Greenwich, Fairfield co.. Conn., on Long 
Island Sound, 30 m. from New York. A 
favorite country residence. Pop. 10,131. 

281 


Greg, William Rathbone, English writer, 
bom in 1809, commissioner of customs in 
1856, and controller of the stationery office 
in 1864. Besides his miscellaneous essays 
and pamphlets (collected in 1881 and 1882) 
he was the author of Sketches in Greece and 
Turkey (1833), The German Schism and the 
Irish Priests (1845), The Creed of Christen¬ 
dom (1851), Essays in Political and Social 
Science (1853), Enigmas of Life (1872), 
Rocks Ahead (1874), and Literary and Social 
Judgments (1877). Died in 1881. 

Gregarin'idse, a class of minute animal 
organisms, comprising the lowest forms of 
the Protozoa, found parasitic in various 
animals, especially the cockroach and earth¬ 
worm. The Gregarinidre consist of an outer 
colourless transparent membrane, with only 
faint signs of fibrillous structure, inclosing 
a granular mass, in which there is a nucleus 
surrounded by a clear space. They are des¬ 
titute of a mouth, and have not the power 
of giving out pseudopodia, and hitherto no 
definite organs have been detected in them. 

Gregoire (gra-gwar), Henri, Count, 
bishop of Blois, a churchman and statesman 
of the French revolution, born 1750. In 
1789, while cure of Emberm^nil, in the dis¬ 
trict of Nancy, he was sent by the clergy 
of Lorraine as their representative to the 
states-general. As one of the secretaries of 
the constituent assembly he joined the ex¬ 
treme democratic section, and in the con¬ 
vention voted for the condemnation, though 
not for the death, of the king. Although 
extreme in his democratic opinions, he was 
an unflinching Jansenist. He was a mem¬ 
ber of the Council of Five Hundred, of the 
corps Ugislatif, and of the senate (1801). On 
the conclusion of the concordat he resigned 
his bishopric. He voted against the estab¬ 
lishment of the imperial government, and 
alone in the senate resisted the restoration of 
titles of nobility. He himself afterwards 
accepted the title of count, but in the senate 
was always one of the small body who op¬ 
posed Napoleon, and in 1814 was one of the 
first to vote for his deposition. He passed 
the latter part of his life in retirement, and 
died at Paris in 1831. He left numerous 
works, among them Ruines de Port Royal, 
1801; Essai Historique sur les Libertes de 
I’Eglise Gallicane; Histoire des Sectes Re- 
ligieuses depuis le Commencement de ce 
Siecle, 1810 and 1828; Annales de la Re¬ 
ligion, 1795-1803. 

Gregorian Calendar, the calendar as re¬ 
formed by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582 



GKEGORIA N TONES GREGORY. 


(see Calendar). The Gregorian year is the 
ordinary year, as reckoned according to the 
Gregorian calendar. 

Gregorian Tones, in music, a tonal system 
introduced by Gregory the Great. In the 
early ages of church music the Greek system 
of tetrachords, or what was supposed to be 
tlie Greek system, was followed. There were 
in the time of Ambrose of Milan fifteen so- 
called Greek modes or scales in use. In 
order to simplify church music he selected 
four of these scales, the Dorian, Phrygian, 
.^olian, and Mixo-Lydian, to which he at¬ 
tempted to reduce all the chants and melo¬ 
dies sung in church. This selection of scales 
was soon found to be too limited. The 
church singers refused to be bound to it, 
and it failed to represent the melodies actu¬ 
ally in use. In these circumstances Gregory 
the Great introduced a new reform and ex¬ 
tension of church music. To each of the 
scales admitted by Ambrose he added a new 
scale or mode, commencing with the fourth 
below the key-note of the original scale. 
These new scales he called plagal, while to 
the four introduced by Ambrose he gave 
the name of authentic. He introduced the 
practice of naming the tones by the letters 
of the alphabet. The following is the ar¬ 
rangement of his eight scales:— 


1st. Authentic (Dorian),... 

2d. Plagal. 

3d. Authentic (Phrygian),. 

4th. Plagal. 

5th. Authentic (^olian),... 

6 th. Plagal,. 

7 th. Authentic, Hyper Dor¬ 

ian or Mixo-Lydian, 
8th. Plagal,. 


DEFGABCD 

ABCDEFGA 

EFGABCDE 

BCDEFGAB 

FGABCDEF 

CDEFGABC 

|gabcdefg 

DEFGABCD 


The scale of C, with the semitones between 
the 3d and 4th, and the 7th and 8th, which 
in the modern system is called the natural 
scale, and is the pattern on which all the 
others are formed, was thus, it will be seen, 
one of the plagal scales introduced as an in¬ 
novation by Gregory. 

Gregory, Patriarch of Constantinople, 
born in 1730, studied at Mount Athos, lived 
as a hermit, was made archbishop at Smyrna, 
and, in 1795, Patriarch of Constantinople. 
He led an active, tolerant, and benevolent 
life, promoted schools and the art of printing. 
In 1798, however, and again in 1806, he was 
accused of intriguing for the freedom of 
Greece, and twice banished to Mount Athos, 
though each time restored to his post after 
a short interval. But in 1821, when the 
Greek insurrection broke out in the Morea, 
his native country, he became once more an 


object of suspicion to the Porte, and when, 
shortly after, he allowed the family of Prince 
Morousi to escape from his guardianship, he 
was seized as he left the church on the first 
day of the Easter festival and hanged in his 
robes of office before the church gate. 

Gregory, the name of thirteen popes, of 
whom we need notice only the following :— 
Gregory I., called also the Great, born 
at Rome, of noble family, about 540. He 
became a member of the senate, and was 
made prefect of Rome in 573. He expen¬ 
ded his inheritance in the foundation of 
monasteries and charitable institutions, and 
then took monastic vows himself, Po[)e 
Pelagius II. sent him on an embassy to 
Constantinople, and afterwards made him 
Papal secretary. On the death of Pelagius 
in 590 he was chosen his successor. He 
displayed great zeal for the conversion of 
heretics, sending missionaries to Sicily, Sar¬ 
dinia, Lombardy, England, &c., as well as 
for the advancement of monachism, and the 
enforcement of clerical celibacy. He died 
in 604. The works ascribed to him are 
very numerous; his genuine writings con¬ 
sist of a treatise on the Pastoral Duty, Let¬ 
ters, Scripture Commentaries, &c.— Gre¬ 
gory VII. (Hildebrand), born about 1020 at 
Soana, in Tuscany; passed part of his early 
life in Rome, became a monk at Cluny, and 
then returned to Rome with Bruno on the 
election of the latter to the papal chair. 
He exercised great influence over Leo IX. 
(Bruno) and his successors, Victor II., 
Nicholas II., and Alexander II.; and under 
Nicholas II. he succeeded in depriving the 
clergy and people of Rome of a voice in the 
election to the pontificate by giving the 
power of nomination to the cardinals alone. 
On the death of Alexander IL (1073) he 
was raised to the Papal chair. His chief 
aim was to found a theocracy in which the 
pope should be the sovereign ruler, in politi¬ 
cal as well as ecclesiastical matters. He there¬ 
fore prohibited simony and the marriage of 
priests (1074), and abolished lay investiture 
(1075), the only remaining source of the 
authority of princes over the clergy of their 
dominions. The Emperor Henry IV. re¬ 
fused to obey this decree, and Gregory, after 
deposing several German bishops who had 
bought their offices of the emperor, and ex¬ 
communicating five imperial councillors con¬ 
cerned in this transaction, summoned the 
emperor before a council at Rome to defend 
himself against the charges brought against 
him. Henry then caused a sentence of 

282 







GREGORY 


GREGORY OF NYSSA. 


deposition to be ]>asseJ against the pope by 
a council assembled at Worms. The pope, 
in return, exconnnunicated the emperor, and 
Henry, finding himself in difficulties, went 
to Italy and submitted at Canossa (1077) to 
a humiliating penance, and received absolu¬ 
tion. After defeating Rodolph of Suabia, 
however, Henry caused the pope to be de¬ 
posed by the Council of Brixen, and an anti¬ 
pope, Clement III., to be elected in 1080, 
after which he hastened to Rome and placed 
the new pope on the throne. G regory passed 
three years as a prisoner in the castle of St. 
Angelo, and though finally liberated by 
Robert Guiscard, he was obliged to retire 
under the protection of Guiscard to Salerno, 
where he died in 1085. —Gregory XIII. 
(Uyo Buoncompayno), born at Bologna in 
1502 ; created cardinal in 1565 ; chosen suc¬ 
cessor of Pius V. in the popedom in 1572. 
He permitted the Cardinal of Lorraine to 
make a public thanksgiving for the massacre 
of St. Bartholomew, encoui-aged plots against 
Queen Elizabeth, and incited Philip II. to 
attack her. His foreign policy cost him 
much money for subsidies to excite enemies 
to the Turks and heretics, and his financial 
expedients to fill his exchequer ruined the 
trade and disturbed the peace of his own 
dominions. He did much to encourage 
education, his expenditure for this purpose 
exceeding two million Roman crowns, out of 
which many colleges at Rome were endowed. 
He reformed the Julian calendar (see Cal¬ 
endar). He died 10th April, 1585. 

Gregory, James, mathematician and in¬ 
ventor of the reflecting telescope, was born 
at Hrumoak, in Aberdeenshire, about 1638, 
and received his education at Marischal 
College. In 1663 he published Optica Pro- 
mota, explaining the idea of the telescope 
which bears his name. He spent some 
years in Italy, and published at Padua in 
1667 a treatise on the Quadrature of the 
Circle and Hyperbola. He became pro¬ 
fessor of mathematics at St. Andrews in 
1668, and at Edinburgh in 1674, but died 
suddenly in 1675. 

Gregory, James, M.D., physician, eldest 
son of John Gregory, M.D., born at Aber¬ 
deen in 1753, studied medicine at Edinburgh, 
and in 1776 was appointed professor of the 
institutes of medicine. In 1780-82 he pub¬ 
lished his Conspectus Medicinae Theoreticse; 
in 1790 became professor of the practice of 
physic, and in 1792 issued his Philosophical 
and Litei'ary Essays. He died in 1821. 
Gregory, John, M.D., physician, grand¬ 


son of James Gregory, the inventor of the 
reflecting telescope. He was born 1724, 
and was successively professor of philosophy 
and medicine in King’s College, Aberdeen, 
and of tlie practice of physic at Edinburgh. 
His works include Elements of the Prac¬ 
tice of Physic, a Compai*ative View of the 
State and Faculties of Men and Animals, 
and A Father’s Legacy to his Daughters. 
He died in 1773. 

Gregory, Olinthus Gilbert, mathema¬ 
tician, born in Huntingdonshire in 1774. At 
nineteen he published a volume of Lessons, 
Astronomical and Philosophical, and was 
afterwards in turn sub-editor of a news¬ 
paper at Caml)ridge, bookseller, and teacher 
of mathematics. In 1801 he became ma¬ 
thematical master in the Royal Military 
Academy at Woolwich, and published a 
treatise on astronomy and several mathe¬ 
matical works, of which his Treatise on 
Mechanics was of most importance. His 
Letters on the Evidences and Doctrines of 
the Christian Religion (1810), and a Life 
of the Rev. Robert Hall (1833), were his 
chief miscellaneous writings. He died in 
1841. 

Gregory of Nazianzus {Gregorius Nazian- 
zenus), a father of the Greek Church, born 
near Nazianzus, in Cappadocia, between 318 
and 329 ; studied at Athens, and in 355 and 
356 taught rhetoric in that city. He after¬ 
wards retired for some time with Basil to 
the Desert of Pontus. He began to preach 
in 362, and between 365 and 374 was as¬ 
sociated with his father in the bishopric of 
Nazianzus. He went to Constantinople 
about 378 or 379 to oppose the Arians, and 
was appointed bishop of that see by Theo¬ 
dosius in 380, but in the following year re¬ 
tired to his former charge of Nazianzus. 
He died in 389 or 390. His works consist 
of letters, sermons, and poetry. His elo¬ 
quence is nearly on a level with that of 
Basil and Chrysostom. His festival is on 
9th May. 

Gregory of Nyssa, a father of the Greek 
Church, brother of St. Basil, born at Sebaste, 
Pontus, about 332 ; died about 398. By his 
brother’s influence he was made Bishop of 
Nyssa, in Cappadocia. Having opposed the 
Arians, he was banished at their instigation 
by Valens from 375 to 378. He took a 
prominent part in the Councils of Constanti¬ 
nople from 381 to 394. His festival is on 
9th March. His works consist of dogmatic 
treatises, Scripture commentaries, sermons, 
letters, &c. 


GREGORY OF TOURS-GRENADIER. 


Gregory of Tours [Gregorius Fiorcntius), 
historian of Gaul, born in Auvergne in 539 
or 544; died at Tours in 595. He became 
Bishop of Tours in 573. He had the cour¬ 
age to oppose Chilperic and Fredegonde in 
their violent courses, and acted the part of a 
peacemaker in the dynastic quarrels of the 
period. His Historia Francorum is a valu¬ 
able chronicle of 6th century events. 

Gregory Thaumaturgus, Saint, born in 
Pontus about 210 a.d.; became a Christian 
at an early age, and u’as a disciple of Origen; 
was bishop of Neoctesarea, from 244 till 
his death in 270. His life and miracles are 
narrated by Gregory of Nyssa. 

Gregory the Illuminator, Saint, the 
apostle of Armenia, born about 258 a.d. 
From 302 to 331 he was patriarch of the 
Armenian church, but the last years of his 
life were passed as a hermit. He died 
about 342. 

Gregory’s Mixture, a popular stomachic 
and aperient medicine, consists of two parts 
of rhubarb, four of calcined magnesia, and 
one of ginger. It may be used with benefit 
occasionally, but not systematically. 

Greifenberg (gri'fn-ber/i), the name of 
several places in Prussia, particularly a 
walled town, province of Pomerania, govern¬ 
ment of Stettin. Pop. 5634. 

Greifenhagen (gri'fn-ha-gen), a town of 
Prussia, province of Pomerania, government 
of Stettin. It has manufactures of woollen 
and linen cloth. Pop. 6605. 

Greifswald (grifs'valt), a town of Prussia, 
province of Pomerania, on the navigable 
river Rick, about 3 miles above its entrance 
into the Baltic. It contains a university, 
founded in 1456, attended by about 600 
students, and possessed of a library (100,000 
vols.), museum, observatory, &c. It has 
manufactures of machinery, oil, paper, and 
tobacco; and a considerable shipping trade. 
Greifswald was one of the Hanse towns 
about 1270; was assigned to Sweden by the 
Peace of Westphalia, 1648; was occupied 
successively by various northern powers, 
and finally ceded to Prussia in 1815. Pop. 
20,345. 

Greiz (grits), a town, Germany, principality 
of Reuss Greiz, in a valley on the right bank 
of the Elster, 16 miles south of Gera. It is 
the residence of the elder branch of the 
Reuss family; is walled, well built, and has 
a castle and palace. Pop. 17,288. 

Grena'da, one of the British West Indian 
Islands; about 85 miles north-west of Trini¬ 
dad; oblong in form, 24J miles long, n. and 


S., and 10 miles broad; area 133 square miles, 
liie island is traversed north to south by an 
irregular mass of volcanic mountains, attain¬ 
ing elevations of 3000 and 3200 feet above 
sea-level, and having lateral branches of 
lower hills. The valleys between these 
contain alluvial tracts of great fertility. On 
the south-east coast there is a considerable 
extent of unhealthy, low, swampy gi’ouud. 
In the centre of the island, about 1700 feet 
above sea-level, there is a circular lake, 2| 
miles in circumference, inclosed by lofty 
mountains. Rivers and rivulets are numer¬ 
ous; and most of the former capable of 
working sugar-mills. The climate is op¬ 
pressively hot on the low lands, but cool 
and pleasant on the hills. Cotton was for¬ 
merly the chief article of cultivation; but 
at present cocoa, sugar, rum, and spices 
stand first in the exports. The island has a 
lieutenant-governor, and a local legislature 
consisting of a council and a house of as- 
sembly of seventeen elected members. The 
capital is St. George Town. Grenada was 
discovered by Columbus in his third voyage 
in 1498, and colonized about the middle of 
the 17th century by the French, who exter¬ 
minated the Caribs. In 1762 it was taken 
by the British, and though recaptured by the 
French in 1779 was restored to Britain in 
1783. Pop. 1891, 54,062, of whom about 
900 are whites. 

Grenade, a small hollow bullet or ball of 
iron or other metal, or annealed glass, about 
2^ inches in diameter, filled with gunpowder, 
and fired by a fuse, so as to cause it to 
burst when thrown among the enemy. The 
term was first used by Du Billey, in refer¬ 
ence to the siege of Arles (1536). Until 
about the end of the 17th century, when 
musketry became common, soldiers of the 
line were trained to throw grenades by the 
hand, hence the name grenadier. See the 
following article. 

Grenadier, originally a soldier destined 
to throw the hand-grenades. Soldiers of 
long service and acknowledged bravery were 
selected for this service, so that they soon 
formed a kind of elite. There were at first 
only a few grenadiers in each regiment. 
Companies of gi'enadiers were formed in 
France in 1670, in England a few years 
later. With the development of the musket 
the name soon became only a souvenir oi the 
ancient practice; the troops so called gener¬ 
ally formed one battalion of a regiment, 
distinguished by the height of the men and 
a particular dress, as, for instance, the high 


GRENADINE-GRESHAM. 


bear-skin cap. With the British and French 
the grenadier company was the first of each 
battalion. The title in the British army re- 



Grenadier of 1745, blowing his fuse to light grenade. 

mains only in the regiment of Grenadier 
Guards. 

Gren'adine, a thin gauzy silk, or woollen 
fabric, plain, coloured, or embroidered, used 
for ladies’ dresses, shawls, &c. 

Gren'adines, or Geenadilles, a chain of 
small islands and rocks, West Indies, be¬ 
tween the islands of Grenada and St. Vin- 



George Grenville. 


cent; principal island, Carriaco. They pro¬ 
duce coffee, indigo, cotton, and sugar. Pop. 
about 7000. 


Greno'ble, a fortified town of southern 
France, capital of the department of Isbre, 
finely and strongly placed on the Isbre, 60 
miles south-east of Lyons. Grenoble occu¬ 
pies both sides of the river, which is crossed 
by three bridges, and lined by fine quays. 
It has a cathedral, and a more noteworthy 
church (Saint-Andre), with the tomb of 
Bayard; a public library of 170,000 volumes 
and 7500 MSS.; a college, museum, bishop’s 
palace, court-house, arsenal, and extensive 
public gardens. The manufactures consist 
of gloves, which may be considered the 
staple, linen and hemp goods, liqueurs, lea¬ 
ther, &c. Grenoble existed in the time of 
Caesar; and Gratian, who had improved it, 
changed its name from Cularo to Gratiano- 
polis. Pop. 1891, 60,439. 

Grenville, George, a British minister, 
younger brother of Earl Temple, and father 
of William Wyndham the first Lord Gren¬ 
ville; born in 1712; died in 1770. He became 
treasurer of the navy in 1754; secretary of 
state and subsequently Irish lord of the 
admiralty in 1762; first lord of the treasury 
and chancellor of the exchequer in 1763. 
In 1763 he introduced a scheme of colonial 
taxation, and in 1764 proposed a stamp tax 
to be levied in the American colonies, which 
was one of the proximate causes of the 
American war of Independence. In 1765 
he retired from office, and was replaced by 
Lord Rockingham. The Grenville Papers 
(1852-53) contain his most important politi¬ 
cal correspondence. 

Grenville, William Wyndham, Lord, 
third son of the above, was born 1759. In 
1783 he was appointed paymaster-general of 
the army; in 1789 became speaker, and in the 
same year became secretary of state for the 
home department. In 1790 he was raised to 
the peerage as Baron Grenville, and from 
1791 till Pitt’s resignation in 1801 held the 
post of foreign secretary. On the return of 
Pitt to office in 1804 he declined to join him, 
and continued in opposition till Pitt’s death, 
when he became the head of a coalition 
ministry, including Fox and Grey, 1806. 
This ministry resigned in 1807, after having 
passed an act for the abolition of the slave- 
trade. He did not again take office. He 
died in 1834. 

Gresham, Sir Thomas, a merchant of 
London, born in 1519. In 1552 he was 
sent as agent of Henry VIII.’s money affairs 
to Antwerp, where in two years he paid off 
a heavy loan, and raised the king’s credit 
considerably. On the accession of Elizabeth 


285 






GRESHAM-GREY. 


he was deprived of his office, but it was 
soon restored to him, and he was also 
knighted. In 1556 he erected at his own 
expense the Royal Exchange for the mer* 
chants of London. He died in 1579. The 
“Gresham Law,” in finance, is the prin¬ 
ciple that a less valuable currency in¬ 
evitably supplants and drives out the 
more valuable, in direct ])roportion to the 
abundance of the former medium. 

Gresham, Walter Q., secretary of state 
(1893), was born in, 1832, and died in 1895. 
He served through the civil war, retiring 
with the rank of major-general. He was 
U. S. district judge, postmaster-general, 
secretary of the treasury, U. S. circuit 
judge, and a prominent })residential candi¬ 
date. His career as judge was marked by 
his support of popular rights. 

Gretna Green, a village of Scotland, 8 
miles north of Carlisle, for a century past 
notorious for the celebration of the mar¬ 
riages of fugitive lovers from England. To 
conclude a lawful (though irregular) mar¬ 
riage in Scotland, it is only necessary for an 
unmarried couple to go and declare them¬ 
selves man and wife before witnesses, and it 
was in this way that these runaway couples 
were married; but such marriages were put 
an end to in 1856, by an act declaring that 
no irregular marriage in Scotland shall be 
valid unless one of the parties has resided 
in Scotland for twenty-one days next pre¬ 
ceding such marriage. 

Greuze (grewz), Jean Baptiste, a famous 
French painter, born in Burgundy, 1726. 
Although he devoted some time and atten¬ 
tion to historical subjects, he latterly con¬ 
fined himself to depicting scenes of the 
family life of the bourgeois or middle class. 
As a colourist he occupies a high place. He 
died in 1805. 

Grev'ille, Sir Fulke, Lord Brooke, Eng¬ 
lish writer; born in 1544. Having studied 
at Cambridge and Oxford and made the tour 
of Europe, he became a courtier, and en¬ 
joyed the favour of Elizabeth, James I., and 
Charles I. In 1628 he was stabbed by an 
old servant, and immediately expired. He 
wrote the life of Sir Philip Sidney; Caslica, 
a collection of 109 songs; Alaham and Mus- 
tapha, two tragedies, &c. 

Grey, Charles, Earl, English statesman, 
eldest son of Charles, first Earl Grey; born 
in 1764; died in 1845. He was educated at 
Eton and at King’s College, Cambridge. In 
1786 he was returned to parliament as 
member for Northumberland. On the ac¬ 


cession of the Grenville ministry in 1806, 
Grey, now Lord How ick, was made first lord 
of the admiralty, and on the death of Fox 
succeeded him as secretary for foreign affairs 
and leader of the House of Commons. The 
death of his father in 1807 raised him to the 



Earl Grey. 


House of Peers, and from this period up to 
1860 he headed the opposition in the Lords, 
and especially opposed the proceedings 
against Queen Caroline. On the accession 
of William IV. and the retirement of the 
Wellington ministry, Earl Grey was sum¬ 
moned to office. The great event which 
marks his administration is the passing in 
1832 of the first reform bill. In 1834 Earl 
Grey resigned, and was succeeded by Lord 
Melbourne. The remainder of his life was 
chiefly spent in retirement. 

Grey, Lady Jane, an interesting figure 
in English history, the daughter of Henry 
Grey, marquis of Dorset, afterwards duke 
of Suffolk, by Frances, daughter of Chaides 
Brandon, duke of Suffolk, and Mary, 
younger sister of Henry VIII., in whose 
reign Lady Jane was born, in 1537. She 
displayed much precocity of talent; and 
under the tuition of Aylmer, afterwards 
bishop of London, she acquired a knowledge 
of the learned languages, as well as French 
and Italian. She was married to J^ord 
Guildford Dudley, fourth son of the Duke of 

286 













OBEY-GRIMALDI’S FRINGES. 


Northumberland,in 1553. Edward VI., who 
died in 1553, was induced on his death-bed 
to settle on her the succession to the crown. 
The council endeavoured to keep his death 
secret, with a view to secure the persons of 
the princesses, Mary and Elizabeth, and 
when Mary discovered the design the coun¬ 
cil proclaimed Lady Jane queen. On the 
appi'oach of Mary, however, the council 
deserted Lady Jane, and Mary was pro¬ 
claimed queen. Jane was now confined to 
the Tower. She and her husband were ar¬ 
raigned, and pleaded guilty of high treason; 
but their doom was suspended, and it was 
not until after the suppression of the rebel¬ 
lion of Sir Thomas Wyatt, in which the 
Duke of Suffolk, Lady Jane’s father, had 
participated, that the sentence was exe¬ 
cuted. She and her husband were be¬ 
headed on Tower Hill, February 12,1554. 

Grey. See Gray. 

Grey Friars. See Franciscans. 

Greyhound, a variety of dog, distinguished 
by a greater length of muzzle than any other; 
very low forehead, short lips, thin and long 
legs, small muscles, contracted belly, and 
seniipendent ears. There are several varie¬ 
ties, as the Irish greyhound, the Scottish, the 
Russian, the Italian, and the Turkish. The 
common greyhound is of an elegant make 
of body, and is universally known as the 
fleetest of dogs. A good hound has a fine, 
soft, flexible skin, with thin, silky hair, a 
great length of nose, contracting gradually 
from the eye to the nostril, a full, clear, and 
penetrating eye, small ears, erect head, long- 
neck, chest capacious, deep, but not wide, 
shoulders deep and placed obliquely, ribs 
well arched, contracted belly and flank, a 
great depth from the hips to the hocks of 
the hind-leg.s, fore-legs straight, and shorter 
than the hinder. The name appears to have 
no reference to the colour, but is derived 
from the Icelandic grey, a dog. They are 
chiefly used in the sport of coursing, a 
work for which their peculiar shape, strength, 
keenness of sight and speed make them ex¬ 
ceedingly well fitted. This sport is pre¬ 
ferred by many to horse-racing, and large 
kennels of greyhounds are kept by several 
of the nobility and gentry, who also further 
the sport by preserving hares, and providing 
suitable coursing grounds. (See Coursing.) 
The chief breeds are the Newmarket, the 
Lancashire, and the Scotch. 

Greytown, San Juan de Nicakagua, or 
San Juan del Norte, the principal seaport 
of the C. A. repub., Nicaragua. Pop. 1500 

237 


GTidley, Charles V., Captain U. S. N., 
born at Logaiisport, Ind., Nov. 24, 1844. 
While Commander of Receiving-ship Rich¬ 
mond, at League Island Navy Yard, was 
assigned, J uly 28, 1897, to command of 
cruiser Olympia, Asiatic squadron, of 
which she was the flagship. He led the 
bombardment at the Battle of Manila; 
Commodore Dewey’s command being: 

‘ You may begin firing, Gridley, when 
ready.’ His conception was the broadside 
that sunk the Spanish flagship. He was 
invalided after the engagement; dying soon 
after, June 5, 1898, his remains were ship¬ 
ped to Erie, Pa., and there interred with 
military honors. 

Griffin, or Gryphon, a fabulous monster 
of antiquity, also common in heraldry, com¬ 
monly represented with the body, the feet, 
and claws of a lion, and the head and wings 
of an eagle. India, or Scythia, was anciently 
assigned as the native country of the griffins; 
and it was alleged that they guarded the 
gold in the mountains. 

Griffiths’ Valuation, so called from Sir 
Richard Griffiths, who, in accordance with 
an act of parliament, superintended, be¬ 
tween 1830 and 1840, the valuation of the 
land of Ireland for purposes of taxation. 
Previous to 1881 rents were generally about 
30 per cent above it. 

Grillparzer (gril'par-tser), Franz, a Ger¬ 
man poet and dramatist, born at Vienna, 
15th January, 1791. Having entered the 
service of the imperial court, he rose through 
various dignities, and at last was appointed 
member for life of the imperial council. 
He was the author of lyrical and other 
poems, a novel, travels, &c., and of the 
dramas Sappho, Das Goldene Vliess, Des 
Meeres und der Liebe Wellen. 

Grilse, name given to the young of the 
salmon (smolts) after they return for the 
first time from the sea to fresh water. They 
then sometimes weigh from 5 to 8 or 9 lbs. 

Grimal'di Family, one of the four families 
of the high nobility in Genoa. The lord- 
ship of Monaco belonged, for more than 
600 years (beginning with 980), to the 
Grimaldi, and the ruler is still a Grimaldi. 
With the Fieschi they always played an 
important part in the history of Genoa, 
especially in the disputes between the Ghi- 
bellines and the Guelfs, to which latter 
party both families belonged. 

Grimaldi’s Fringes, a term in optics given 
to the coloured bands observed when a beam 
of light passing through a narrow slit fa.,Us 





GRIMM 


GRINDELWALD. 


on a screen. They are due to interference of 
the luminous waves, and are named from 
Francesco Maria Grimaldi, who wrote a 
treatise on the subject. See Diffraction. 

Grimm, Fkiedrich Melchior, Baron, 
German man of letters, who lived mostly 
in Paris and wrote in French. He was 
born in 1723 at Ratisbon, and having fin¬ 
ished his studies, he went to Paris and th^re 
became acquainted with Jean Jacques Rous¬ 
seau, Diderot, D’Alembert, D’Holbach, and 
other Parisian philosophers. He corres¬ 
ponded with Catharine II. of Russia, Gus- 
tavus HI. of Sweden, and other great per¬ 
sonages. Frederick the Great among others 
gave him marks of great esteem. In 1776 
he was appointed envoy from the Duke of 
Saxe-Gotha to the French court, and hon¬ 
oured with the title of baron. On the re¬ 
volution brealdng out he retired to Gotha, 
where he died in 1807. His Correspond- 
ance Litteraire possesses great literary and 
historical value. 

Grimm, Jakob Ludwig, a German philo¬ 
logist, born at Hanau in Hesse-Cassel, 1785. 
He was educated partly at Cassel, and 
finally at Marburg University. In 1806 
he became librarian to Jerome Bonaparte, 
king of Westphalia, and from 1816 to 1829 
he occupied the post of second librarian at 
Cassel. From 1830 to 1837 he resided at 
Gottingen as professor and librarian, lectur¬ 
ing on the German language, literature and 
legal antiquities. Having, along with other 
six prbfessors, resisted the unconstitutional 
encroachments of the King of Hanover, he 
was banished, and after his retirement to 
Cassel, he was, in 1841, called to Berlin as 
a professor and member of the Academy of 
Sciences, He sat in the National Assembly 
of 1848, and in that of Gotha in 1849. 
From that time till his death, which took 
place at Berlin, 1863, he occupied himself 
only with his various publications. He 
wrote on German mythology, German legal 
antiquities, the history of the German lan¬ 
guage, and published old German poems, 
&c. His two greatest works, both unfinished, 
are his Deutsche Grammatik (German 
Grammar, vols. i.—iv., 1819-37), and his 
Deutsches Worterbuch (German Dictionary) 
commenced in 1852, in conjunction with his 
brother Wilhelm, and being gradually com¬ 
pleted by eminent scholars. He also pub¬ 
lished, in company with his brother, the 
Kinder- und Hausmiirchen, one of the most 
popular collections of juvenile fairy tales. 
Grimm, Wilhelm Karl, brother of the 


preceding, born 1786, M^as educated at Cas¬ 
sel and Marburg, and in 1830 he followed 
his brother to Gottingen, and obtained a 
professorship. He joined in his brother’s 
protest against the abrogation of the new 
Hanoverian constitution, and was deprived 
of his office. Having obtained an appoint¬ 
ment in Berlin, he died in that city in 1859. 
He devoted himself especially to the Ger¬ 
man mediaeval poetry, and published a 
treatise, Ueber die deutschen Runen, a 
.translation of Altdanische Heldenlieder, 
Balladen und Miirchen, &c., all with valu¬ 
able introductions and disquisitions, 

Grimma, a town. Kingdom of Saxony, 
on the Mulde, 17 miles E.s.E, of Leipzig, 
charmingly situated, and with some inter¬ 
esting old buildings. Pop. 8292. 

Grimm’s Law, so called from its discov¬ 
erer, Jakob Grimm, formulates the principle 
cf the interchange of the mute consonants 
in the Aryan languages, in words derived 
from the same roots. For example: p, b, 
and / in Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit are 
in Gothic and English, Dutch, &c., respect¬ 
ively represented by /, 6, and b, and in Old 
High German by b (r), /, and p. The sub¬ 
joined table exhibits the principal muta¬ 
tions:— 

Labials. Dentals. Gutturals. 

Greek(Latin,Sans¬ 
krit) . P,^,f t, d, th k, g, ch 

English (A. Sax.), 

Gothic, &c. .f, P, t> th, t, d h, k, g 

Old High German b (v), /, p d, g, t g, ch, k 

As examples:—E. father — L, pater, Gr. 
pater, Skr. pitri; E. brother— 1j. frater, Gr. 
phrater, Skr. bhratar; E. kin—genus, Gr. 
genos; E. head, A. Sax. heafod = Jj. caput, 
Gr. keph{ale). See.; E. thin = lj. tenuis, Gr. 
tanaos. Certain exceptions to the law are 
explained by a law subsequently discovered, 
called Verner’s law. 

Grimsby, Great, a pari, and mun. borough 
and thriving seaport, England, county of 
Lincoln, on the Humber. The docks oc¬ 
cupy an area of about 140 acres, and there 
is a large trade with continental ports. 
Grimsby is one of the most important fish¬ 
ing ports of the kingdom. It sends a mem¬ 
ber to the House of Commons. Pop. mun. 
bor. 1891, 51,876; pari. bor. 58,603. 

Grimsel (grim'zl), a pass in Switzerland 
at the eastern extremity of the Bernese 
Alps, 7103 feet in height, and connecting 
the valleys of the Aar and the Rhone. 

Grindelwald (grin'dl-valt), one of the 
most beautiful of the upper Alpine valleys 
of Switzerland, about 36 miles south-east of 

288 





GRINDING - 

Berne, containing two immense glaciers. 
The village of Grindelwald consists of pic¬ 
turesque cottages, and the inhabitants, about 
8500 in mamber, are chiefly employed in 
rearing cattle. 

Grinding, a mechanical process in which 
certain effects are produced by attrition. 
This process prevails in various mechanical 
arts, as in grinding corn, &c., the object of 
which is to reduce the materials to a fine 
powder; or in grinding metals for the pur¬ 
pose of giving them a certain figure, polish, 
or edge. In the first case the grinding or 
crushing is effected by rough stones, or, as 
in crushing ores, between heavy metal cylin¬ 
ders, or by a heavy stone or iron cylinder 
revolving upon a smooth plate. (See Mill.) 
The grinding of cutlery is effected by means 
of the grindstone (see below); emery powder 
grinds glass lenses and specula. Ornamental 
glass is ground into facets by stones and lap- 
wheels. Diamonds and other precious stones 
are ground with diamond dust. What is 
called dry grinding is the grinding of steel 
with dry grindstones. The points of needles 
are produced by this meau'^, also the finishing 
of steel pens. Sand-jet grinding is a process 
in which abrasion is effected by the percus¬ 
sion of small hard particles on a plain surface, 
sharp siliceous sand being impelled by a blast 
artificially produced of steam or of air. By 
the use of flexible jointed connecting tubes 
the jet can be turned in any direction. 

Grindstone, a cylindrical stone, on which 
sharpening, cutting, and abrasion are effected 
by the convex surface while the stone is re¬ 
volving on its axis. They are made of sand¬ 
stone, or sandstone grit of various degrees 
of fineness. Good stones are obtained in 
various parts of England, especially from 
the coal districts of Northumberland, New¬ 
castle grindstones being especially famous. 
The Sheffield grindstone, used for grinding 
files and the like, is obtained from Hardsley, 
about 14 miles north of Sheffield. Artificial 
grindstones have been successfully tried. 

Gripes, a painful affection of the bowels, 
caused by constipation or diarrhoea. If 
spasms occur, the terra ‘ colic ’ is applied. 

Grippe, La. See Influenza. 

Griqualand East, a region of South 
Africa, formerly known as No Man’s Land, 
lying south of Natal between Pondoland 
and Basutoland. It was incorporated with 
Cape Colony in 1874. Area, 7549 sq. miles. 
Pop. 1891, 152,618. 

Griqualand West, a district of South 
Africa north of the Orange River, and west of 
FOL. IV, 289 


- GRISONS. 

the Orange Free State; 180 miles from east 
to west, and 120 from north to south; area, 
about 15,190 sq. miles. The prevailing 
character of the surface is that of undulat¬ 
ing grassy plains suitable for grazing. Pre¬ 
viously to the discovery of the diamond 
fields in the basin of the Vaal River, Gri¬ 
qualand was little known. In 1870 large 
finds of diamonds in that district began to 
attract wide notice, and in 1871 Waterboer, 
the Griqua chief, ceded all his rights to the 
British government, and the territory was; 
incorporated with Cape Colony. The chief 
centre of the diamond-mining industry, and 
the seat of government, is Kimberley (pop. 
25,000). The annual value of the mines 
sometimes reaches £4,000,000. The Griquas 
are a mixed race sprung from the intercourse 
of the Boers with their Hottentot slaves. 
Pop. 1891, 83,375. 

Grisi (gre'se), Giulia, a celebrated Ital¬ 
ian vocalist, born at Milan 1811 or 1812. 
After having studied music at Bologna, and 
made her dehut in Rossini’s Zelmira, she 
appeared at Milan as Norma. She ac¬ 
quired great celebrity at Pax'is, in England, 
and America. She subsequently married 
Mario, the great tenor singer. Her voice 
gave way in her later years, and she died at 
Berlin 1869. Her principal character was 
Norma. 

Gris-Nez (gre-na). Cape, a headland, 
north-west extremity of France, dep. Pas- 
de-Calais, the nearest point of the French 
shore to that of Britain, the distance being 
barely 21 miles. It has a revolving light, 
195 feet high. 

Grisons (gre-son; Ger. Grauhiinden), the 
largest and most easterly canton of Switzer¬ 
land, bordering on Austria and' Italy; areay 
2773 sq. miles. Its boundaries and interior 
consist almost entirely of mountain chains, 
including more than twenty peaks above 
9000 feet. The canton may be regarded as 
embracing three great valley districts, of 
which the Upper and Lower Engadine (Inn 
valley) attain considerable breadth. The 
Inn, which flows to the Danube, and the 
Vorder and Hinter Rhine, are the principal 
rivers. The lakes are numerous, and many 
of them present scenery of the most mag¬ 
nificent description. The climate varies 
greatly, ranging from the perpetual winter 
of the mountains to the almost Italian air 
of some of the valleys. The canton is in 
general pastoral, feeding large numbers of 
cattle and sheep. The mountain forests sup¬ 
ply much timber, A considerable transit 







GRISWOLD 


GROS. 


trade is carried on between Italy and Ger¬ 
many. The canton was admitted into the 
Confederation so late as 1803, Both the 
Protestant and the Roman Catholic religion 
are established. The language of the public 
acts is German, and the people speak Ger¬ 
man, Romansch, or Italian. Pop. 94,991. 

Griswold, Rufus Wilmot, D.D., Ameri¬ 
can writer, born in Vermont, 1815. After 
having travelled extensively both in his own 
country and in Europe, he became succes¬ 
sively a printer, a Baptist preacher, and a 
journalist He was the author of The Poets 
and Poetry of America, <fec. He was one 
of the editors of Edgar A. Poe’s works. He 
died in 1857. 

Grit is a sandstone, coarse-grained, with 
particles more or less angular, connected by 
a cement of a hard siliceous nature. 

Grivegnee (grev-nya), a town in Belgium, 
province of Lidge, on the Ourthe. It manu¬ 
factures steam-engines, and has worsted and 
fulling mills. Pop. 7500. 

Groat, an English silver coin, coined by 
Henry III. in 1249, and by Edward III. 
1351. It was equal to fourpence in value. 
A coin of this value, the fourpenny-piece, 
was revived in 1835, but none have been 
struck since 1856, and all are now withdrawn 
from circulation. 

Groats, the seeds of oats prepared as an 
article of food by being deprived of their 
hulls. They are much used in the prepara¬ 
tion of gruel for invalids. 

Grodno, a town, Russian Poland, capital 
of the government of same name, on the 
Niemen, 160 miles north-east of Warsaw, 
a poorly-built place, the principal edifice 
being a palace 
erected by Alexan¬ 
der III. The manu¬ 
factures consist of 
woollen, linen, and 
silk goods, firearms, 

&c. Pop. 45,191.—■ 

The government 
has an area of 14,9 31 
sq. miles, largely 
occupied by pine 
forests and swamps. 

Pop. 1,382,255. 

Groin, the angu¬ 
lar curve made by 
the intersection of 

arches. It is either regular or irregular; 
— regular, as when the intersecting arches 
are of the same diameters and heights; and 
irregular^ when one of the arches is semi¬ 


circular, and the other semi-elliptical. In 
Gothic architecture groins are always ribbed. 

Gromwell, the name of plants of the 
genus Lithospermum, nat. order Boragin- 
aceae, containing a number of widely distri¬ 
buted species, several of which are natives 
of America. The seeds of L. officinale are oc¬ 
casionally used as a diuretic. 

Groningen (gro'ning-en), a town of Hol¬ 
land, capital of a province of same name, 
situated on the river Huns here converted 
into a canal, 92 miles north-east of Amster¬ 
dam. It is a rich place, adorned with many 
excellent buildings, and has numerous canals 
crossed by bridges. The principal edifices 
are the cathedral, a fine exchange, and the 
university. It has manufactures of white 
lead, soap, &c., oil, fulling, and saw mills, 
and an excellent harbour, with an active 
trade. Pop. 57,061.—The province forms 
the north-eastern portion of Holland; area, 
790 sq. miles. It is protected against the 
encroachments of the sea b}'^ dykes, is very 
level, and is intersected by innumerable 
canals. Tlie inhabitants (1892, 277,282) 
nearly all belong to theCalviuistic Church. 

Grono'vius (properly Gronov), the name 
of several Dutch classical scholars:—(1) 
Johann Friedrich, born at Hamburg in 
1611, succeeded Daniel Heinsius as profes¬ 
sor of belles-lettres at Leyden (1658), and 
died there 1671. His editions of Livy, 
Statius, Justin, Tacitus, Gellius, Phaedrus, 
Seneca, Sallust, Pliny, Plautus, &c., are 
valuable.— (2) His son Jakob, born at De¬ 
venter in 1645, studied there and at Leyden. 
He afterwards became professor of belles- 
lettres at that university, and died in 1716. 
He edited Tacitus, Polybius, Herodotus, 
Pomponius Mela, Cicero, Ammianus Mar- 
cellinus, &c., and compiled a Thesaurus An- 
tiquitatum Graecarum (Leyden, 1697, thir¬ 
teen vols. fob).— (3) His son Abraham, born 
at Leyden 1694, edited Justin, Pomponius 
Mela, Tacitus, and ^lian. He died at 
Leyden in 1775. 

Groote Eylandt (gro'te i'lant; ‘ great 
island’), the largest island in the Gulf of 
Carpentaria, north of Australia, belonging 
to the colony of S. Australia; greatest 
length and breadth 40 miles each. 

Gros (gro), Antoine-Jean, Baron, a 
French historical painter, born at Paris in 
1771. He studied art under David, and 
subsequently became a staff oflScer in the 
French army. In this position he produced 
his_ picture of the Victor of Areola, by 
which he secured the favour of Napoleon. 

290 



a a, Groins. 

two semi-cylinders or 





















GROSBEAK-GROTE. 


In 1804 he produced his Plague at Jaffa, 
with Napoleon visiting the sick, a work 
which was crowned at the Louvre. He 
painted various battle scenes; but his chief 
work is probably the Cupola of St. Gene¬ 
vieve at Paris, exhibiting the saint protect¬ 
ing the throne of France, represented by 
Clovis, Charlemagne, St. Louis, and Louis 
XVIII. The artist received for it 100,000 
francs and the title of baron. The rise of 
the romantic school deprived him of his 
popularity, and he drowned himself in the 
Seine in 1835. 

Grosbeak, a general popular name for 
birds of at least three groups belonging to 
the conirostral division of the Insessores. 
The first comprises the cross-bills; in the 
second group is the East Indian represen¬ 
tative genus Paradoxorms, with the beak 
large and parrot-like, but not crossing; the 
third group includes the pine grosbeak 
(Pinicdla enucledtor) and the bullfinch. The 
term grosbeak was given to birds which had 
beaks proportionally larger than in the most 
familiar forms. 

Groschen (gro'shen), a name for German 
coins of which the oldest known were struck 
in Trhves in 1104. In 1525 the groschen 
was divided into twelve pfennige. Latterly, 
in the currency system existing up till 1872, 
the groschen was a silver coin=:lifZ. ster¬ 
ling, there being 30 to the thaler of about 
3s. sterling. 

Grose, Francis, an English antiquary, 
born in 1731. Having dissipated the for¬ 
tune inherited from his father, he turned 
his attention to the study of antiquities. 
In 1773 he commenced the publication in 
numbers of his Views of Antiquities in 
England and Wales. In 1789 he made a 
tour in Scotland for the purpose of illustrat¬ 
ing the antiquities of that country. Before 
completing it, however, he proceeded to Ire¬ 
land, with the view of collecting its antiqui¬ 
ties, but was suddenly carried off by apo¬ 
plexy in 1791. His name is now perhaps 
chiefly remembered from his connection with 
Burns, who wrote his Tam o’ Shanter for 
him. Captain Grose also wrote a Treatise 
on Ancient Armour and Weapons, a Classi¬ 
cal Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, and 
other publications. 

Gross, in opposition to net, is applied to 
merchandise, including the weight of that 
in which it is packed. Thus we say, ‘ The 
bag of coffee weighs 9 cwts. gross,' that is, 
including the weight of the bag. 

Grossenhain (gros'en-hin), a town, king¬ 

291 


dom of Saxony, 20 miles N.w. of Dresden, 
on the left bank of the Roder. Woollen 
and cotton goods, &c., are manufactured. 
Pop. 11,544. 

Grosseteste, Robert, an eminent English 
scholar and prelate, was born about the year 
1175, studied first at Oxford, and then went 
to Paris, where he mastered the Hebrew 
and Greek languages. On his return to Eng¬ 
land he became lecturer in the Franciscan 
school at Oxford, and acquired a great 
reputation for his linguistic abilities, his 
skill in logic, &c. In 1235 he was ap¬ 
pointed Bishop of Lincoln, but soon came 
into collision with Pope Innocent IV. on 
the question of the induction of foreigners 
into English benefices. He refused to 
institute the pope’s nephew, Frederick di 
Lavagna, to a canonry at Lincoln, and dis¬ 
regarded the papal fulminations which he 
thus incurred. He died in 1253. His 
writings, few of which have been published, 
are very voluminous. 

Grosse'to, a province rf Tuscany, Italy; 
area, 1712 sq. miles; pop. 121,564. Being 
mountainous and marshy it is little adapted 
for cultivation. Its capital, Grosseto, on 
the Ombrone, is the seat of a bishop, and 
has a beautiful cathedral. Pop. 7371. 

Grossula'cese, Grossulariace^e, a tribe 
of plants of the nat. order Saxifragaceae, 
comprehending the gooseberry and currant 
of gardens, and consisting, in fact, of only 
one genus, Ribes; natives of most parts of 
the world except Africa and the tropics. 

Grosswardein (gros'var-din), a royal free 
city of Hungary, capital of county Bihar, in 
a beautiful plain, on the Koros. It consists 
of the town proper, surrounded by walls, 
and otherwise fortified, and of extensive 
suburbs, is tolerably well built, and is a 
railway centre. The staple manufacture is 
earthenware. Pop. 1891, 38,219. 

Grosvenor Gallery (gro've nor), a building 
erected in 1877 by Sir Coutts Lindsay in New 
Bond Street, London, for annual exhibitions 
of pictures. In these exhibitions preference 
has generally been given to certain schools 
of art, represented by such names as Burne 
Jones, Rossetti, &c., and in general to work 
which appeals more to a peculiar aesthetic 
taste than to the popular mind. 

Grote, George, English historian and 
politician, was born in 1794, died in 1871. 
His grandfather, descended from German 
ancestors, was one of the original partners 
of the London banking-house of Prescott, 
Grote, & Co. Having been educated at 



GROTESQUE 


GROUND-NUT. 


Sevenoaks and at the Charterhouse, he 
entered in 1810 as a clerk in his father’s 
banking establishment. As early as 1823 
he began to collect materials for his History 
of Greece. In 1832 he was elected a mem¬ 
ber of parliament for the city of London, 
and his subsequent parliamentary career, 
until his retirement in 1841, was principally 
devoted to the advocacy of vote by ballot. 
He was also a leader of the ‘Philosophic 
Radicals.’ In 1846 appeared the first two 
volumes of his History of Greece The re¬ 
maining ten volumes followed in rapid suc¬ 
cession, the final volume being published in 
1856. The work terminates with the death 
of Alexander the Great, and as a whole is 
a monument of erudition. In 1865 he 
published Plato and the Other Companions 
of Sokrates, and was engaged at the time 
of his death on an elaborate treatise on 
Aristotle and the Peripatetics. In the 
latter part of his life he was concerned in 
the management of University College, the 
London University, and the British Mu¬ 
seum. 

Grotesque, in art, a capricious variety of 
arabesque ornamentation, which, as a whole, 
has no type in nature, the parts of animals, 
])lants, and other incongruous elements 
being combined together; used by the Ro¬ 
mans in decorative painting and revived by 
the artists of the Renaissance. 

Grotius, or De Groot, Hugo, a Dutch 
scholar, born at Delft, 1583. He entered 
the University of Leyden when only eleven, 
was a pupil of J. J. Scaliger, under whose 
supervision he edited Marcianus Capella 
and the Phenomena of Aratus. In his fif¬ 
teenth year he graduated, and in the year 
after he accompanied the Dutch ambassador 
to France. Having sided with the party of 
the Remonstrants, Grotius was condemned 
to perpetual imprisonment by the opposite 
and successful party, but he escaped. Louis 
XIII. granted him a pension, subsequently 
withdrawn. After several vicissitudes he 
went to Stockholm, entered the service of 
Queen Christina, and was appointed ambas¬ 
sador to France in 1635. He died at Ro¬ 
stock in 1645. His greatest work is De 
Jure Belli et Pacis (1625), on the funda¬ 
mental principles of international law. 

Groton, New London co.. Conn., has im¬ 
portant manufactories; possesses a fine rev¬ 
olutionary monument. Pop. 1890, 5539. 

Grouchy (gro'she), Emmanuel, Mar¬ 
quis DE, a noted French general, born at 
Paris, 1766, He entered the Royal Life 


Guards at the age of fourteen, saw much 
service, and highly distinguished himself. 
In the war with Prussia in 1806, and 
Russia (1807), and at Wagram, he acquired 
increased renown. In 1815 he defeated 
Bliicher at Ligny. Having been ordered to 
follow the Prussian retreat, he was unable 
to aid Napoleon at Waterloo. He was ban¬ 
ished under the second restoration, and 
lived for a few years at Philadelphia. He 
returned to France in 1821, and died in 
1847. 

Ground, in painting, the first layer of 
colour. The Italian school preceding and 
during the time of Raphael employed white 
grounds, but afterwards, when canvas had 
superseded panels, the Italian and Spanish 
schools adopted an oil ground of a dull red 
colour. The Dutch and Flemish masters 
used light grounds varying from white to 
gray, and their example has been followed 
by the English painters and those of the 
modern European sphools. 

Ground-annual, in Scottish law, the rent 
paid for a piece of ground that is built upon 
to one who holds the ground in feu. It 
may thus be a perpetual annuity. A ven¬ 
dor often prefers a ground-annual to a lump 
sum. It is similar to the American term 
Ground-rent. 

Ground Dove, a name of various spe¬ 
cies of pigeons, which resemble the gallina¬ 
ceous birds in living mainly on the ground, 
their feet being better suited for walking 
than perching. The name is especially given 
to the members of the genus Chamcepelia, 
small birds belonging to the warmer parts 
of America, and includes the bronze-wing 
pigeons of Australia. The large pigeons of 
the genus Goura (the crowned pigeons) are 
also so called. See Goura. 

Ground-hog. Same as Aard-varJc. 

Ground Ivy, Glechoma hederdc^a, a com¬ 
mon wayside plant of the order Labiatae, 
with a creeping stem and purple flowers. 
Tea made from it is used by the poor for 
pectoral complaints. It w’as formerly em¬ 
ployed to flavour ale. 

Ground-nut, a term which denotes the 
seeds or pods of the A rdchis hypogcea, or the 
tubers of certain umbellifers (earth-nuts). 
The Ardchis hypogma is a leguminous an¬ 
nual of diffuse habit, with hairy stem, and 
abruptly pinnate leaflets. The nut or pod 
is situated at the end of a stalk of some 
length, and is ripened under ground, this 
stalk having the peculiarity after flowering 
of bending down and pushing the fruit into 

292 



GROUSE. 


GROUND-PINE 


the earth. The plant is extensively culti¬ 
vated in tropical countries. The nuts have 
a flavour similar to almonds, and yield an 



oil that may be used for olive-oil. See also 
Earth-nut. 

Ground-pine {Ajuga Chama’pitys), a her¬ 
baceous labiate plant, so called from its 
resinous smell. Also a name given to some 
lycopods or club-mosses. 

Ground-rent, in English law, is the rent 
paid to a landowner by a person for the use 
of ground on which buildings are erected. 
The usual arrangement is for a specified 
time. In the United States a ground-rent 
deed is drawn for a term of years, mention¬ 
ing the consideration-money on which 
interest is payable. 

Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), a Euro¬ 
pean weed belonging to the nat. order 
Compositse. The plant is emollient, has a 
slightly acid taste, but is rejected by almost 
every quadruped except the hog and goat; 
cage-birds are fond of the seeds. The 
Golden Senecio is an American species. 

Ground Squirrel, the name of squirrels 
of the genus Tamias, somewhat resembling 
the marmot. They differ from the common 
squirrel in possessing cheek-pouches, and in 
retreating into burrows. They are well 
known in America, but species are also 
found in Asia and Africa. 

' Grouse, the general name of the gallina¬ 
ceous birds of the family Tetraonidae, whose 
distinguishing mark is a naked band, often of 
a red colour, in place of an eyebrow. They 
are wild, shy, and almost untamable. They 
live in families, in forests and barren regions, 
and feed on berries, buds, and leaves. They 

293 


are polygamous, the male abandoning the 
female, and leaving to her the whole care 
of the progeny. The eggs number eight to 
fourteen. The largest species is the caper¬ 
cailzie or wood grouse. (See Capercailzie.) 
Other British species are the black grouse, 
the red grouse, commonly called simply the 
grouse, and the white grouse or ptarmigan. 
The black grouse [Tetrdo tetrix) is about 
the size of a common fowl. The male has 
the outer feathers of the tail curved out¬ 
wards, so that the tail is lyre-shaped. It 
chiefly lives in high and wooded situations, 
feeding on various kinds of berries. The 
female is commonly called gray hen. To 
this genus belong several species peculiar to 
North America, the most remarkable of 
which is the pinnated grouse or prairie hen 
{T. cupldo), which inbabito open desert 
plains in particular districts of the Union. 
The male is furnished with wing-like ap¬ 
pendages to his neck, covering two loose, 
orange sacs, capable of being inflated. An¬ 
other species is the cock of the plains (which 
see). The grouse with hairy feet and which 
undergo seasonal change of plumage form 
the genus Lagopus. Of these the red grouse 
[Lagopus scoticus) is the most important. 
This bird, also called moorfowl, is found in 
great plenty in the Highlands of Scotland, 
also in Wales, the north of England, Ireland, 
and the Scottish islands. It pairs in the 
spring; the female lays eight or ten eggs. 
As soon as the young have attained their 



Red Grouse (Tetrdo or LagOpiis scoticus). 


full size they unite in flocks of forty or fifty, 
and are extremely shy and wild. This bird 
attracts large numbers of sportsmen every 
August to the Scottish moors to take part 
in the grand sporting campaign which fol¬ 
lows ‘ the twelfth.’ The ptarmigan or white 
grouse {Lagopus mutus or vulgaris) is ash* 








GROUSE DISEASE- 

coloured in summer, but its hue changes to 
a pure white in winter. It is found in 
Scotland and in most northern regions, in¬ 
habiting the tops of mountains. See also 
Hazel Grouse, Ruffed Grouse, Sand Grouse. 

Grouse Disease, an epidemic causing, at 
certain seasons, great destruction to the 
grouse species in Britain. Some attribute 
the disease to intestinal parasites, others 
regard it as an infectious febrile disorder 
and genei’ally overstocking of the moors, 
and the too great proportion of weakly birds 
are looked upon as having something to do 
with it. 

Grove, Sie George, English writer, born 
1820. He was educated as a civil engineer, 
in which capacity he was connected with 
the Britannia Bridge and other important 
works. He was long secretary to the 
Crystal Palace Co., and did much for the 
popularizing of classical music in connec¬ 
tion with its concerts. For some years he 
edited Macmillan’s Magazine, and he was 
editor of, and a contributor to, the great 
Dictionary of Music, published in 1878- 
1889. He was also an extensive contri¬ 
butor to Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible. 
He was knighted in 1883. 

Groves, among various ancient nations 
groves have been, probably on account of 
the mental impressions their stillness is 
calculated to make, considered as suitable 
localities for religious rites. See Asherah. 

Grow, Galusha A., statesman, was born 
in Connecticut in 1824, removing to Peun- 
svlvania in 1834. In 1850 was elected to 
Congress, serving 12 years. Tlie Home¬ 
stead bill received his earnest support. 
He was elected Speaker of the House in 
1861. In Congress his services were im¬ 
portant, being an active working member. 

Grub, the term applied to the soft, worm¬ 
like larvae of coleopterous and other insects. 
Some species do much injury to the roots of 
plants, growing corn, &c. 

Grubber, an agricultural implement for 
tearing and loosening soil, and for eradicat¬ 
ing roots, &c. It consists of an iron frame¬ 
work with handles and wheels, and provided 
with curved tines or teeth. In the most 
approved kinds the wheels are arranged 
three in front, and two behind. The depth 
to which the teeth may penetrate is regu¬ 
lated by suitable mechanism. 

Grugru, the larva of the Calandra pal- 
marum, or palm weevil, found in the tropi¬ 
cal parts of America. It is of the length 
and thickness of a man’s thumb, burrows in 


— GUADALAJARA. 

cabbage - palms, and canes, and is, when 
cooked, considered a great delicacy. 

Grunberg (griin'ber/i), a town in the 
Prussian government of Liegnitz, Silesia, 
surrounded by vineyards, which produce 
large quantities of wine. Pop. 14,395. 

Grunt, Geunter, an American fish of the 
family Hsemulonidse, also termed pig-fish 
and red-mouth. The first of these names 
relates to the sound it emits when taken out 
of the water, the last to blood-red marks on 
the gums or lips. The Growler, found in 
America, also emits a grunting sound. 

Grus, the genus to which the crane be¬ 
longs. 

Gruyere (gru-yar), a village, Switzerland, 
canton and miles south of Fribourg, on 
a hill crowned by a fine old feudal castle. 
It gives its name to the well-known cheese 
made from a mixture of goats’ and ewes’ 
milk. It is firm and dry, and possesses cells 
of considerable magnitude. 

Gryllus, a genus of orthopterous insects, 
embracing the house and field crickets, 
though some also include in it the grass¬ 
hopper. 

Grysbok (gris'bok, ‘grey buck;’ Antilope 
melanotis, or Calotragus melanotis), a species 
of antelope found in Southern Africa. It 
attains about 3 feet in length, is 1^ feet 
high at the shoulder, and its colour is red¬ 
dish-grey. It is hunted for the sake of its 
flesh. 

Guacharo (gwa-cha'ro; Steatornis Cari- 
pensis), a bird of the goat-sucker family, 
of nocturnal habits, a native of South Ame¬ 
rica, and found in great numbers in certain 
caves of Venezuela, Trinidad, and else¬ 
where. It is about the size of a common 
fowl, with a curved and toothed bill, wings 
long and pointed. Their food is principally 
fruits, upon which they grow so fat that the 
Indians destroy' great numbers for the sake 
of their oil or clarified fat, which is trans¬ 
parent, inodorous, and keeps long without 
becoming rancid. It is called also Oil-bird. 

Guadalajara (gwa-da-la-Aa'ra), a town, 
Spain, capital of the province of same name, 
on the Henares, 44 miles north-east of Ma¬ 
drid. Substantially built, with manufactures 
of woollens, soap, earthenware, &c. Pop. 
8503.—The province, area 7012 sq. miles, 
is mountainous, or forms part of an elevated 
plateau. Pop. 205,495. 

Guadalajara, a city of Mexico, capital of 
the state of Jalisco, in the fruitful valley of 
Atemajac, on the Rio de Sfe,ntiago; a large 
and handsome city, with a fine cathedral 

294 



GUADALQUIVIR-GUANACO. 


(being an archbishop’s see), and other good 
buildings; a university, a mint, convents, 
&c. Various manufactures are carried on, 
as those of silversmiths’ and goldsmiths’ 
wares, paper, leather, hats, pottery, cloth, 
&c. Pop. 1890, 93,875. 

Guadalquivir (gwa-dal-ke-ver'), a river, 
Spain, which rises in the frontiers of Murcia, 
traverses Andalusia from north-east to south¬ 
west, passing the towns of Cordova and 
Seville, and thereafter flowing s.s.w., falls 
into the Atlantic. Its course is 250 miles, 
of which 70 miles are navigable. It abounds 
with fish. 

Guadeloupe (gii-de-lbp), one of the French 
West Indies, composed of two portions, 
separated by a narrow arm of the sea called 
Ilivibre Salbe (salt river). The western and 
larger portion is Basse-terre, or Guadeloupe 
Proper, 27 miles long by about 15 miles 
broad. The eastern portion, called Grande- 
terre, is nearly 30 miles long by 10 to 12 
miles broad. Guadeloupe Proper is of vol¬ 
canic formation, the culminating point being 
La Soufribre, 5018 feet. Grande-terre, on 
the other hand, is generally flat, and of coral 
formation. Guadeloupe is watered by a 
number of small streams which become dry 
in summer. Grande-terre has only a few 
springs of brackish, undrinkable water. The 
climate is hot and unhealthy, with a re¬ 
markably humid atmosphere, and hurricanes 
are frequent and destructive. The soil is 
fertile. The chief exports (amounting an¬ 
nually to about £700,000) are sugar, coffee, 
dye and cabinet woods, pepper, manioc, to¬ 
bacco, &c. The chief town is Basse-terre. 
Pop. 134,000, or with dependencies (Marie 
Galante, Desirade, &c.), 165,899. 

Guadiana (gwa-cZi-a'na), a river of Spain, 
which rises in New Castile, flows first north¬ 
west, then south-west into Estremadura, 
and on reaching Badajoz begins to form 
part of the boundary between Spain and 
Portugal. Entering that kingdom, it finally 
falls into the Atlantic after a course of 400 
miles, of which only 35 are navigable. 

Guadix (gwa-deA'), a town of Southern 
Spain, Andalusia, in the province and 31 
miles E.N.E. of Granada. Said to be the 
first bishop’s see erected in Spain, with a 
handsome cathedral, and a finely situated 
old castle, almost in ruins. Pop. 11,800. 

Guad'uas, a town, republic of Colombia, 
remarkable as being one of the most ele¬ 
vated places on the globe, being 8700 feet 
above the sea-level. Pop. 8500. 

Guaiacum (gwi'a-kum), a genus of plants, 
295 



Guaiacum Plant {Guaiacum 
offlclnule). 


belonging to the natural order Zygophylktcece, 
and containing four or five arborescent spe¬ 
cies, natives of the West Indies and the 
tropical parts of America. G. officinale has 
wood that is exceedingly hard, of a pale 
yellow colour near the exterior, and blackish 
brown at the heart, 
heavier than water, 
and well known 
under the name 
of lignum - viUv. 

Among other uses 
it is employed in 
the construction of 
ornamental articles 
of furniture, being 
susceptible of a fine 
polish. This tree 
yields the resin 
known as guaia¬ 
cum, which either 
flows spontane¬ 
ously from the tree, or from incisions or per¬ 
forations in the stem, or is got by extraction 
by means of spirit from the wood. It is green¬ 
ish-brown, has a balsamic odour, taste some¬ 
what bitter and pungent, and it dissolves 
freely in spirit, .but is insoluble in water. 
Its chief use is in medicine, the resin (as 
well as a decoction of the bark and wood) 
acting as a stimulant in chronic rheumatism, 
and being used also in gout, scrofula, syph¬ 
ilis, &c. 

Guaira. See Guayra. 

Gualeguay (gwal'e-gwl), a town of the 
Argentine Republic, prov. Entre Rios, on 
river of same name. Pop, 10,000. 

'rualegwaychd (gwa-le-gwi-cho'), a town 
of the Argentine Republic, prov. Entre Rios, 
on river of same name. Pop. 15,000. 

Guamanga. See A yacucho. 

Gu'an, a gallinaceous bird of the family 
Cracidse or Curassows, genus Penelope. The 
sides of the head and front of the throat are 
naked and wattled, the wattles capable of 
inflation. The name Guan is more par¬ 
ticularly applied to the Penelope cristdta, 
the largest bird of the genus, measuring 
about 30 inches. The guans perch on trees, 
descending in search of grain and fruits, 
and are natives of Brazil and Guiana. They 
have been frequently carried to Europe, and 
with care would make a valuable addition 
to the farmer’s barn-yard. The Chiacalaica 
of New Mexico belongs to this family. 

Guanaco (gwan-a'ko), Auchenia huanaco, 
a South American ruminant, closely akin to 
the llama, alpaca, &c. It abounds most in 



GUANAHANT 


GUAPtDAFUT. 


Chili and Patagonia, attains a height of 
nearly 4 feet at the shoulders, is extremely 
swift and sure-footed. When domesticated 
its flesh, wool, and milk are prized by the 
natives. In domestication it is of uncertain 
temper, and ejects saliva on those who an¬ 
noy it. 

Guanaha'ni. See Cat Island. 

Guanaxuato (gwa-na-Awa'to), a city of 
Mexico, capital of the state of the same 
name, 160 miles north-west of Mexico, is 
situated in a narrow defile, hemmed in by 
mountains, at the height of 6800 feet above 
the sea, with steep irregular streets, but 
well-built houses. Pop. 52,112.—The state is 
situated in the centreof Mexico; area, 11,411 
sq. miles; pop. 1890, 1,007,116. Its mines, 
once the richest in the world, still yield a 
large amount of gold and silver. The sur¬ 
face is traversed by the cordillera of Ana- 
huac, 9711 feet in height. 

Guanches (gii-an'chez), the aborigines of 
the Canary Islands, long ago extinct as a 
separate nation, although Guanche blood 
probably flows in the veins of many of the 
present inhabitants. They possessed high 
moral and physical qualities. They prac¬ 
tised the embalming of the dead. The few 
words of their language which remain seem 
cognate to the Berber tongue. 

Guan'o (Peruvian huano, dung), a valuable 
manure, consisting of the partially decom¬ 
posed and dry excrement of fish-eating sea¬ 
birds, which has in some places accumulated 
in great masses. The name has been also 
extended to accumulations of a similar kind 
from land birds, and even from bats in caverns. 
Owing to the fact that rain washes such de¬ 
posits away, great accumulations of guano 
exist principally in hot and dry tropical 
regions. The most important of all were 
the deposits on the Chincha Islands off the 
coast of Peru, which yielded a considerable 
revenue to the country, but are now quite 
exhausted. Prom 1853 to 1872 about 
8,000,000 tons were got from these islands. 
The guano which was found there was from 
60 to 80 or 100 ft. in thickness, and was 
entirely due to the droppings, accumulated 
for many ages, of the innumerable sea-birds 
which make these islands their resting-place 
and breeding - ground. Other deposits of 
less extent have from time to time been 
found, and Peru still remains the chief source 
of supply, its deposits being now, however, 
worked under the Chilian government. 
Guano varies extremely in composition, but 
it may be roughly divided into nitrogenous 


and phosphatic. The first of these contains 
about 21 per cent of ammonia. This is the 
case with the Peruvian variety, which con¬ 
tains almost all the inorganic matter required 
by a plant, and that in a highly available 
form, so that it is looked upon as one of the 
best of all fertilizing agents for different 
crops. Its use as a manure was known to 
the native Peruvians centuries ago, but no 
attention was paid to the accounts by modern 
travellers of its wonderful efficacy until A. 
von Humboldt brought some to Europe and 
had it analysed. It began to be brought to 
Europe about 1846. It is used raw or in 
its natural state, but most of the phosphatic 
guanos (some of which hardly deserve the 
name of guano) require to be dissolved by 
sulphuric acid before using. There are also 
manures known as fish guano, prepared from 
fish or fish refuse, flesh guano, blood guano, 
&c. Large quantities of fish guano are 
made in the U. States, the menhaden being 
the fish used, and the oil being extracted 
before the fish are ready for conversion into 
manure. 

Guapore (gwa-poTil), or Itenez, a river of 
South America, which rises in the Brazilian 
province of Matto Grosso, and after a va¬ 
ried course of about 500 miles, unites with 
the Mamore in forming the Madeira. 

Guarana Bread (gwa-ra'na), the seeds of 
the Paullinia sorbilis, order Sapindacea, a 
South American tree, pounded and made 
into cakes. It is extensively used in South 
America as a stimulant and restorative, and 
as a material for making a refreshing bev¬ 
erage. The active principle of guarana is 
said to be identical with theine or caffeine; 
and no known substance yields it so abun¬ 
dantly, the amount being 5‘07 per cent, as 
against good black tea, which yields 2T3, 
and coffee about 1‘00. 

Guarantee', in law, an undertaking by 
which a person binds himself to answer for 
the failure of another. In the U. S. no 
person is liable on any special promise to 
answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage 
of another person, unless a written agreement, 
or some memorandum in writing for such 
purpose, shall be signed by the promiser or 
some other party lawfully authorized by 
him. It is a general rule that the surety 
shall not be bound beyond the express words 
of the engagement. 

Guardafui (gwar-da-fwe'). Cape, or Has 
JEEDAFOON, the most eastern point of Africa, 
at the entrance of the Gulf of Aden, a 
frequent scene of shipwreck. 

296 



GUARDIAN — 

Guardian, in law, the custodier of persons 
incapable of directing themselves, and es¬ 
pecially of infants, that is persons under 21 
years of age. A guardian is not allowed 
to reap any benefit from his ward’s estate, 
but must account for all profits. He can 
invest the money of his ward in real estate 
only by order of court; nor can he convert 
real estate into personalty without a similar 
order. If he spends more than the interests 
and profits of the estate in the maintenance 
and education of the w^ard, without per¬ 
mission of court, he may be held liable for 
the principal thus consumed. He is entitled 
to the care and custody of the person of 
his ward. Guardianship lasts until the 
ward has attained the age of twenty-one. 

Guardian Angel, the angelic guardian 
who, by some, is supposed to watch over 
every human being with a view of preserving 
him or her from moral evil. The notion is 
based on Gen. xlviii. 16, Matt, xviii. 10, and 
Heb. i. 14. 

Guardians of the Poor, in England, per¬ 
sons elected by a parish or union to manage 
the affairs of the poor. Each ratepayer has 
one or more votes in proportion to his pro¬ 
perty, the maximum being twelve. The 
guardians have the management of the 
workhouse, and the maintenance, clothing, 
and relief of the poor. 

Guards, troops whose duty is to defend 
the person of a ruler. In modern times the 
term guard has been used to designate corps 
distinguished from the troops of the line by 
superior character, or only by rank and 
dress. Among the most famous guards 
were those of the rulers of France. The 
Scottish Guards of Charles VII. (see Garde 
JEcossaise) and the Swiss Guards (see Gardes 
Suisses), enrolled by Louis XIV., have ac¬ 
quired historical importance. Under the 
latter monarch the Royal Guard amounted 
to 10,000 men. In 1789, when the revolu¬ 
tion began, all the branches of the guards 
amounted to about 8000 men. The Imperial 
Guard was formed by Napoleon I. in 1804, 
and in 1812 it amounted to 56,000 men. 
His guards were almost completely annihi¬ 
lated at Waterloo. The Imsperial Guard 
was revived by Napoleon III. in 1854, and 
took part in the Crimean war; but in the 
Franco-German war of 1870-71 its career 
was closed at the surrender of Metz. The 
guards of Frederick the Great of Prussia 
were of distinguished courage and remarkable 
height. The German guard now forms a 
complete army corps, and one of the finest 


GUATEMALA. 

bodies of troops in Europe, In England 
the guards, otherwise called the household 
troops, consist of the Life Guards (1st and 
2d), the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, 
and three regiments of foot guards, namely, 
the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream 
Guards, and the Scots Fusilier Guards. 
The 1st and 2d life Guards, and the Royal 
Horse Guards stand at the head of the 
cavalry of the country as the three regiments 
of foot guards do of the infantry. In time 
of peace they constitute the garrison of 
London and the guard of the sovereign at 
Windsor. 

Guard-ship, a vessel of war appointed to 
superintend the marine affairs in a harbour, 
and to visit eveiy night the ships of war 
which are not commissioned; she also acts 
as a depot for seamen raised in the port 
until appropriated to other vessels. 

Guarini (gwa-re'ne), Giovanni Battista, 
Italian poet, was born at Ferrara, 1537, and 
died 1612. After having studied at Ferrara, 
Pisa, and Padua, and lectured in his native 
city on Aristotle, he entered the service of 
Duke Alphonso II. of Ferrara, who sent 
him on various important missions. Having 
lost the favour of the prince he retired into 
private life, but was recalled in 1585 to the 
office of secretary of state. Tw'o years after 
he retired a second time. In 1597 he en¬ 
tered the service of Ferdinand I., grand- 
duke of Tuscany, which he soon quitted. 
His propensity to litigiousness necessitated 
his residence at Venice, Padua, and Rome. 
In 1605 he went as an ambassador of his 
native city to the court of Rome, to con¬ 
gratulate Paul V. on his elevation. He died 
at Venice. Guarini is one of the most 
elegant authors of Italy, as is especially 
shown in his Pastor Fido (Faithful Shep¬ 
herd), a famous pastoral drama. 

Guameri (gwar-na're), the name of an 
Italian family belonging to Cremona, dis¬ 
tinguished for its skill in violin-making. 
The most celebrated of the family was Giu¬ 
seppe, whose best instruments belong to the 
years 1690-1707. 

Guastalla (gwas-tal'la), a small town of 
N. Italy, near the Po, wLich, in the 16th 
century gave its name to the dominion of 
the Gonzagas, dukes of Mantua. 

Guatemala (gwa-te-mala), a republic of 
Central America; area estimated at 46,800 
square miles; pop. (1890), 1,460,017. It is 
in general exceedingly picturesque, and dis¬ 
tinguished by a luxuriant and varied vege¬ 
tation. It is wholly mountainous or ele- 



GUATEMALA-GUDGEON. 


vated, the main chain of the continuation 
of the Andes traversing it south-east to 
north - west, and . sending off numerous 
branches. Along the main chain are a con¬ 
siderable number of volcanoes, several of 
which are said to be active—as Fuego and 
Agua (14,890 feet high), which sends forth 
torrents of water. The state is well watered 
by numerous streams, none of much impor¬ 
tance. There are several lakes, the most 
important being Dulce, through which a 
great part of the foreign trade of the state 
is carried on; Ainatitlan, Atitlan, and Peten. 
On the table-land, of which a considerable 
portion of the state is formed, the climate 
is mild; but in more elevated situations the 
cold is intense. There is much valuable 
timber. The soil generally is of great fer¬ 
tility, producing according to altitude, soil, 
&c., maize, wheat, rice, coffee, cotton, to¬ 
bacco, sugar, cochineal, cacao, indigo, vege¬ 
tables, and tropical fruits in great variet}’’. 
Fibre plants are numerous, including ramie, 
henequen, and others. The most important 
product is coffee, and the other chief ex¬ 
ports are skins, caoutchouc, cochineal, wool, 
&c. The trade is chiefly carried on with 
Britain and the United States. The exports 
in 1890 were $14,401,534; the imports, $7,- 
639,833. (Nominal value of $1 is 4s.) In the 
altos or mountainous parts of the north¬ 
west considerable flocks of sheep ai'e raised, 
the wool of which is manufactured into 
coarse fabrics. But the manufacturing in¬ 
dustries are very insignificant, and trade is 
hindered by the want of roads and railways, 
the total length of the latter being only 
about 150 miles. Only about a third of the 
population are of European or mixed de¬ 
scent, the rest being Indians of the Aztec, 
Toltec or Maya races, mostly speaking their 
own native tongue. Numbers of the In¬ 
dians are still quite uncivilized. Great at¬ 
tention is now being paid to education, the 
children, even Indians, in small and remote 
villages being compelled to attend school. 
The capital is Guatemala la Nueva (New 
Guatemala). The chief port is San Josd on 
the Pacific; Champerico on the Pacific, and 
Livingston in the Bay of Honduras are the 
t)ther ports. The legislative power is vested 
in a national assembly elected for six years 
by universal suffrage. The executive is 
vested in a president, elected for four years. 
The revenue in 1890 was $6,638,336; 
the public debt, 1892, $17,356,76 ^—New 
Guatemala, or Santiago be Guatemala, 
the capital, is situated about 6000 feet above 


the sea, and 80 miles distant from the Pa¬ 
cific. It is regularly built, has a fine cathe¬ 
dral, archbishop’s palace, a university, &c., 
and manufactures of textiles, cigars, pottery, 
saddlei’y, embroidery, &c. Pop. 70,000.—• 
Old Guatemala, the former capital, was 
founded by the Spanish in 1542, and con¬ 
tinued to be the capital till 1774, when it 
was destroyed by a volcanic outbreak. It 
has been rebuilt, and the population is now 
about 20,000. Reciprocity of trade with U. 
States was established in May, 1892. Feb. 
9,1898, President Barrios was assassinated. 

Guava (gwa'va), the popular name for 
■plants of the tropical genus Psidium of the 
nat. order Myrtaceye. P. Guaiava (theguava 
tree) is a small tree, with Sqtrare branches, 
egg-shaped leaves, and large white axillary 
flowers, which are succeeded by fleshy ber¬ 
ries, which are either apple or pear shaped 
in the two principal varieties. The pulp is 
of an agreeable flavour, and of this fruit is 
made a delicious and well-known jelly. 
There is also a product called guava cheese. 

Guaviare (gwii-vi-a'ra), ariver of Colum- 
bia,an afiluentof the Orinoco; length, 900m. 

Guayaquil (gwl-a-kel'), a city and sea¬ 
port in Ecuador, on the Guayaquil, here 
about 2 miles wide, some 40 miles above its 
mouth in the Gulf of Guayaquil. Behind 
the town is an extensive marsh, which ren¬ 
ders it unhealthy. There is also a deficiency 
of water, but the town is improving, and 
has already tramways and telephones. It 
is the chief port of Ecuador, and one of the 
best on the west coast of South America. 
Its principal exports are cacao (to the value 
sometimes of £1,000,000), coffee, and ivory- 
nuts. Pop. estimated at 40,000. 

Guayra (gwi'ra). La, a seaq)ort in Vene¬ 
zuela, closely surrounded by mountains and 
precipices. It carries on a considerable trade, 
and exports coffee, cacao, &c. Pop. about 
7500. 

Gubbio (giib'i-o; ancient If/uvium), a town 
in Italy, in the province of Umbria. It is 
a bishop’s see, and has manufactures of silk 
and woollen stuffs. Here were discovered 
the Eugubine Tables (which see) in 1444. 
Pop. 5540. 

Guben, a town in Prussia, province of 
Brandenburg. Brewing, dyeing, and tan¬ 
ning are carried on, and there are manu¬ 
factures of woollen and linen cloth, tobacco, 
&c. Pop. 27,091. 

Gudgeon (Gobio), a fresh-water fish, be¬ 
longing to the carp family (Cyprinidae). It 
has short dorsal and anal fins, without spines; 

298 



GUDRUN — 

on each side of the mouth there is a small 
barbel; neither jaw is furnished with teeth, 
but, at the entrance of the throat, there are 
two triangular bones that perform the office 
of grinders. These fish are taken in gentle 
streams, and measure only about 6 inches. 

Gudrun (gud'riin), a celebrated German 
popular epic belonging to the end of the 
12th century, receiving its name from its 
heroine Gudrun, daughter of King Hettel 
of Hegelingen. Hettel is defeated by Hart- 
mut, son of King Louis of Normandy, who 
carries Gudrun off, and on her steadfast 
refusal to marry him, has her subjected to 
various kinds of ill treatment, and in par¬ 
ticular lets his mother keep her for years 
engaged in the lowest kinds of drudgery. 
At last she is released and revenged by her 
brother and her betrothed, king Her wig of 
Seeland. The poem also deals with the 
fortunes of Gudrun’s father and mother, 
grandfather and grandmother, &c., and the 
scene is partly in North Germany, Denmark, 
Friesland, partly in Ireland and Normandy. 

Guebres, Guebers (ge'berz), a name given 
to the fire-worshippers of Persia, represented 
in India by the Parsees. The original Gue¬ 
bres or followers of Zoroaster are now re¬ 
presented almost solely by those who inhabit 
the cities of Yezd and Kirman and the ad¬ 
joining villages. At present they number 
only about 7000. As supreme deity they 
recognize Ahuramazda, or Ormuzd, the prin¬ 
ciple of light and source of all that is good; 
and his opposite and antagonist, the evil 
principle, the latter called Ahriman. They 
believe in the existence of heaven and hell, 
between which stretches the Bridge of the 
Gatherer or Judge; over this none but the 
righteous may pass. Among their lead¬ 
ing practices may be mentioned their re¬ 
fusal to contract marriages with those of 
other creeds; their objection to eat beef or 
pork, or to partake of anything cooked by one 
of another religion, &c. They regard Ahura¬ 
mazda as the source of light, and in their 
temples they feed the altars with perpetual 
fire, and hence their name fire-worshippers; 
but they do not revere it except as a symbol 
of the deity. When, in 651 a.d., Yezdegird, 
the last of the Sassanides, was defeated by 
the Caliph Omar, the majority of the Per¬ 
sians embraced Islamism. Those who con¬ 
tinued Zoroastrians received the name of 
Guebres or infidels, and were subjected to 
persecutions so severe that the majority 
emigrated to India, where they became 
known as Parsees. See Parsees. 

299 


GUERCtNO. 

Guebwiller, the French form of Gehweiler 
(which see). 

Guelderland. See Gelderland. 

Guelder Rose, or Gueldres Rose, a name 
given to the cultivated variety of the Vi- 
burnum Opulus, or water elder, of the order 
Caprifoliacese. On account of the shape 
and colour of its flowers it is sometimes 
called the Snowball Tree. Its fruit is of a 
pretty red colour. 

Guelfs, or Guelphs, the name of a dis¬ 
tinguished princely family which originated 
in Germany, but was also at one time con¬ 
nected with Italy, and which still flour¬ 
ishes in the two lines of the house of Bruns¬ 
wick, the royal (to which the reigning family 
in Britain belongs) and the ducal. The first 
who bore the name is said to have been 
Welf, the son of Isenbrand, whose grand¬ 
father was a vassal of Charlemagne. See 
Brunswick (Family of) and Guelfs and 
Ghihellines. 

Guelfs (or Guelphs) and Ghihellines, the 
names of two great Italian political parties 
in the 13th and 14th centuries. The names 
are derived from the Italian Guelfi and 
Ghihcllini, which are corrupted from the 
German Welfen and Waihlimjen. These 
latter words came to be used as party de¬ 
signations in Germany, in the war between 
Henry the Proud and Conrad of Hohen- 
staufen, to whom belonged the estate of 
Waiblingen in Wiirtemberg. About the 
year 1200 the designations Guelf and Ghi- 
belline came to be employed to denote re¬ 
spectively the Italian patriotic and papal 
party, and the party which supported the 
domination of the German emperors in Italy. 
After the fall of the Hohenstaufen the Ghi- 
bellines became the partisans of aristocracy, 
and the Guelfs the partisans of democi’acy 
and liberty; but the designations ultimately 
denoted mere communal and family feuds, 
and Dante, originally a Guelf, but subse¬ 
quently a Ghibelline, asserted that the two 
parties were the cause of all the miseries 
of Italy. The contest continued with bitter¬ 
ness for almost 300 years. Corresponding 
parties appeared in Italy under many dif¬ 
ferent names, as the hianchi and neri (white 
and black) in Florence, &c. 

Guelph, town of Canada, prov. Ontario, 
in a rich farming district, 45 miles w. of 
Toronto, with manufactures of woollens, 
sewing-machines, and agricultural imple¬ 
ments, and a model farm kept up by the 
provincial government. Pop. 1891, 10,539. 

Guercino (gwer-che'no). See Barbieri, 



GUEREZA - 

Guereza or Guerza (ger'e-za, ger'za; 
Colubus guerza), a species of monkey remark¬ 
able for its beauty, inhabiting the moun¬ 
tains of Abyssinia. Short, glossy, jet-black 
fur covers its limbs, back, and head, while 
a long fringe of silky white hair depends 
from the flanks. It frequents lofty trees. 

Guericke (ger'ik-e), Otto von, German 
physicist, born at Magdeburg {of which he 
became burgomaster or mayor) 1602, died 
at Hamburg 1686. About 1650 he inven¬ 
ted the air-pump, with which he made pub¬ 
lic experiments at the diet at Ratisbon, 
^NDfore the Emperor Ferdinand III. His 
most important observations, collected by 
himself, appeared at Amsterdam in folio (in 
1672). 

Guerin, Jean Baptiste Paulin, French 
painter, born at Toulon 1783, died at Paris 
1855. He painted portraits and historical 
subjects; chief pictures—Cain after the 
Death of Abel, The Dead Christ, Adam 
and Eve driven out of Paradise, Anne of 
Austria and her Sons, &c. 

Guernsey (gern'zi), the second largest 
and most western of the Channel Islands, 
lying off the north coast of France, 46 miles 
from Cherbourg, and about 68 miles from 
Start Point in Devonshire. It is of a ti'ian- 
gular form, about 9 miles long, and 3 to 4 
miles broad. The northern part is level, 
the southern more elevated, coast lofty and 
abrupt, the island being almost entii'ely of 
granite formation. The climate is extremely 
healthy; snow is rare, and frosts light and 
of short continuance. The soil is fertile. 
The breeding of cattle and the dairy are the 
principal objects of attention; and the 
butter made is highly esteemed. Horti¬ 
culture and floriculture also receive much 
attention, and fruit, especially figs and 
grapes (the latter grown under glass), is 
very abundant. The grape - houses are 
further utilized for the raising of early 
vegetables and tomatoes, which are sent to 
the London mai’ket. The principal exports 
are cattle (the dairy cows being renowned), 
fruits, vegetables in the early spring; granite 
for pavmg, &c. The dialect of the island 
is the pure Norman of some centuries ago; 
but a knowledge of English is general. The 
principal place of education is Elizabeth 
College, at St. Peter’s Port, the capital, 
and only town in the island. Steamers ply 
regularly between Guernsey and London, 
Southampton, Plymouth, and Weymouth. 
The island is under a lieutenant-governor, 
who represents the sovereign in the assembly 


-GUIANA. 

of the states, a kind of local parliament. It 
is strongly fortified, and has a well-organized 
militia. Pop. 37,754. See Channel Islands. 

Guernsey Lily, Arrme Sarniensis, abeauti- 
ful plant, with purple red flowers, native of 
S. Africa, family Amaryllidaceae, so called 
from some of its bulbs being cast up in 
Guernsey from a wrecked ship and there 
taking root. There are several other spe¬ 
cies also called Guernsey lilies. 

Guerrero (ger-ra'ro), a state of Mexico; 
area, 24,227 square miles. Its surface is 
finely diversified by mountain and valley, 
and partly covered by native forests; and 
it is rich in minerals, including gold, silver, 
copper, and iron. The principal port is 
Acapulco. Pop. 353,193. mostly Indians. 

Guerrillas (ge-ril'az, in Spanish ge-ril'- 
yas), a name first given in Spain to light, 
irregular troops, consisting chiefly of peas¬ 
ants who fought against the invading French 
in the early part of the present century. 
The name has now become quite a general 
term for such ii’regular troops, and has tra¬ 
velled far beyond Spain. 

Guesclin, Bertrand du. See Du Gues- 
clin. 

Gueux igeu; Fr. ‘beggars’), a name given 
in derision to the allied nobles and other 
malcontents in the Netherlands, who re¬ 
sisted the despotism of Philip II., in 1566- 
67. The Count of Barlaimont having 
termed the malcontents Gueux, they adopted 
the name, and a suitable badge called the 
‘beggar’s denier.’ They were totally dis¬ 
persed in 1567. 

Guevara y Duehas (ga-va'ra e du-en'yas), 
Luis Velez de, a Spanish dramatic poet, 
born in 1570, died 1644. His literary fame 
rests chiefly on his Diablo Cojuelo (Lame 
Devil), which suggested the famous Diable 
Boiteux of Le Sage. 

Guglielmi (gul-yel'me), Pietro, Italian 
composer, born 1727, died 1804. He com¬ 
posed comic and heroic operas for the 
Italian theatre, visited Vienna, Madrid, and 
London, and afterwards returned to Naples, 
where he became the rival of Paesiello. In 
1793 Pius VI. named him chapel-master of 
St. Peter’s. He left more than 200 pieces, 
remarkable for their simple and beautiful 
airs, their rich harmony, and their spirit 
and originality. 

Guiana (gi-an'a), British, a colony in 
the north of South America, about 560 miles 
long, and about 200 miles broad, having E. 
Dutch Guiana, w. Venezuela and Brazil, n. 
and N.E. the Atlantic, and s. Brazil; esti- 

300 



GUIANA. 


mated area, 109,000 sq. miles. It is divided 
into three settlements—Berbice, Uemerara, 
and Essequibo. The coast tract forms a 
dreary belt, 10 to 40 miles broad, of mud- 
banks and shallows, and when drained the 
surface sinks 1 foot below the sea-level, 
hence strict attention must be paid to dams 
and sluices. This alluvial deposit is suc¬ 
ceeded by a range of low hills not exceeding 
200 feet in height. The interior is traversed 
in various directions by chains of hills or 
mountains. On the western boundary is the 
singular flat-topped and alm.ost inaccessible 
mountain Eoraima, rising to a height of 
8600 feet. The other principal ranges are 
the Sierra Imataca, in the north part of the 
country; the Cannucu or Conocou, and the 
Sierra Acarai—the last occupying the ex¬ 
treme s.E. corner of the territory forming 
its boundary in this direction. They are 
densely wooded, but do not reach a greater 
elevation than 4000 feet. The geological 
composition of the mountains of British 
Guiana is various. Some of them consist of 
granite, gneiss, and trap rocks, and their 
different modifications; others are of sand¬ 
stone; and others again appear to be of 
white quartz, which, from the quantity cf 
mica they contain, shine like gold. Bock 
crystals and red agate are met with; and 
very white clay is found in the Essequibo. 
The extensive flats along the shore are com¬ 
posed of alluvial soil and clays, resting upon 
granite. The chief rivers are the Esse¬ 
quibo, Demerara, Berbice, and Corentyn. 
The climate, though moist and warm, is 
not on the whole unhealthy. Cultivation 
is confined to the coast region; the soil is 
very fertile, and much of it well adapted 
for the sugar-cane, the cultivation of which 
is mostly carried on by Indian and Chinese 
coolies. Guiana also produces coffee, to¬ 
bacco, indigo, &c. Vegetation is singularly 
luxuriant, and the forest-trees are of the 
most magnificent description. Fruits, medi¬ 
cinal plants, fibrous vegetables, dyeing 
woods, &c., abound. The flora includes the 
Victoria Regia, the largest of the water- 
lilies. Among the animals are the jaguar, 
tapir, armadillo, sloth, vampire bat, alli¬ 
gator, &c., and many species of birds, such 
as humming-birds, parrots, &c. Snakes, 
some of them venomous, and troublesome 
insects are numerous. Guiana has two dry 
and two wet seasons, each continuing for 
three months: December, January, Feb¬ 
ruary, June, July, and August, constitute 
the wet season, the other mouths of the 

m 


year the dry. The mean annual tempera¬ 
ture is nearly 81° 2'. Violent thunder¬ 
storms occur at the change of the seasons; 
but the hurricanes, so destructive in the 
West Indies, are unknown. In the dry 
seasons the climate is agreeable, and in the 
interior, more healthy than in many parts 
of the West Indies. The trade is concen¬ 
trated mainly in Georgetown, the capital. 


Indians of Guiana. 



Sugar, rum, and molasses are the principal 
exports. The exports in the year 1891 were 
£2,532,554; im])ortsamountedto£l,707,770. 
The government consists of a governor and 
a court of policy of 15 members; also a com¬ 
bined court, consisting of the court of policy 
and 6 flnancial representatives. Guiana was 
first settled by the Dxitch about 1580. It 
was taken by the British in 1783, 1796, and 
again in 1803, and latterly it was definitively 
given up to them. Pop. 1891, 288,328; a 
great proportion being of African race or 
coolies from India. 

Guiana, Dutch, or Surinam, a Dutch 
colony in South America, situated between 
English and French Guiana; area, about 
46,060 sq. miles. The general aspect is the 
same with that of British Guiana—flat and 
swampy on the coast, and mountainous in 
the interior; well watered by numerous 
streams, and of which the Surinam and its 
affluents are the chief. It has also a simi¬ 
larly warm, moist climate, and is very fertile. 
Only a small part of the colony is under 
cultivation. On the Surinam river, about 10 
miles from its mouth, is situated the capital, 
Paramaribo. The principal exports are 
sugar, coffee, molasses, and rum. The gov-. 


GUIANA- 

ernment is vested in a governor-general and 
council. Pop. 1891, 56,873. 

Guiana, French, a French colony in 
South America, between Dutch Guiana and 
Brazil; area, about 35,000 sq. miles. This 
territory resembles British Guiana in its 
physical features, climate, and vegetable 
productions, with the addition, in the latter 
case, of pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, 
&c. The colony comprises the island of 
Cayenne, celebrated for the pepper bearing 
that name. Gold has also been found in 
considerable quantities. The French are 
said to have first settled in Cayenne in 1604. 
Pop. 25,157. 

Guiana Bark, the bark of Portlandia 
Kexandra, order Cinchonacefe, considered to 
possess great value as a febrifuge. 

Guicciardini (gwe-char-de'ne), Fran¬ 
cesco, Italian historian, born at Florence 
1482, died 1540. He became professor of 
jurisprudence at Florence, and held various 
public appointments. He began in 1534 
his famous History of Italy—Dell’ Istoria 
d’ltalia—which embraces the period 1490- 
1534. It has been translated into English. 

Guicowar’s (gi-ko-war') Dominion. See 
Baroda. 

Guides, in an army, peisons selected for 
their acquaintance with the topography of 
the place in which the army operates, and 
employed to conduct the army or detach¬ 
ments of it to any place which has to be 
reached. The name of ‘guides’ is some¬ 
times given to troops without any very 
specific meaning. In the Indian army it is 
given to a regiment of cavalry and infantry 
attached to the Punjab Frontier Force. 

Guido Aretino (gwe'do a-re-te'no), or 
Guido d’ Arezzo, an Italian monk, cele¬ 
brated for his skill in music, flourished in 
the 11th century. He was a native of 
Arezzo, became a Benedictine monk, and 
finally prior of Avellana, where he died, 
1050. He invented the musical staff of lines 
and spaces (or at least systematized their 
use), and he introduced the names of the first 
six notes of the scale, ut, re, mi, fa, sol, le. 

Guidon (gi'don), the little flag or standard 
of a troop of cavalry. 

Guido Reni (gwe'do ra'ng), a celebrated 
Italian painter, born at Bologna in 1575, 
died there 1642. Being the son of a musi¬ 
cian he devoted some time to the study of 
music, but, as painting seemed his true vo¬ 
cation, he was placed under the tuition of 
Dionysius Calvaert, and subsequently joined, 
in bis twentieth year, the school of the Ca- 


- GUILD. 

racci. In 1602 he visited Borne, and having 
seen the paintings of Caravaggio, he imi¬ 
tated his style. At the request of Cardinal 
Borghese he painted The Crucifixion of St. 
Peter and the Aurora. He was also em¬ 
ployed by Paul V. to paint a chapel on 
IMonte Cavallo, and one in Santa Maria- 
Maggiore. Guido’s paintings are generally 
considered as belonging to three different 
periods. His earliest pictures, after the 
style of Caravaggio and Caracci, display 
powerful contrasts of light and shade. His 
second manner exhibits light and agreeable 
colouring, with little shade. His third period 
is marked by careless haste. Having quar¬ 
relled with Cardinal Spinola, the treasurer 
of Urban VIII., he left Rome and returned 
to Bologna, but was subsequently recalled. 
In 1622 he removed to Naples, but, after a 
brief stay, returned once more to Bologna, 
never to leave it again. Among his most 
famous works may be mentioned his Aurora, 
his Magdalene, Michael Vanquishing Satan, 
Lot and his Daughters, his Fortune, &c. 
Guido was also celebrated in his own day 
for his etchings, but his works of this class 
have now sunk very much in value.. 

Guienne, or Guyenne (ge-en'), an ancient 
province of France, now comprising the de¬ 
partments of Gironde, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, 
Dordogne, and Aveyron, with part of Landes 
and of Tarn-et-Garonne. The capital was 
Bordeaux. It fell into the hands of the 
English in 1152, was nearly all conquered 
by Charles V. in 1377, reconquered by 
Henry V. and Henry VI., and finally an¬ 
nexed to France 1453. 

Guignet’s Green (ge-nya), a pigment pre¬ 
pared by heating in a reverberatory furnace 
a mixture of three parts of boracic acid and 
one of bichromate of potassium, made into 
a thick paste with water. This colour is 
quite fixed—it does not alter by light or 
reagents, and it is quite harmless, so that 
it forms an excellent substitute for the 
greens which contain arsenic and copper. 

Guild, a society or association for carrying 
on commerce, a handicraft, or some other 
undertaking. Such associations are known 
from very early times in various countries. 
The societies of tradesmen exclusively au¬ 
thorized to practise their art, and governed 
by laws of their own, played a very import¬ 
ant part in the middle ages. They often 
formed a bulwark against the oppression of 
the nobility, and were thus extremely con¬ 
ducive to the growth of municipal and civil 
liberty. Traces of these trade societies ar? 

302 . 



GUILD 


GUILLEMOT. 


found in the 10th century. In Milan we 
find the mechanics united under the name 
credentia. At Florence the trades were 
federated into twenty-one guilds or arti. 
These originated in 1282, on the overthrow 
of the nobility, and every candidate for 
citizenship was obliged to enter some par¬ 
ticular guild. Such a step became a neces¬ 
sity at a period in which individual rights, 
as such, failed to secure respect. The purely 
Teutonic guilds, although connected with 
the constitution of the cities, possessed cer¬ 
tain peculiarities. In the 13th century the 
German guilds of craftsmen obtained the 
right of defending by arms their own in¬ 
terests, and became so powerful that per¬ 
sons unconnected with a trade were often 
glad to attach themselves to them. As 
illustrations of the manner in which as¬ 
sociations originally instituted for defen¬ 
sive purposes became the mainstay of a 
tyrannical monopoly may be mentioned, the 
frequent withholding of permission from 
more than a certain number of master me¬ 
chanics to reside in one place, the restrictions 
placed upon particular branches of industry, 
and upon the free exercise, by each individual, 
of his trade except under the sanction of the 
guilds. With the view of destroying the 
political influence which they had acquired 
the Emperor Frederick II. abolished them 
by a decree issued in 1240; but the decree 
remained without effect, as did also the 
clauses inserted with a similar view into 
the Golden Bull in 1356, and it was not 
until the present century that unrestricted 
freedom to practise any ti’ade was estab¬ 
lished in the German states. In Austria 
this was done in 1860, and in 1868 it was 
done for all the states of the North Ger¬ 
man Confederation. In Britain trade guilds 
long possessed an importance which was 
mainly political. As the right of voting was 
involved in the membership of a guild, many 
persons, not mechanics, acquired the rights 
of ‘freemen’ by connecting themselves with 
some body of this kind. These guilds, in 
England, had no legal right to prevent any 
man from exercising what trade he pleased. 
The only restriction on the exercise of 
trades was the statute of Elizabeth, requir¬ 
ing seven years’ apprenticeship. This the 
courts held to extend to such trades only 
as were in being at the time of the passing 
of that statute; but by an act passed in 
1835, every kind of restriction on artisans, 
trades, &c., was abolished. The guilds or 
companies of the city of London (among the 

303 


oldest of which are the weavers, founded in 
1164; the parish clerks, in 1232; the saddlers, 
in 1280; the fishmongers, in 1284) are still 
very important corporations, which give re¬ 
lief to poor and decayed members, and also 
manage vast funds bequeathed for benevo¬ 
lent purposes. Besides the secular guilds 
there were from a very early period, in 
Britain, religious guilds. From the time 
of Henry II. all such guilds were required 
to have a charter from the crown. In 
1388 a return of these guilds was ordered 
to be made, and it was then found that that 
of Corpus Christi, York, numbered 14,800 
members. The property of the religious 
guilds was sequestrated in the reign of 
Henry VIII. In France guild-privileges 
were sold by the state from the 10th cen¬ 
tury till the revolution of 1789, but at that 
date guilds were entirely abolished. This 
was done also at a later period in Belgium, 
Holland, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark. 
Many of the trades-unions have now some¬ 
what of the character of the ancient guilds. 

Guildford, a town of England, the county 
town of Surrey, on the Wey, a well-built 
and thriving place. It has an iron-foundry, 
corn, paper, and powder mills, and an im¬ 
portant grain market. It ceased to be a 
parliamentary burgh in 1885. Pop. 10,858. 

Guildhall, the city hall of London, Cheap- 
side, first built in 1411, all but consumed 
in the great fire of 1666; and in 1669 re¬ 
built. The front was not erected until 
1789. The most remarkable room is the 
hall, 153 feet long, 48 broad, and 55 high, 
used for city feasts, &c. It contains the 
curious wooden statues of Gog and Magog. 
In the common-council room is a collection 
of pictures, some of them valuable. There 
is also a library in the Guildhall. 

Guillemot (gil'e-mot), a name of several 
web-footed birds belonging to the family 
Alcidae or auks. 

The guillemots 
have a straight, 
compressed, 
and pointed 
bill, covered 
with feathers 
as far as the 
nostrils, and 
have no hallux 
or hind - toe. Common Guillemot ( Uria troile ). 
The wings are 

pointed and very short, the legs also short, 
and placed far back. They live on fish, 
and build on precipitous rocks adjoining the. 









GUILLOCHE 


GUINEA-FOWL. 


sea. The common guillemot {Uria troile), 
about 18 inches in length, lays one egg; 
the black guillemot {U. grylle)^ of the 
North Atlantic, is smaller and lays two 
or three eggs; the U. lacleolus is entirely 
white. 

Guilloche (gil-losh'), in Grecian archi¬ 
tecture, an ornament consisting of straight 
or curved bands symmetrically interplaited. 

Guillotine (gil-lo-ten'), an engine for be¬ 
heading persons at one stroke—an inven¬ 
tion of the middle ages—adopted with im¬ 
provements by the National Assembly of 
France during the first revolution on the 


El 



Guillotine as used in Paris. 


proposal of a Dr. Guillotin, after whom it is 
named. In this apparatus decapitation is 
effected by means of a steel blade loaded 
with a mass of lead, and sliding between 
two upright posts, grooved on their inner 
sides, the person’s neck being confined in a 
circular opening between two planks, the 
upper one of which also slides up or down. 
The condemned is strapped to a board, which 
in the cut is showm resting horizontal!}^ on 
the table in front of the upright posts, but 
which is easily drawn forward and set up¬ 
right when necessary, and again canted over 
upon the table and rapidly moved up so as 
to place the neck of the condemned lyithin 
the semicircle of the lower plank, the other 
being raised for the purpose. On the right 
of the table is a large basket or trough of 
wicker-work for the reception of the body. 
Under the place where the head rests is an 
oblong trough for its reception. The knife 
is fixed to the cap or lintel on the top of the 


posts by a claw in the form of an 8, the 
lower part of which opens as the upper part 
closes. This claw is acted upon by a lever 
to which a cord is attached. When the 
head of the condemned is in position the 
cord is pulled, and by the action of the 
lever the knife is set at liberty, descending 
by the grooves in the upright posts and 
falling upon the neck of the condemned just 
behind the planks which keep the head in 
position. The scaffold, which is surrounded 
by an open railing, is raised 6 or 7 feet from 
the ground. The same name is given to a 
machine which cuts by a knife descending 
between grooved posts, much used for cut¬ 
ting paper, straw, &c. 

Guimaraens, or Guimak.es (ge-ma-rans'), 
a town in Portugal, province of Minho, 
strongly fortified and well built. Pop. 8205. 

Guinea (gin'e), a geographical division of 
Western Africa, including the Atlantic coast¬ 
line and an indefinite area of the interior be¬ 
tween the frontiers of Senegambia and Cape 
Negro, or Cape Frio (where German territory 
now begins). It is divided into two districts, 
lying north and south of Cape Lopez: the 
former, called North or Upper Guinea, in¬ 
cludes Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Grain, 
Ivory, Gold, and Slave coasts, the states 
Ashantee, Dahomey, Benin, &c.; the latter, 
called South or Lower Guinea, includes 
Congo, Angola, and Benguela. See the 
separate articles. 

Guinea, an English gold coin worth 21s. 
sterling. Guineas were first coined, in the 
reign of Charles II. (1663), of gold from 
Guinea, and bore the figure of an elephant. 
Its value ranged at different times from 
20s. up to 30s., until, in 1717, it was fixed 
at 21s. In 1817 the coin was withdrawn 
from circulation. It is, however, still cus¬ 
tomary to estimate professional honoraria, 
&c. in guineas. 

Guinea, Gulf of, that portion of the 
Atlantic which washes the shores of Upper 
Guinea, between Cape Palmas and Cape 
Lopez, and including the bights of Benin 
and Biafra. The islands of Fernando Po, 
Prince’s, and St. Thomas, are within this 
gulf. 

Guinea, New. See New Guinea. 

Guinea-corn, a name given to durra, one 
of the grains also called millet. In the U. 
States it is cultivated under the name of 
broom-corn. 

Guinea-fowl, or Pintado, a genus of gal¬ 
linaceous birds, family Phasianidae or phea¬ 
sants, originally all natives of Africa. The 

304 



























GUINEA-GRASS-GUISCARD. 


common guinea-fowl {Numida melcagris), 
now well known as a domestic fowl, has a 
slate-coloured plumage varied with round 
white spots. It is about the size of a com¬ 
mon fowl, and is of a noisy and quarrelsome 



Guinea-fowl {Numida meleagris ). 


disposition. Its eggs are esteemed. Among 
the other species of guinea-fowl may be 
mentioned the Numida vulturlna (or Acryl- 
lium vulturlnum), by far the most beautiful, 
with somewhat vulturine head and neck; 
the Numida mitrdta, found in Kaffraria and 
in Madagascar; and the Numida cristdta, 
a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 

Guinea-grass {Panlcum maximum), a 
very tall species of grass, a native of Africa, 
of the same genus with the millet, often 6, 
and sometimes even 10 feet in height. It 
has been naturalized in South America and 
the West Indies, and largely cultivated for 
fodder. It does not perish even in the tem¬ 
perate zone, but there it is not so produc¬ 
tive as in warmer climates. 

Guinea Pepper {Xylopia aromatica), a 
lofty tree of the same family with the cus¬ 
tard apple. Its fruit, consisting of dry car¬ 
pels, is used as pepper, ‘Negro Pepper.’ 
The term Guinea Pepper is often used as an 
equivalent for Grains of Paradise, or Mala- 
guetta. It is also a common designation of 
Capsicum frutescens. See Capsicum. 

Guinea-pig, a well-known rodent mam¬ 
mal, family Cavidse or Cavies. The do¬ 
mestic specimen is sometimes regarded as 
descended from Cavia aperea, and some¬ 
times termed Cavia cohaya. It is a native 
of South America (like the other cavies), 
and resembles the pig only in its grunting 
voice. It is a timid little animal, extremely 
prolific, and it feeds on vegetables, especi¬ 
ally parsley, bread, grain, &c. It is very 
destitute of intelligence. 

Guinea-plum, the fruit of a West African 
tree, Parinarium excelsum, order Chryso- 
balanaceae, growing to the height of 60 ft. 

Guinea-worm {Filaria Medinensis), a 
VOL. IV. 305 


parasitic worm of the order Nematod*, 
white, of the thickness of pack-thread, 
somewhat attenuated at the hook-shaped 
posterior extremity. It varies in length from 
6 inches to several feet, and it is found in 
the intertropical regions of the Old World. 
It is frequently found in the tissue of the 
human body below the skin, and produces a 
painful ulcer, out of which a small portion 
of the worm issues to eject its eggs. It 
is then carefully extracted by winding it 
round a stick once or twice every day, care 
being exercised not to break the worm. The 
manner in which it effects an entrance into 
the body is unknown. 

Guingamp (gan-gan), a town in France, 
dep. C6tes-du-Nord, on the Tileux; has 
manufactures of linen, thread, &c., and 
several tanneries. Pop. 8744. 

Guipuzcoa (ge-puth'ko-a), one of the 
three Basque provinces, in the n.e. of Spain, 
bounded N. by the Bay of Biscay; N.E. 
by France; area, 728 sq. miles. The coast 
is bold and rocky, and much indented; 
the interior is generally mountainous. The 
chief riches of the province are in its 
minerals, particularly iron, and its woods, 
which are used in smelting it. San Sebas¬ 
tian is the capital. Pop. 1887, 181,856. 

Guisborough (giz'bii-ro), a town in Eng¬ 
land, in the county of York (North Biding), 
situated in a narrow but fertile valley, ex¬ 
tending along the Tees. It has rope-works 
and tanning. Pop. 6616. 

Guiscard gis-kar), Robekt (that is, 
Robert the Cunning), Duke of Apulia and 
Calabria, a son of Tancred de Hauteville, 
born in 1015. His brothers, having ac¬ 
quired large possessions in Italy, Eobert 
followed them about 1053, and in the same 
year captured Pope Leo IX. at Civitella. 
On the death of his brother Humphrey he 
was proclaimed count of Apulia in 1057. 
He then conquered Calabria, and Pope 
Nicholas II. made him gonfalonier of the 
Church. Having become a tributary of the 
holy see, and suppressed the privileges of 
the Apulian nobility, he sent his youngest 
brother, Roger, to seize Sicily. Robert 
himself arrived in Sicily in 1061, and, in 
conjunction with his brother, defeated the 
Saracens at Enna. Returning to Italy, 
Robert conquered the towns still remaining 
in the hands of the Saracens, being detained 
from 1068 to 1071 at the siege of Bari. In 
1074 he was excommunicated by Gregory 
VII. for refusing to become his vassal, but 
the ban was removed in 1080. As hia 

116 



GUISE 


GUITAR. 


daughter Helen was betrothed to the son 
of the Byzantine emperor, Michael VII., 
Guiscard, on the latter’s deposition, took up 
arms in his favour, and defeated Alexis 
Comnenus at Durazzo (1082). As Gregory 
VII. had been meanwhile imprisoned by 
the invading forces of Henry IV. of Ger¬ 
many, Guiscard delivered the pontiff in 
1084. He then went again to Epirus, where 
he repeatedly defeated the Greeks, and, by 
means of his fleet, made himself master of 
many of the islands of the Archipelago. 
He was upon the point of advancing against 
Constantinople, when he died in the island 
of Cephalonia in 1085, 

Guise (gwez), a town of France, dep, of 
Aisne, beautifully situated on the left bank 
of the Oise. It has manufactures of tex¬ 
tiles, iron and copper foundries, &c., and a 
large work for making stoves, connected 
with which is an edifice in which live some 
400 families of the working people. It is 
an ancient city, and its castle gave its title 
to the distinguished family of that name 
(see the following article). Pop. 7677. 

Guise (gwez), a distinguished ducal family 
of France, a branch of the house of Lor¬ 
raine. The founder was Claude, a son of 
Ren^ II,, duke of Lorraine, who in 1506 
became naturalized in France. In his 
favour the county of Guise was erected in 
1528 by Francis I. into a duchy. He died 
in 1550, leaving behind him five daughters 
(the eldest of whom, Marie, married James 
V. of Scotland, and was the mother of Mary, 
queen of Scots) and six sons—-Frangois, 
who succeeded him, Charles (Cardinal of 
Lorraine), Louis (Cardinal of Guise), Claude, 
Frangois, and Rene. The family acquired 
great political importance on the accession 
of Francis II., who was married to Mary, 
queen of Scots. The direct line became 
extinct in 1675. In 1704 the title was re¬ 
vived for the house of CondA—Two of the 
dukes require particular mention. —Fran- 
giois DE Lorraine, the second duke, born 
in 1519, early distinguished himself in 
war, especially at Metz, which he defended 
with success against Charles V., and at 
the battle of Renti, 1544. In his Italian 
expedition (1556-57) he failed to conquer 
the kingdom of Naples. But he was suc¬ 
cessful in that which resulted in the final 
annexation of Calais to France. Under 
Henry II. and Francis II. he was the vir¬ 
tual ruler of France. On the death of 
Francis 11. the factions of Condd and 
Guise arose, the Protestants (Huguenots) 


being on the side of the former, the Catholics 
on that of the latter. When civil war broke 
out the Duke of Guise took Rouen and 
Bourges, and won the battle of Dreux in 
1562. He w'as preparing for the siege of 
Orleans, the central point of the Protestant 
party, when he was assassinated by a Hu¬ 
guenot nobleman, Feb. 1563. He left 
memoirs written by himself. —Henry, third 
duke, eldest son of the preceding, was born 
in 1550. He was a bitter opponent of the 
Huguenots, and fought against them at 
Jarnac and Moncontour, and advised the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew (1572). From 
revenge he personally conducted the assas¬ 
sins to the house of Coligny. In 1576 was 
formed the Catholic League, first projected 
by his uncle, the Cardinal of Lorraine. A 
period of civil war followed, the party of 
Guise proved too strong for his opponents, 
and having brought about a rising of the 
Catholics in Paris (May 1588), he entered 
the city in triumph. He might now have 
made himself master of the throne, but 
negotiations were set on foot, and the duke’s 
displays of imprudent ambition led to his 
assassination in the king’s cabinet, Dec. 23, 
1588, at Blois, whither the states had been 
summoned in order finally to ratify the 
treaty that had been arranged. 

Guitar (gi-tiir'), a stringed instrument 
with a hollow body, and a neck somewhat 
similar to that of a violin, used especially 
to accompany the 
voice. The mo¬ 
dern or Spanish 
guitar has six 
strings, the three 
highest of gut, the 
three lowest of 
silk covered with 
fine wire, tuned 
respectively to the 
E in the second 
space of the bass 
staff, A its fourth, 
and the treble 
D, C, B, and E. 

The intermediate 
intervals are pro¬ 
duced by bring¬ 
ing the strings, by the pressure of the fin¬ 
gers of the left hand, into contact with 
the frets fixed on the key-board, while those 
of the right pluck or twitch the strings. It 
is extremely popular in Spain. The Span¬ 
iards derived it from the Moors, who brought 
it from the East. 



1, French'Guitar of 17th Century. 
2, Modern Guitar. 


306 
















GULF STREAM. 


GUIZOT 


Guizot (ge-zo), Fkanqois-Piekre-Guil- 
LAUME, French historian and statesman, 
born at Nimes, 1787, died 1874. His father, 
a lawyer, having in 1794 perished by the 
guillotine, his mother and her three sons 
retired to Geneva, where Frangois was gra¬ 
tuitously educated at the gymnasium. In 
1805'he commenced legal studies at Paris, 
but gradually drifted into the literary pro¬ 
fession. In 1812 he married Mdlle. de 
Meulan, editor of the Publiciste, and be¬ 
came professor of history at the Sorbonne. 
On the fall of the empire he obtaihed several 
public offices, such as councillor of state, 
and director-general of the departmental 
and communal administration. In 1816 he 
published Du Gouvernement Eepr^sentatif 
et de rfitat actuel de la France, and Essai sur 
r Instruction Publique. In 1820 the Due de 
Berry was assassinated, and Guizot’s party 
fell before an ultra-royalist reaction. In 
1825 he was deprived of his chair on account 
of the political character of his lectures, 
but it was restored to him in 1828. In 
1829 he again became councillor of state, 
and in 1830 was elected deputy for the 
arrondissement of Lisieux. After the July 
revolution he was appointed minister of the 
interior, but resigned in 1831. After the 
death of Perier, Guizot, along with Thiers 
and De Broglie, formed a coalition ministry, 
and he rendered great service as minister of 
public instruction. He became ambassador 
at the British court in 1840, and next year 
he became the real head of the government 
of which Soult was the nominal chief. He 
retained the office of minister of foreign affairs 
until 1848, and during that period opposed 
all measures of reform. After the fall of 
Louis Philippe, Guizot escaped and fled to 
England. Henceforth he practically retired 
from public life. Born of a Calvinist family, 
Guizot always remained a stern Protestant 
of the orthodox type, although he zealously 
supported the temporal authority of the 
pope. Among his numerous works may be 
mentioned, Histoire de la Civilisation en 
France, Histoire g(^ne'rale de la Civilisa¬ 
tion en Europe; Histoire de la Revolution 
d’Angleterre; Washington; Discours sur la 
Revolution d’Angleterre; Meditations et 
Etudes Morales; Guillaume le Conque'rant; 
Memoires pour servir h I’Histoire do mon 
Temps (1858-68); Meditations sur I’fitat 
Actuel de la Religion Chretienne; Me¬ 
langes Biographiques et Litteraire; Histoire 
de France Racontee k mes Petits Enfants; 
&c. 


Gujerat, Gujarat, or Guzerat, a mari¬ 
time province in Western Hindustan, Presi¬ 
dency of Bombay; total area, 70,038 sq. 
miles; pop. 9,779,780. The south-west 
portion is an extensive peninsula, with the 
Gulf of Kach (Cutch) on the north-west 
side, and the Gulf of Cambay on the south¬ 
east. The central districts form an exten¬ 
sive plain, but the northern and eastern 
districts are mountainous, rugged, and 
jungly. The rivers include the Narbada, 
Myhe, and Sabarnati. The climate is very 
hot in summer, and during the hot months 
the surface mostly appears sand or dust, 
and in the rainy season a thick mire; but it 
is extremely fertile. Gujerat comprises a 
number of native states within its area, the 
chief being the scattered territories of the 
Gaekwar or Guicowar of Baroda. The 
population presents an extraordinary as¬ 
semblage of sects and castes. It gives name 
to the vernacular language of Northern 
Bombay—Gujarkti. The area of the British 
portion, comprising the districts of Surat, 
Broach, Kaira, Panch Mahals, and Ah- 
medabad is 10,158 sq. miles, and the pop. 
2,857,731. 

Gujranwala, a town of India, in the Pun¬ 
jab, administrative headquarters of district 
of same name. It has inconsiderable manu¬ 
factures of country wares, such as brass 
vessels, &c. Pop. 22,884.—Area of district, 
2587 sq. miles. Pop. 616,892. 

Gujrat, a district of India in the lieu¬ 
tenant-governorship of the Punjab, in the 
Rawkl Pindi division between the Jehlam 
and the Chenab. Pop. 689,115. —Gujrat, 
the capital, 5 miles from the Chenab, is a 
commercial centre. Its manufactures are 
principally of cotton and of Gujrkt ware, 
that is inlaid work in gold and iron. Pop. 
18,743. 

Gulbar'ga, a town of India, in the state 
of Hyderabad. Pop. 22,834. 

Gulden, a silver coin of Austria-Hungary 
and also of Holland, worth about 40 cents. 
Also called a florin. 

Guledgarh {Guledgud), a town of India 
in the Kalkdji district, Bombay Presidency. 
Pop. 10,649. 

Gules (golz), the heraldic name of the 
colour red. It ranks after the metals or 
and argent, and has the highest place among 
colours. 

Gulf Stream, one of the most celebrated 
of the oceanic currents, so called because it 
issues from the Gulf of Mexico. It owes 
its origin to the fact that the westward- 


30 ? 



GULF-WEED 


GUM. 


'moving waters of the tropical portion of the 
Atlantic, encountering the eastward projec¬ 
tion of South America, become divided into 
two currents, one setting southwards along 
the Brazilian coast, and the other northward 
past the mouths of the Amazon and Orinoco, 
into the Caribbean Sea. It then enters 
the Gulf of Mexico, and thence emerges 
through the Channel of Florida as the Gulf 
Stream. Its course is next to the north 
and eastwards, in a direction parallel to the 
coast of the United States, past Cape Hat- 
teras (lat. 35° 13'), along the southern edge 
of the ‘great banks’ of Nantucket and New¬ 
foundland (between the meridians of 48° and 
60° west), after which its course as a distinct 
current cannot be traced. In the earlier 
part of its course, especially when rounding 
the extremity of Florida, the Gulf Stream 
forms a well-defined current, distinguished 
by its high temperature and its deep blue 
or indigo colour. On account of the descent 
of the Polar or Baffin Bay current along 
the coast in a direction opposite to that of 
the Gulf Stream, the water on its irdand 
side is colder than that to the eastward of 
it. The difference of temperature between 
the Gulf Stream and this cold current some¬ 
times amounts to 20° (or even 30°) Fahr. 
The velocity of the Gulf Stream varies with 
its course. Within the Florida Channel it 
attains a mean of 65 miles per day, this 
sinks to 56 miles off Charleston, becomes 
36 miles to 46 off Nantucket, and 28 miles 
to the south of the Newfoundland Banks; 
300 miles to the eastward of Newfoundland 
its movement is hardly perceptible. At the 
bottom of the Florida Channel the observed 
temperature is 34°, that of the surface from 
80° to 84°. Geographers have greatly ex¬ 
aggerated the influence of the Gulf Stream 
on the temperature of Europe. If it pos¬ 
sesses any direct influence such must be ex¬ 
tremely small, as the current is both too 
narrow and too shallow, and its slight 
amount of superior heat probably vanishes 
after it has passed Cape Hatteras. The 
relatively high temperature of western and 
north-western Europe must rather be re¬ 
ferred to the general set of the tropical 
waters to the north-east, and to the warm 
winds blowing in the same direction, and 
not to the Gulf Stream exclusively. 

Gulf-weed (Sargassum), a genus of sea¬ 
weeds (Algae) sub-order Fucaceae, of which 
one species, JS. Bacciferum, exists to an enor¬ 
mous extent in the tropical seas. It floats 
on the surface, and is propagated by buds. 


It derives its ordinary appellation from the 
exploded idea that it is borne on the Gulf 
Stream from the Gulf of Mexico. Several 
areas of the ocean exhibit great quantities 
of this and other weeds floating on the sur¬ 
face. One such, the Sargasso Sea, is in the 
North Atlantic, lying south-west of the 
Azores, and north of the tropic of Cancer. 

Gull, the general name of a family of birds 
distinguished by their straight bill, bending 
downwards towards the point, and marked 
below the under mandible by a triangular 
prominence, by their large wings, slender 
legs, palmated feet, and small hind toe. 
Generally seen in large flocks, the larger 



Lesser Black-backed Gull {Larus fuscus). 


species frequent the sea, the smaller, lakes 
or rivers. They swim well, but are incap¬ 
able of diving. Their flight is rapid and 
long sustained. They are extremely vora¬ 
cious, and feed on every kind of animal 
food, putrid or fresh. Their principal food 
is fish, which they catch with great agility, 
darting down like an arrow. They breed 
only once a year, laying two to four eggs. 
The species are exceedingly numerous, and 
resemble each other greatly. Among the 
principal are the common gull {Lm'us can- 
us), which breeds on the coast, or inland in 
moory districts; the lesser black-backed 
gull, L. fuscus; the black-headed gull, L. 
ridibundus, of which the masked gull, L. 
capistrdtus, is only a variety; the ivory gull, 
L. ehurneus; the Iceland gull, L. islandicus, 
distinguished by its white quill feathers from 
the herring gull, L. argentdtus; the great 
black-backed gull; the burgomaster; the 
little gull; sabine’s gull; the kittiwake, 
&c. 

Gullet. See (Esophagus. 

Gum, a substance of various properties 
which exudes spontaneously from the bark 
of certain trees, such as the plum, the peach, 
&c.; or from incisions made in the bark to 
facilitate the flow. Gums form non-crystalline 
rounded drops or tears, the purest varieties 
being transparent or translucent, of a pale 

308 















GUMAL-GUN-CARRIAGE. 


yellow but sometimes of a dark coloiir. 
When dissolved in water gum forms a 
thick, smooth fluid, with considerable vis¬ 
cosity. Some gums, such as gum-arabic, 
dissolve in water; others, like tragacanth, 
are only partially soluble; they are insolu¬ 
ble in alcohol. By being insoluble in alcohol 
gums are distinguished from resins. They 
have no odour, andonly a very faint taste. The 
different kinds of gum receive their names 
from the countries from which they are im¬ 
ported— such as gum-arabic, gum-senegal. 
Barbary gum. East India gum, &c., and from 
individual features, as cherry-tree gum, 
tragacanth, &c. Gum-resins require water 
and alcohol to dissolve them. See Gum- 
resins. 

Gumal. See Gomul. 

Gum-arabic is the purest form of gum, and 
may be regarded as typical. It comes from 
various species of Acacia, such as the A cacia 
vera, A. seyal, and A. arahica or nilotica 
(see Acacia). The gum exudes spontane¬ 
ously, and its appearance is an indication of 
the tree being in an unhealthy condition; 
but in order to get it in sufficient quantity 
incisions are made in the bark. Gum-arabic 
is very largely employed in the finishing 
and dressing of fabrics; for thickening the 
colours in calico-printing; in pharmacy; as a 
cement; in ink-making; for making crayons 
and water-colour cakes, and for many other 
purposes. The purest gum-arabic is in round 
tears, transparent, and almost colourless, 
faintly odorous, completely soluble in water, 
the solution being feebly acid. 

Gumbin'nen, a Prussian town, prov. East 
Prussia, on the Pissa. It has brewing and 
distilling, manufactures of woollen and linen 
cloth. Pop. 10,453. 

Gum-boil, an abscess in the gum, generally 
the result of toothache or of the presence of 
decayed teeth or stumps. The carious tooth 
or stump, if the inflammation proceeds from 
this cause, should be removed. The purulent 
matter should be evacuated by a free inci¬ 
sion, and the mouth frequently washed with 
tincture of myrrh and water. 

Gum-cistus [Cistus ladaniferus), a plant 
largely cultivated in Portugal, and yielding 
a gum of a pleasant balsamic odour. 

Gum-dragon. See Tragacanth. 

Gum-elastic, caoutchouc or india-rubber. 

Gum-elemi. See Elemi. 

Gum-juniper, the resin of CalHtris quad- 
rivalvis, a coniferous tree of Barbary, used 
in varnish, &c. 

Gumming, a disease of certain fruit-trees, 

309 


as cherries, plums, apricots, peaches, &c., 
consisting in a morbid exudation of gum, 
and generally resulting in the death of the 
tree. 

Gum-resins, solidified juices obtained 
from plants. They contain a gum, which 
is soluble in water, and a resin, which dis¬ 
solves in spirit, so that the body usually 
is nearly quite soluble in dilute alcohol; 
but there are usually present in addition 
essential oil, and a variety of impurities. 
The gum-resins have frequently a strong 
and characteristic taste and smell. They 
are solid, opaque, and brittle. The common 
gum-resins are aloes, ammoniacum, asafoe- 
tida, bdellium, galbanum, gamboge, myrrh, 
olibanum, opoponax, sagapenum, and scam- 
mony. 

Gumti, or Goomti, a river of Hindustan, 
rises in the North-west Provinces, and flow¬ 
ing south-east falls into the Ganges between 
Ghazipur and Benares. In its course it 
passes the cities of Lucknow and Jaunpur. 
Length about 500 miles. 

Gum-trees, a general name for trees of 
the genus Eucalyptus (which see). 

Gun, a missile weapon, causing destruction 
by the discharge of a ball, bullet, or other 
substance, through a cylindrical tube, along 
which it is propelled by the action of gun¬ 
powder or other explosive substance. The 
term includes small arms, such as portable 
sporting and military weapons; machine- 
guns, which discharge a rapid succession of 
bullets through one or more barrels on a 
rest; and the heavier pieces termed cannon 
or ordnance. See Cannon, Rifle, Machine- 
gun, &c. 

Gun-boat, a term applied to small war- 
vessels mounting usually a single gun, and 
employed in coast defence or in attacking 
large and heavy-armoured vessels. Some 
gun-boats are armed with one heavy deck- 
gun, which can be turned in any direction 
by means of a pivot. In others the single 
gun is placed on a platform, which can be 
raised to the deck or lowered to the hold by 
a donkey-engine. The gun in this case does 
not turn on a pivot, the manoeuvring being 
effected entirely by the turning of the vessel. 
Steam gun-boats, especially when iron- 
})lated, are most powerful auxiliaries to a 
fleet. Gun-boats of a peculiar construction 
were used on the Mississippi during the 
late war. 

Gun-carriage, the structure on which a 
cannon is mounted, and on which it is fired. 
Gun-carriages are of very various con- 



GUN-COTTON 

Btructions. In the case of a field or siege 
piece the carriage is united, for travelling, 
with a two-wheeled fore-part, termed a 
limber, to which the horses are attached, so 
as to form a single four-wheeled carriage. 
In action the gun is unlimbered, and then 
rests on its pair of wheels, and on a strong 
support termed the trail. A gun in a for¬ 
tress has its carriage commonly mounted on 
what is termed a traversing platform, that 
is, a strong framework supported on metal 
trucks or small wheels. These trucks are 
constructed to run on metal rails, which are 
laid in concentric arcs of circles, whose cen¬ 
tres are a real or imaginary pivot close to 
the mouth of the embrasure through which 
the gun fires. By this means the muzzle of 
the gun, when run up, is brought nearly 
over the pivot, so that the direction of its 
fire may be altered laterally considerably, 
and yet allow of a very narrow embrasure. 
Carriages on the ‘disappearing principle,’ 
which are visible to the enemy only during 
the acts of aiming and firing (while the 
loading is effected under shelter), are best 
exemplified in those of Col. Moncrieff. In 
one of these the carriage is so contrived that 
a heavy counterweight attached to it is 
sufficient to raise the gun into the position 
for firing, the sides of the carriage having 
some resemblance to the ‘ rockers ’ of a rock¬ 
ing-horse. The recoil brings the gun down 
into the loading position, after which it is 
again brought into firing position as before. 
The iron carriages now made are thus ela¬ 
borate mechanical structures. In mortars a 
cast-iron bed takes the place of a carriage. 

Gun-cotton, or Pyroxyline, is an explo¬ 
sive substance formed by the action of nit¬ 
ric acid on cotton. In the process of manu¬ 
facture sulphuric acid is mixed with the 
nitric, its function being to absorb the water 
formed by the weakening of the nitric acid 
as it gradually combines with the cotton. 
The product of this process is a chemical 
compound of four or five times the explosive 
power of gunpowder. The cotton is gener¬ 
ally* reduced to a finely divided condition, 
and the gun-cotton moulded into disks of 
suitable sizes. When ignited in a free state 
it burns with a strong flame; it is only when 
fired by a detonating fuse or when heated 
in confinement that it explodes. The pre¬ 
sence of water and other substances does 
not interfere with this kind of explosion. 
From this follows the important fact that it 
can be kept wet with safety while in a con¬ 
dition in which it may be exploded by means 


— GUNNERY. 

of a detonator. In short, when wet it ii 
quite safe, and yet quite ready for work at a 
moment's notice; for, while it refuses to burn 
even in the heat of a powerful flame, the 
application of a large or of a small deton¬ 
ator inserted in one dry disk of gun-cotton 
causes the wet mass to explode with its full 
violence. Bursters of gun-cotton and water 
have been used in shells for certain pur¬ 
poses. When exploded it produces little 
smoke and a very small amount of residual 
matter. There are also preparations allied 
to gun-cotton with wood-fibre as a basis, 
such as Schulze’s Powder, sawdust powder, 
&c. An imperfect chemical form of gun¬ 
cotton termed collodion, soluble in a mixture 
of ether and alcohol, is used in photography. 

Gundamuk'. See Gandamak. 

Gunduck. See Gandak. 

Gun Factories, Royal, the British gov¬ 
ernment establishments at Woolwich, in 
which are forged the great guns for the 
army and navy. The workshops were first 
built in 1855-56, and cast-iron guns were 
originally their first product. 

Gunja. Same as Hashish. 

Gunnel, or Butterfish {Centronotus gu- 
nellus), a fish which belongs to the family of 
the Blennies. The common gunnel resem¬ 
bles an eel, is about 6 inches in length, is 
brown in colour, and has black spots on the 
base of the dorsal fin. It is termed ‘butter- 
fish ’ on account of the mucous secretion of 
its skin. 

Gunner, in the navy, is a warrant-officer 
appointed to take charge of the ammunition 
and artillery of a war-vessel, to keep tlm 
artillery properly fitted, and to instruct the 
sailors in the exercise of the cannon. In the 
army a gunner is simply an artilleryman, or 
one who has to work and attend to the 
guns. 

Gun'nera, a genus of plants of the bread¬ 
fruit order, one species of which {G. scabra), 
a native of S. America, somewhat resembles 
the rhubarb, and is used as an ornamental 
plant. It has large rough leaves, astringent 
roots, while its leaf-stalks are a substitute 
for rhubarb. 

Gunnery, the science of conducting the 
fire of artillery. Gunnery may be divided 
into the theoretical and practical branches. 
The former consists chiefly in the applica¬ 
tion of mathematics to the solution of the 
problems in dynamics involved in thb con¬ 
sideration of the motion of shot through the 
air, and is essential to the design of good 
systems of rifling and well-proportioned pro- 

310 



GUNNY-BAGS- 

jectiles. Practical gunnery, which deals 
with the actual firing, has reference rather 
to the use of individual guns than to the 
handling of artillery on a large scale. Theo¬ 
retical gunnery would be simple were the 
projectiles fired in vacuo, as gravity alone 
would, in such a case, require to be taken 
into account, and the path of projectiles 
would simply describe a parabola. The line 
taken by a projectile (or its trajectory as it 
is called) is, however, subject to modifica¬ 
tions caused by the resistance of the air, the 
form of the shot, &c. Among things to be 
considered in gunnery are the velocity ot the 
projectile, initial and subsequent, the anyle 
of elevation of the piece, the range or dis¬ 
tance to which the projectile is carried, &c. 
With cast-iron spherical shot the chief com¬ 
plication arises from the centre of gravity 
never falling exactly in the centre of the 
■figure. Rifled guns, however, fire projec¬ 
tiles with a certain knoivn rotation, and in 
the case of elongated shot, these are more 
accurately centred in the bore by the action 
of the grooves, and possess the faculty of 
travelling point first, and of thus overcom¬ 
ing the resistance of the air. One mecha¬ 
nical disadvantage belongs to rifled shot, 
namely, the wild irregularity of their rico¬ 
chet, a disadvantage which, however, does 
not apply to shells burst on the instant 
of graze by percussion fuzes, or before con¬ 
tact by time fuzes. The most approved 
projectiles have their centres of gravity 
nearly half way along their axes, and in 
flight they carry towards the right hand of 
the person laying the gun, a species of devia¬ 
tion to which the name of drift or deflexion 
is given. The recoil of a gun must nec¬ 
essarily diminish the velocity of its pro¬ 
jectile ; and this has been carefully borne 
in mind by men who have made gunnery 
their especial study. In ordinary 
artillery fire the charge is a fixed one, 
and the elevation is varied according to the 
range. Horizontal fire against the front of 
a column or line of works is termed direct 
fire; that which sweeps along a line of men 
or earth-works, enfllade fire; vertical fire is 
when the piece is fired at a high angle of 
elevation. 

Gunny-bags are bags made of a coarse 
cloth or sacking manufactured in India of 
some native fibre, chiefly jute. They are 
extensively used in India in packing rice, 
sago, spices, &c., for export, and in America 
for bales of cotton. 

Gunpowder is a mixture of saltpetre, sul- 
311 


-GUNPOWDER. 

phur, and charcoal. We hear of gunpowder 
from a very early period. It appears to 
have been used in China at, if not before, 
the Christian era. Marcus Graecus, who lived 
about the 9th century, describes its com¬ 
position, which was also known to Roger 
Bacon, who refers to it in 1267. It was also 
apparently known to the Arabs at an early 
period. In 1342 the Moors employed it in 
the siege of Algesiras. According to the 
common story the discovery of its propulsive 
power was due to the German monk Barth¬ 
old Schwartz between 1290 and 1320. Guns 
are said to have been employed by Edward 
III. in 1327, on his invasion of Scotland. 
It is also asserted that gunpowder was em¬ 
ployed in 1346 by the English at Cr^cy. 
It was not, however, until the 16th century 
that its use in warfare became general. The 
proportion of the ingredients in the compo¬ 
sition of gunpowder is different in different 
countries. In Britain the proportions for 
different kinds, such as sporting and mining 
powders, differ slightly. The gunpowder of 
the mills at Waltham Abbey contains 75 
saltpetre, 15 charcoal, and 10 sulphur. The 
crude saltpetre is dissolved in an equal 
weight of boiling water in a copper boiler, 
filtered, and allowed to cool and crystallize 
in a trough in order to purify it from 
nitrates of soda and lime, chlorides of potas¬ 
sium and sodium, &c., the liquid being con¬ 
tinually agitated, so that the crystals may be 
formed small and pure. They are then washed 
and allowed to drain. The sulphur is puri¬ 
fied and ground. The charcoal is obtained 
from alder or willow wood, or from dog¬ 
wood for the finest powder. These ingredi¬ 
ents are first roughly mixed, then sprinkled 
with water and incorporated under rollers 
in a mill, and formed into a cake termed 
‘mill cake.’ This is broken up under grooved 
rollers, and brought by pressure into ‘press 
cake.’ After this it is granulated, by being 
passed between toothed rollers, and sepa¬ 
rated into classes by sieves of different sizes 
of mesh. Latterly a very large grain has 
been adopted for the heaviest charges; this 
is termed pellet or pebble powder. ‘Pellet’ 
powder is made by filling the cylindrical 
holes in a thick gun-metal plate with mealed 
powder, and by means of pistons under a 
hydraulic press, forming them into short 
cylinders or ‘pellets,’ with a small cavity at 
one end to catch a flame the more readily. 
‘Pebble’ powder is made by cutting or press¬ 
ing edges which divide the press cake into 
small cubes; these, like pebbles, have their 



GUNPOWDER PLOT-GUNTER. 


corners rubbed off and rounded by friction. 
There is also ‘Brown’ powder, the composi¬ 
tion of which is not well known. This powder 
is remarkable for equable action, greater 
coherency, and diminished danger in us¬ 
ing, and for decidedly greater power under 
diminished pressure of gas in the barrel. 
Schultze’s powder is also a powerful explo¬ 
sive, remarkable for the uniformity of its 
shooting. As it is necessary that the flame 
must traverse the interstices between the 
grains, the grain must be suited to the size 
of the charge of the gun. A smokeless 
powder has also been introduced and favour¬ 
ably reported on, but its practical success 
has yet to be demonstrated. The greatest 
precautions must be taken to prevent fire or 
water from coming into contact with gun¬ 
powder. Hence it is usually kept in maga¬ 
zines which are of great strength in defensive 
works, although lighter and well-ventilated 
buildings suffice under other conditions. In 
the transportation of gunpowder, the casks 
should be dust-proof, and the carriages and 
vessels containing it should be water-tight. 
As iron vessels are dangerous, gunpowder is 
usually packed in copper-hooped barrels 
made with copper nails. The explosive power 
of gunpowder is very great. It is, however, 
necessary to place it within a confined space, 
as, when it is heaped up in the open air, 
it explodes without report or much effect. 
As the result of experiments it appears that 
the weight of the gases produced by inflam¬ 
ing gunpowder is about ^ths of that of the 
powder, and their volume 288 times its bulk, 
when they have attained an elasticity equal 
to that of the air. If the effect of heat evolved 
during the combustion be added, the elastic 
force is increased to 1000 atmospheres in 
round numbers, i.e, a pressure of about 65 
tons to the sq. inch. 

Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy formed in 
England in 1604, the second year of the 
reign of James I., by some Roman Catho¬ 
lics, to blow up the king and parliament in 
order to be revenged on the government for 
its sevei’ities against their religion. The 
time ultimately fixed for the execution of 
the plot was the 5th of November, 1605, 
when parliament was to be opened by the 
king in person. The plot originated with 
Robert Catesby, Thomas Winter, and John 
Wright, and was at once made known to 
Guido Fawkes, a zealous Catholic, who had 
served in the Spanish army in Flanders, 
and to Thomas Percy, a relation of the Earl 
of Northumberland. These five were the 


original conspirators, but the plot was sub¬ 
sequently communicated to Sir Everard 
Digby, Ambrose Rookwood, Francis Tres- 
ham, Thomas Keyes, Christopher Wright 
(a brother of John), and to some Jesuit 
fathers and others. The conspirators took 
a house next the Parliament House, and 
their original plan was by digging under this 
house to undermine the House of Parlia¬ 
ment. They latterly discovered, however, 
that there was a cellar right under the 
chamber of parliament, which was occupied 
by a coal-dealer. They at once hired this 
cellar, and filled it with powder, faggots, • 
and billets. The plot was discovered by 
means of a letter sent Lord Mounteagle, a 
Catholic peer in favour with the court, who 
laid it before the secretary of state, Cecil. 
It was a warning couched in mysterious 
terms, not to be present at the approaching 
meeting of parliament. Cecil showed it to 
some of the council, and did nothing till the 
return of the king from a hunting party. 
On hearing the letter James at once divined 
its meaning, and declared that it referred to 
gunpowder. This led to investigation and 
to the arrest of Fawkes in the cellar, where 
a hogshead and thirty-six barrels of powder 
were discovered. It is now very generally 
thought that Tresham, the reputed author 
of the letter to Lord Mounteagle, had pre¬ 
viously informed his lordship of the plot, 
and that the sending and publication of the 
letter were merely intended as blinds. It 
seems also that Cecil, knowing the king’s 
vanity, was desirous of making him the 
discoverer of the plot. Catesby, Percy, and 
the two Wrights were killed in defending 
Holbeach House, in which they had taken 
refuge, against the sheriff. Sir Everard 
Digby was tried and executed at North¬ 
ampton, Tresham died in prison. Fawkes, 
Rookwood, Winter, and others were tried 
at Westminster on 27th Jan. 1606, and 
executed on the 30th and 31st. 

Gun-room, a compartment in a ship of 
war, partly occupied by the junior officers. 

Giins (gunz), a town, Hungary, 57 miles 
s.E. of Vienna. It consists of a walled town 
of limited extent, and a large suburb; staple 
manufacture woollen cloth. Pop. 7301. 

Gunter, Edmund, an English mathema¬ 
tician, who flourished in the reign of James 
I., and invented the instruments mentioned 
in following arts., as also the sector, &c. 
He was born in 1581, and died in 1626. He 
was educated at Oxford, and became pro¬ 
fessor of astronomy in Gresham College, 

312 



GUNTER’S CHAIN 


— GUSTAVUS IT. 


London, in 1619. He was the first to em¬ 
ploy the terms cosine, cotangent, &c. 

Gunter’s Chain, the chain in common use 
for measuring land; so called from its in¬ 
ventor, Edmund Gunter. Its length is 66 
feet, or 22 yards, or 4 poles of 5^ yards 
eacD.; and it is divided into 100 links of 7’92 
inches each. 100,000 square links make 1 
acre. 

Gunter’s Scale, a scale having various 
lines upon it, of great use in working prob¬ 
lems in navigation. This scale is usually 
2 feet long and about 1^ inches broad. On 
the one side are the natural lines, and on 
the other the artificial or logarithmic ones. 

Guntur, a town of Hindustan, presidency 
of Madras, district of Kistna, 46 miles from 
Masulipatam, and 30 miles from the Coro¬ 
mandel coast. Pop. 19,646. 

Gunwale, or Gunnel, the upper edge of 
the side of a ship or boat. 

Gurhwal, Gukwal. See Garwhal. 

Gurjun, a thin balsam or oil, derived from 
trees of the genus Dipterocarpus, in Burmah 
and the Eastern Archipelago. It is used for 
mixing paints, preserving wood from the 
attacks of white ants, and also medicinally. 

Gurkhas. See Goorkhas. 

Gurmuktes'war, a town of British India, 
in the Meerut district, North-western Pro¬ 
vinces, on the Ganges, which is here crossed 
by a much-frequented ferry. A great an¬ 
nual fair attracts 200,000 pilgrims from all 
parts of the country. Pop. 7305. 

Gur'nard, or Gurnet, the popular name 
of acanthopterous fishes of the genus Trigla. 
The head is angular and wholly covered 
with bony plates. The body is elongated, 
nearly round and tapering; there are two 
dorsal fins; the pectoral fins are large; the 
teeth are small and numerous. The gray 
gurnard is the Trigla gurnardus, common 
on the British coast; the red gurnard is the 
T. cuculus, also common on the same coasts; 
the flying gurnard is the T. volitans^ which 



Gray Gurnard (Trigla gurnardus). 


inhabits the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and 
Indian seas. 

Gusta'vus L, commonly called Gustavus 
Vasa, was born in 1490, or, according to 

313 


others, in 1496. He was the son of Eric 
Johansson, a Swedish noble, served under 
Svante Sture, the administrator of the king¬ 
dom, was treacherously carried off with 
other noble Swedes by the king of Den¬ 
mark, and kept a prisoner in Jutland for 
more than a year, but at length escaped, 
reached, after many dangers, Dalecarlia, 
where he roused the peasants to resist Danish 
oppression, defeated the Danes, took Upsala 
and other towns, and in 1523 was elected 
king. In 1529 he procured the abolition 
of the Roman Catholic religion in Sweden, 
and established Protestantism. He died in 
1560. During his long reign Sweden made 
great progress in commerce and civilization. 

Gustavus II., Gustavus Adolphus, King 
of Sweden, a grandson of Gustavus Vasa, 



Gustavus Adolphus. King of Sweden. 


was born in 1594, and received a most 
careful education. He was trained to war 
under experienced generals, took his place 
in the state councils at the age of sixteen, 
and was in command of the army in his 
seventeenth year during the war with Den¬ 
mark, which was concluded in 1613, and by 
which Sweden recovered important posses¬ 
sions on the Baltic. He then turned his 
arms against the Russians, drove them from 
Ingria, Karelia, and a part of Livonia,w'hich 
were secured to him by the peace of Stol¬ 
bova in 1617. He was then engaged in a war 
with Poland, which lasted nine years, and 
was concluded on advantageous terms for 
Gustavus in Sept. 1629, he being allowed to 
retain important conquests in East Prussia. 



GUSTAVUS III.-GUTHRIfil 


His attention was now diverted from north¬ 
ern wars by the affairs of Germany. The 
oppression of the Protestants by Ferdinand 
II. excited his sympathy, and the progress 
of Wallenstein alarmed him. Probably also 
he was moved by the ambition of foreign 
conquests. He embarked for Germany in 
1630 with about 20,000 men, landed near 
the mouth of the Oder, and in a short time 
had seized nearly all Pomerania. After 
taking many fortified towns, repeatedly de¬ 
feating the imperial generals, at Leipzig 
(1631), Wurzburg (1631), Passage of the 
Lech (1632), and conquering a great part of 
Germany, he was killed in the battle of 
Liitzen, against Wallenstein, 16th Novem¬ 
ber, 1632. Thirty Years'War.) Though 
a severe disciplinarian, he was beloved by 
his soldiers, and the prestige of success de¬ 
rived from his victories lasted long after 
his death. 

Gustavus III., King of Sweden, born in 
1746, succeeded his father, Adolphus Fred¬ 
erick, in 1771. Finding the country weary 
of the misrule of the nobles, he gained the 
good-will of the army, surrounded the assem¬ 
bly of the states-general, and forced them 
to accept a new constitution which much 
restricted their privileges. In 1788 he took 
command of the army against Russia and 
Denmark, and stormed the defences of 
Frederickshall, destroying a great number 
of vessels. In 1789 he executed another 
coup d'etat^ arresting the opposition leaders, 
and passing a law extending the royal pre¬ 
rogative. On the outbreak of the French 
revolution he made strenuous exertions to 
form a coalition between Russia, Denmark, 
Sweden, and Spain, but while preparations 
were making a conspiracy of the nobles was 
formed against him, and he was shot at a 
masquerade by Ankarstroem, a disbanded 
officer, on 16th March, 1792. He died on 
29th March. 

Gustavus IV. (Adolphus), King of Swe¬ 
den, was born on 1st November, 1778, and 
succeeded his father, 29th March, 1792. On 
assuming power Gustavus showed that he 
had inherited his father’s hatred of the 
principles of the French revolution, which 
he carried to the extent of fanaticism. After 
the Peace of Tilsit he exposed himself to a 
war with Russia while he was at war with 
France, by refusing to join the continental 
blockade and opening his ports to England; 
and in 1808 he quarrelled with England, his 
only ally. Finland was lost to Sweden, 
and in 1809 a revolution took place. Gus¬ 


tavus was dethroned, and his uncle, the 
Duke of Suderrnania, proclaimed king under 
the title of Charles XIII. Gustavus died 
in poverty at St. Gall, 7th February, 1837. 

Giistrow (giis'tro), a town of Germany, 
in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, on the Nebel. It 
is well built, has a cathedral, a fine old 
castle, and an ancient and beautiful palace, 
once the seat of the Dukes of Mecklenburg- 
Giistrow. Pop. 13,117. 

Gut. See Cat-gut and Silkworm-gut. 

Gutenberg, Johan, the reputed inven¬ 
tor of printing with movable types, was born 
at Mayence or Mainz, about the end of the 
14th century. Little or nothing is known 
of his early life. In 1434 he is said to have 
been living in Strasburg, and in 1436 to 
have started or attempted to start a print¬ 
ing office there; but this seems false. In 
1448 we find him at Mainz, where he 
formed, two years after, a copartnership 
with Johann' Fust, and established mainly 
with the money of the latter, a press, in 
which the Mazarin Bible, the Letters of 
Indulgence, and the Appeal against the 
Turks were printed. After five years this 
connection was dissolved, and Fust sued 
Gutenberg for large advances which he 
could not pay, and by a judgment at law 
obtained possession of most of the printing 
materials, with which, in company with his 
son-in-law Schoffer, he continued to print 
books. After this, according to some, Guten¬ 
berg carried on a separate pi'inting estab¬ 
lishment ; but this is doubtful, and there 
is no book or printed matter which can 
certainly be ascribed to Gutenberg after 
the date 1454. Died at Mainz in 1468. 

Guthrie, Oklahoma. Pop. 1890,5311. 

Guthrie, Thomas, a Scottish divine, born 
at Brechin, Forfarshire, in 1803. He was 
educated at the University of Edinburgh, 
and was licensed as a preacher in connection 
with the Church of Scotland in 1825. He 
did not at once exert himself to procure a 
church, but assisted his father in the business 
of his banking office, and also spent a winter 
(1826-27) in Paris studying medicine. In 
1830 he was presented to the parish of Ar- 
birlot, and he accepted a call to Greyfriars, 
Edinburgh, in 1837, where he soon became 
very popular with all classes. In 1843 the 
Disruption took place, and Guthrie took an 
active part along with Chalmers and Cand- 
lish in organizing the Free Church. He 
himself became minister of Free St. John’s, 
Edinburgh. The w’ork with which his name 
is chiefly identified out of Scotland, was the 

314 



GUTTA-PERCHA GUTZL AFP. 


introduction into Edinburgh of the ragged 
school system, then recently originated in 
London and Aberdeen. Into this work he 
threw himself with characteristic energy, 
employing in it both his personal labours 
and his pen. His Plea for Ragged Schools 
(1847) remains one of the most celebrated of 
his productions. In 1849 he received the de¬ 
gree of D.D. from the University of Edin¬ 
burgh. In 1864 Dr. Guthrie was compelled 
in consequence of disease of the heart to re¬ 
sign the pastorship of St.John’s. Theremain- 
ing years of his life were spent in active pro¬ 
motion of philanthropic objects. He became 
editor of the Sunday Magazine in 1864, but 
never assumed full editorial responsibility. 
He died 24th Feb. 1873. His chief works 
are, The Gospel in Ezekiel, (1855), A Plea 
for Drunkards (1856), Christ and the In¬ 
heritance of the Saints (1858), &c. An 
Autobiography and Memoir has been pub¬ 
lished by his sons. 

Gutta-percha (per'cha; Malay name, 
meaning ‘gum-tree’), a substance resembling 
caoutchouc in many of its properties, but 
stronger, more soluble, and less elastic. It 
is the inspissated milky juice of Isonandra 
Gutta and other kindred trees of the nat. 
order Sapotacese. 

It chiefly comes 
from Malacca, 

Borneo,and ether 
islands of the 
Indian Archipel¬ 
ago. When pure, 
gutta-percha is 
of a brownish-red 
colour. Below 
the temperature 
of 50° it is as hard 
as wood and ex¬ 
cessively tough. 

By an increase 
of heat it be¬ 
comes more flex¬ 
ible, until at a 
temperature of 
115“ F. it becomes pasty, and between this 
and 140° or 150° it may be moulded into 
all varieties of forms with the greatest ease, 
retaining precisely the same form as it cools 
and hardens to its previous state of rigidity. 
It is insoluble in water, soluble with diffi¬ 
culty in ether and other caoutchouc solvents, 
but very readily in oil of turpentine and 
naphtha. It is not attacked by solutions of 
alkalies nor by hydrofluoric acid, but it is 
acted on by sulphuric, nitric, and hydro¬ 

315 



Sprig of Gutta-percha Tree 
{Isonandra Gutta). 


chloric acids. Gutta-percha has been applied 
to a variety of purposes: as a substitute for 
leather, especially in the soles of shoes, &c., 
as an insulating coating for the copper wires 
of submarine telegraph cables, as an ingre¬ 
dient in mastics and cements, for the manu¬ 
facture of flexible hose-tubes, bottles, &c. 

Guttif erse, a natural order of exogenous 
trees or shrubs, which generally secrete an 
acrid yellow resinous juice, in some cases 
of considerable value, as the gamboge yielded 
by the Garcinia morella, or the tacamahaca 
from the PopUlus balsamifera. They are 
found in the humid and hot places of tropi¬ 
cal regions, chiefly South America. The 
fruit of some is highly esteemed, in particular 
the mangosteen and the mammee apple, 

Gut'tural (from Latin guttur, the throat), 
a sound produced chiefly by the back parts 
of the cavity of the mouth, as the German 
and the Scotch ch. The letters h and g in 
English may be classed as gutturals. 

Gutzkow (guts'ko), Kakl Ferdinand, 
German writer, born at Berlin in 1811, 
After studying theology he took to journa¬ 
lism and politics, and became the leading 
spirit of a small body of reformers known 
as ‘Young Germany.’ In 1835 his novel 
Wally die Zweiflerin appeared. It was at 
once confiscated by the government as hos¬ 
tile to religion and society, and the author 
was imprisoned for three months. In spite 
of government prohibition Gutzkow man¬ 
aged to publish a number of works from 
Hamburg, where he had settled. Amongst 
these are: Blasedow und seine Sohne (1838), 
a satire, and Borne’s Leben (1840). He 
was active, also, in dramatic literature, his 
tragedies Richard Savage (1840), Patkul 
(1841), and Uriel Acosta (1847), and_his 
comedies Topf und Schwert. Died 1878. 

Guthrie, Thomas Anthony, author; 
pseudonym F, Anstey; born atKensington, 
Eng., 1856. Ed. Cambridge, called to the 
bar 1880. Among his works are: Vice 
Versa, The Giant’s Robe,The Black Poodle, 
The Tinted Venus, The Fallen Idol, The 
Pariah, Vox Populi, The Traveling Com¬ 
panion, and many short stories. His works 
are very popular in the U. S., and gener¬ 
ally are of a humorous order. 

Gutzlaflf (giits'laf), Karl, D.D., a Ger¬ 
man missionary, born in 1803. He went out 
as a missionary to the Battas in Sumatra in 
Auo-ust 1826, but settled instead in Batavia, 
Singapore, and Siam. In 1831 he went to 
China, acted as British interpreter during 
the first Chinese war, visited Europe in 



GUY-GWALIOR. 


1849, and died at Victoria, Hong-Kong, in 
1851. His principal works are: Journal 
of Three Voyages along the Coast of China 
in 1831, 1832, and 1833 (London, 1834); 
China Opened, or a Display of the Topo¬ 
graphy, History, &c., of the Chinese Empire 
(1838); Geschichte des Chinesischen Reichs 
(Stuttgart, 1847). 

Guy (gl), Thomas, the founder of Guy’s 
Hospital, London, was the son of a lighterman 
in Southwark, and born in 1643. He was 
brought up a bookseller. He dealt largely 
in the importation of Bibles from Holland, 
and afterwards contracted with Oxford for 
those printed at that university ; but his 
principal gains arose from dealings in South 
Sea stock in 1720. He amassed a fortune 
of nearly half a million sterling, of which he 
spent upwards of £200,000 in building and 
endowing his hospital in Southwark, besides 
erecting almshouses at Tamworth and sup¬ 
porting various other charities. He was 
member of parliament for Tamworth from 
1694 to 1707. He died in 1724. See Guy's 
Hospital. 

Guyenne. See Guienne. 

Guy of Warwick, an old English metrical 
romance, whose hero is an Anglo-Danish 
knight said to have been the son of Siward, 
baron of Wallingford, to have become Earl 
of Warwick, and to have slain in single 
combat the Danish giant Colbrand, the 
Dun-Cow of Dunsmore, and the dragon of 
Northumberland, and many other wonderful 
feats. He is said ultimately to have become 
a hermit in Warwick. 

Guyon (ge-yon), Jeanne-Makie Bouvier 
DE LA Motte, Madame, a celebrated mystic, 
the introducer in France of the system of 
Quietism, was born at Montargis 13th April, 
1648. At the age of sixteen she was mar¬ 
ried to Jacques Guyon, after whose death 
in 1676 the tendency to mystic enthusiasm 
which had characterized her younger years, 
again acquired ascendency, and she began 
the religious propagandism of her extreme 
views of self-abnegation, indifference to life 
and death, and even to future salvation or 
perdition. She became associated with some 
enthusiastic priests, abandoned her children 
and her goods, reserving a moderate annuity; 
and moved from place to place, making 
numerous proselytes. She also published 
numerous works, such as Le Cantique des 
Cantiques interprt^te selon le Sens Mystique 
(1685); PoesiesSpirituelles (fivevols. 1685); 
Discours Chretiens et Spirituels (1716), &c. 
At last the Archbishop of Paris thought it 


necessary to take steps against the spread 
of Madame Guyon’s mystical doctrines. 
lErough his influence she was shut up in 
the convent of the Visitation, but after¬ 
wards released at the instigation of Madame 
Maintenon, who herself became for a time 
a convert to the new doctrines, and allowed 
Madame Guyon to preach in the seminary 
of St. Cyr, where she made a convert and 
disciple of Fdnelon. A commission of ec¬ 
clesiastics, chief amongst whom was Bossuet, 
now sat in judgment, and the doctrines of 
Madame Guyon were condemned (1695). 
This led to her being imprisoned for some 
years, latterly in the Bastille, w’hence she 
was liberated in 1702. The rest of her life 
was spent in retirement and in works of 
charity. She died 9th June, 1717. 

Guyot (ge-yo), Arnold, geographer and 
physicist, born in Switzerland in 1807, died 
in the U. States in 1884. He studied theol¬ 
ogy at Berlin, then took up natural science, 
and became professor of history and physical 
geography in the Academy of Neufch4tel. 
He shared in Agassiz’s investigations of 
glacier phenomena of the Alps. In 1848 he 
emigrated to the U. States and delivered 
lectures in Boston, which afterwards appeared 
under the title Earth and Man. He rendered 
much service to meteorological science in 
connection with the Smithsonian Institution, 
and travelled extensively in the U. States. 
In 1855 he was appointed professor of geol¬ 
ogy and physical geography in the College 
of New Jersey, Princeton. 

Guy's Hospital, a London hospital, 
founded in 1723 by Thomas Guy (see Guy, 
Thomas). The original building, completed 
in 1725 and endowed at a cost of over 
£200,000, contained accommodation for 400 
sick or incurable persons. It has since 
been greatly improved and enlarged, and in 
consequenceof a bequest in 1829 of £190,000 
from William Hunt, one of the governors, 
a new building, containing accommodation 
for 300 additional patients, has been added, 
and the hospital is now the largest in Lon¬ 
don, the beds amounting to 720. Attached 
to the hospital is an extensive medical school, 
containing lecture-rooms, theatres, museums, 
and medical library. There are usually 
about 350 students at the hospital. 

Guzerat. See Gujerat, 

Gwal'ior, a city and fortress of Hindustan, 
capital of the state of Gwalior, situated 65 
miles south from Agra. The fortress is the 
largest, the strongest, and the most magni¬ 
ficent in India. It stands on an isolated 

316 



GWYNTAD-GYMNASIUM. 


rock about 350 ft. high and nearly perpen¬ 
dicular in the upper part. The fortress 
contains wells and reservoirs of water, and 
is inaccessible except by steps up the side 
of the rock. Old Gwalior, the town at the 
northern angle of the base of the rock, is 
built of stone, and has some reraai’kable 
ruins of temples and an interesting example 
of old Hindu palace architecture. Pop. about 
25,000. The new town, known as New 
Gwalior or Lashkar (the camp), the resi¬ 


dence of the ruler. Maharajah Sindhia, has 
sprung up recently on the south-eastern 
skirt of the rock, but is already a flourishing 
city with a pop. 1891, of 104,083, of whom 
about 70,000 are Hindus.—The State of 
Gwalior, in political relationship with the 
government of India, consists of several 
portions of territory, otherwise known as 
Sindhia’s Dominions, the largest and most 
compact portion, usually known as Gwalior, 
being the one containing the above town 





The Fortress of Gwalior.—From an original sketch. 


and fortress. The total area of Gwalior is 
25,855 sq. miles. Gwalior is not as a whole 
very fertile; one of its most notable products 
is opium. The drainage is chiefly taken by 
the Chambal. Pop. 1891, 3,378,774. 

Gwyn'iad, Gwiniad (W. from .qw’yn, 
white). The Coregonus Pennantii, a fish of 
the salmon or trout kind found plentifully 
in some of the Welsh lakes, in Ulleswater, 
and in many lakes in Europe. It is grega¬ 
rious, and may be taken in great numbers 
at a draught. 

Gwynn, Eleanor, better known by the 
name of Nell, a celebrated mistress of King 
Charles II., was at first an orange girl, and 
also gained her bread by singing from tavern 
to tavern. About 1667 she became the 
mistress of Lord Buckhurst, who surrendered 
her about 1670 to the king. As mistress of 
the king she had an establishment, and was 
made lady of the privy chamber to Queen 
Catharine. She was merry and open-hearted, 

317 


is said to have been faithful to Charles, 
mindful of old friends, and a liberal patroness 
of the poets Dryden, Lee, Otway, and But¬ 
ler. From her are sprung the dukes of St. 
Albans. She died, according to some ac¬ 
counts, in 1687, according to others in 1691. 

Gyges (gl'jez), a king of Lydia who reigned, 
according to Herodotus, B.c. 716-678. He 
was the favourite of the Lydian king Can- 
daules, who, to convince him of the beauty 
of his queen, showed her to him naked. The 
queen was so incensed that she ordered Gyges 
either to murder the king, ascend his vacant 
throne, and become her husband, or to atone 
for his curiosity by death. He chose the 
former. 

Gymna'sium (jim-), the name given by the 
Greeks to the public building w'here the 
young men, quite without clothes (hence 
the name, from gymnos, naked), exercised 
themselves in leaping, running, throwing the 
discus and spear, wrestling, and pugilism. 





































GYMNASIUM- 

Its objects, however, were extended also to 
the exercise of the mind; for hei'e philoso¬ 
phers, rhetoricians, and teachers of other 
branches of knowledge delivered their lec¬ 
tures. Gymnasia were at first only open level 
places, surrounded by a wall, and partitioned 
off for the different games. Latterly they 
were composed of a number of connected 
buildings, spacious enough to admit many 
thousands. See Gi/mnastics. 

Gymnasium, a term applied in Germany 
to a class of schools corresponding pretty 
nearly to the grammar-schools and great 
public schools of Britain (such as Eton, 
Harrow, &c.). Formerly in the gymnasia 
Latin and Greek, and the branches connected 
with antiquity, were taught almost to the 
exclusion of other subjects; but a more 
practical bent is given to the course of in¬ 
struction in these institutions now, though 
the real-schools^ as they are called, are the 
institutions specially established for high- 
class education in such branches as mathe¬ 
matics and physical science, history and 
modern languages. The gymnasia are the 
feeders of the universities, and the training 
adopted in them is specially intended to 
equip the pupils for entering these institu¬ 
tions. The last or exit-examination, to show 
whether the pupils are fit to enter the uni¬ 
versity, is very severe, and includes history, 
Latin and Greek, and at least one foreign 
language. 

Gymnastics (for derivation, see Gymna¬ 
sium) is the technical term used to designate 
any system of exercises specially designed 
to promote the development of physical, and 
especially of muscular powers. An excellent 
gymnastic training is given by cricket, foot¬ 
ball, rowing, and similar ajnusements, but 
the special value of formal gymnastic exer¬ 
cises is that they are capable of being scienti¬ 
fically arranged so as to secure not only a 
general development of muscular power, but 
also an accurate knowledge of the uses of 
the various muscles, and further that they 
are capable of being applied to each indi¬ 
vidual case, so as to meet, allow for, and as 
far as possible overcome defects in physical 
organization. For these purposes an ele¬ 
mentary course of gymnastics is of great 
value to all, especially to the sedentary 
student. In regard to gymnastic exercises 
two general rules may be laid down, which 
will form an efficient guide in self-imposed 
exercises. The first is the universal rule in 
mechanics that the strength of any machine 
is the strength of its weakest part; the second 


— GYPAETUS. 

is the fundamental law of muscular exercise, 
that it is exercise within the extreme power 
of the muscle which develops and improves, 
while straining weakens and injures, and ex¬ 
cessive exercise develops particular muscles 
abnormally at the expense of the general 
health. It is quite possible, indeed, to carry 
physical exercises as a whole too far, and to 
develop muscular power at the expense of 
vital strength. Till the age of twelve the 
ordinary games and pastimes of childhood 
are generally quite sufficient exercise; after 
that some very light system of gymnastics 
may be adopted to aid the development of 
the system. After the age of thirty-five 
unusual muscular efforts are apt to leave 
persistent strains, and moderate exercise be¬ 
comes the safest means of developing and 
giving tone to the muscular system. 

Gymnogen (jim'no-gen), in bot. a plant 
with a naked seed. Among the gymnogens 
are pines and firs, yews, joint-firs, the cycads, 
&c. In the gymnogens there is no proper 
ovary, the seeds being fertilized by the pol¬ 
len coming into direct contact with the fora¬ 
men of the ovule without the intervention 
of a stigma. 

Gymnosperm (jim'-), a plant with a naked 
seed; a gymnogen (which see). 

Gymno'tus (jim-). See Electrical Fishes. 

Gympie, a municipal town of Australia, 
in Queensland, on the side of a range of hills 
overlooking the river Mary, 116 miles north 
of Brisbane. It owes its origin to the gold¬ 
fields here which have yielded good results. 
The town has some good public buildings, 
well-paved streets, and is lighted by gas. 
Pop. 7659. 

Gynseceum (ji-ne'se-um), in bot. the pistil 
taken in a collective sense, precisely as the 
stamens form the androeceum, the petals the 
corolla, and the sepals the calyx. 

Gynan'dria (jin-), name given to one of the 
classes in the artificial system of Linnaeus, 
characterized by having the stamens and 
pistil consolidated in a single body, as in 
orchids. 

Gyne'rium (jin-), a genus of grasses, of 
which the best knowfi is G. aryenteum or 
Pampas Grass (which see). 

Gyongybs (dyeun'dyeush), a town, Hun¬ 
gary, 44 miles n.e. of Budapest; it has 
manufactures of woollen stuffs, an active 
trade, and produces the celebrated Erlauer 
red wine. Pop. 16,061. 

Gypaetus (ji-pa'e-tus), the genus of birds 
to which belongs the Bearded Vulture or 
Lammergever of the Alps (which see). 

318 



GYPSIES-GYPSUM. 


Gjrpsies (from Egyptians, the name by 
which they were called in the English stat¬ 
utes), a wandering nation, whose physical 
characteristics, language, and customs differ 
much from those of European nations. They 
are called by the French Bohemiens, from 
the belief that they were Hussites driven 
from Bohemia; in Germany the general 
name is Zigeuner, which is not unlike the 
Italian Zingari. They call themselves 
Rommany, from rom (man). This race is 
slowly melting away. Its present total 
number hardly reaches 500,000; of whom 
there are about 120,000 in European Tur¬ 
key; 140,000 in Hungary; 60,000 in Tran¬ 
sylvania; 40,000 in Spain; 40,000 spread 
over Germany, France, and Italy; 18,000 
in Britain, of whom, however, only a small 
number are tent-gypsies, preserving the lan¬ 
guage and traditions of their race; and the 
remainder scattered over other countries. 
The gypsies are now considered to have 
come from India, the main body of their 
language, though mixed with a great num¬ 
ber of borrowed words, having a close affinity 
with some of the Indian languages. Gypsies 
are remarkable for the yellow brown, or 
rather olive colour, of their skin; the jet- 
black of their hair and eyes, the extreme 
whiteness of their teeth, and generally for 
the symmetry of their limbs. The typi¬ 
cal Gypsies rarely settle permanently any¬ 
where, but live in tents, wandering about 
working in wood and iron, making do¬ 
mestic utensils, telling fortunes, practising 
tricks, &c. Their talent for music is remark¬ 
able, and some of their melodies have be¬ 
come the much-valued property of other 
nations, or are incorporated in some of our 
favourite operas. They have no peculiar 
religion. Amongst the Turks they are 
Mohammedans; and in Spain at least, as 
well as in Transylvania, they follow the 
forms of the Christian religion, without, 
however, caring for instruction, or having 
any real interest in religion. The marriage 
ceremony is of the simplest kind. If the 
husband becomes tired of his wife, he will 
turn her off without ceremony. There is no 
idea of education amongst them. The chil¬ 
dren grow up in idleness and the habits of 
stealing and cheating. The Gypsies first 
appeared in Germany and Italy about the 
beginning of the 15th century. At that^ 
time they wandered about in hordes with a 
commander at their head. In the Austrian 
States, where they are very numerous, 
Maria Theresa formed the plan of convert- 

3i9 


ing them into orderly citizens. But her 
ordinances that they should dwell in settled 
habitations, practise some trade, and send 
their children to school remained to a large 
extent ineffectual. In England the Gypsies 
first appeared about the beginning of the 
16th century, and notwithstanding severely 
repressive enactments on the part of the gov¬ 
ernment continued to maintain themselves 
as tinkers, mat and basket-makers, &c. In 
Scotland they were more favourably re¬ 
ceived, and frequently intermarried wdth the 
natives. The town of Yetholm, in Rox¬ 
burghshire, was once a sort of headquarters 
for the race, and almost exclusively inha¬ 
bited by Gypsies. Considerable numbers of 
the British Gypsies have emigrated to Ame¬ 
rica, where they settle amongst the people 
and lose their distinctive characteristics. 
With regard to their language, a large num¬ 
ber of the words in all the different dialects 
are of Indian origin, as already mentioned. 
The grammar of the tongue is also oriental, 
and corresponds with the Indian dialects. 
This similarity cannot be considered the 
work of chance, particularly as their persons 
and customs show much of the Hindu char¬ 
acter. Amongst the chief authorities in Eng¬ 
lish on the subject of the language and orgin 
of the Gypsies are—George Borrow’s ac¬ 
count of the Gypsies in Spain and Romano 
Lavo-sil; C. G. Leland, the English Gypsies 
and their Language; Smart and Crofton, the 
Dialect of the English Gypsies. 

Gypsum (jip'sum), a monoclinic mineral, 
chemically a hydrated calcic sulphate (Ca 
SO 4 2 H 2 O). It is found in a compact state 
as alabaster, or crystallized as selenite, or 
in the form of a soft chalky stone, which in 
a very moderate heat gives out its water of 
crystallization, and becomes a very fine wLite 
powder, extensively used under the name of 
plaster of Paris (which see). This last is the 
most common, and is found in great masses 
near Paris, where it forms the hill of Mont¬ 
martre, near Aix in Provence, and near Bur¬ 
gos in Spain. Gypsum may be geologically of 
any age, but occurs abundantly in the more 
recent sedimentary formations, and is even 
now forming, either as a deposit from water 
holding it In solution, or from the decom¬ 
position of iron pyrites when the sulphuric 
acid combines with lime, or from th-e action 
of sulphurous vapours in volcanic regions 
on calcareous rocks. When gypsum occurs 
without water it is called anhydrite, but in 
its most ordinary state it is combined with 
water. Of this latter there are six sub- 



GYPSY-WORT-HAARLEM. 


species; sparry gypsum or selenite,the foliated 
granular, the compact, the fibrous, the scaly 
foliated, the earthy. The plaster-stone of 
the country near Paris, ground and mixed 
with water, is used as a mortar in building; 
when mixed with glue instead of water the 
material is known as stucco. Gypsum, pul¬ 
verized by grinding or burning, has been 
used with good effect as a manure, especially 
as a top-dressing for meadows. 

Gypsy-wort, Lyc^pus europceus, a labiate 
plant found in Britain in ditches and on 
river banks. It yields a dye said to be used 
by the Gypsies to render their skin darker. 

Gyrenceph'ala (ji-), one of the four sub¬ 
classes into which Owen has divided the 
mammalia, characterized by having the 
hemispheres of the cerebrum covering the 
greater part of the cerebellum and the 
olfactory lobes. It comprehends the Quad- 
rumana. Carnivora, Artiodactyla, Perisso- 
dactyla, Proboscidea, Sirenia, and Cetacea. 

Gyrfalcon, or J eefalcon. See Falcon. 

Gyroscope (ji'-), an apparatus, consisting of 
a rotating disc mounted by very accurately 
fitted pivots in a ring or rings (forming a 
sort of gimbals), for ilhistrating the pro¬ 
perties of rotation generally. The funda¬ 
mental principle of the whole is the resis¬ 
tance which a disc in rapid motion presents 
to any change of direction in the axis of ro¬ 


tation. Some curious phenomena may be 
exhibited by it difficult to explain without 
resorting to mathematical formula. The 
figure shows a simple gyroscope. If the 



disc A which revolves on an axis within the 
ring B is set very rapidly in motion by the 
unwinding of a string round the axis, and 
if the part c is then rested on a pivot at the 
top of the upi’ight support D, the apparatus 
instead of falling wdll go slowly round in 
the direction shown by the arrows. 

Gyula (dybla), a market town of Hun¬ 
gary, on the Kbros. It consists of two dis¬ 
tinct villages, Magyar and Nemet (Ger¬ 
man), on opposite sides of the river. Pop. 
18,046. 


H. 


H, the eighth letter of the English alpha¬ 
bet, often called the aspirate, as being a 
mere aspiration or breathing, though not 
the only aspirated letter in English. The 
sound that distinctively belongs to it is 
that which it has at the beginning of a 
syllable before a vowel, as in hard, heavy. 
It is very commonly joined to other con¬ 
sonants to represent sounds for which there 
are no special letters in the alphabet, as in 
the digraphs ch, sh, th {child, ship, thin, 
this), or in other consonantal combinations 
of various origins and values, as in the 
words enough {gh=f), plough {gh silent), 
philosophy {ph=f), rhetoric {h silent), &c. 
Ch is common in words taken from the 
Greek, but in this case it generally has the 
h sound, as in chemistry, chyle, logomachy, 
&c. See Grimm's Law. 

Haarlem (har'lem), a town of Holland, 
province N. Holland, 10 miles w. Amster¬ 
dam, intersected by the Spaarne, which is 


joined by canals from Leyden and Amster¬ 
dam, and along which a considerable traffic 
is maintained. The town is well and regu¬ 
larly built; the streets exceedingly clean, 
planted with trees and laid out in prome¬ 
nades. Amongst the notable buildings are 
the town-hall, the church of St. Bavon with 
its celebrated organ, the Prinsenhof, in 
which the provincial assembly meets. The 
manufactures of Haarlem, as well as its 
population, are less than what they were 
formerly; but it has still various industrial 
works, a celebrated type-foundry, the oldest 
and most famous printing-office in Holland, 
and its flower trade, especially in hyacinths 
and other bulbs, is very important. On the 
south side of the town is the park of Haar¬ 
lem, a plantation of fine old beeches sur¬ 
rounded with villas, cafds, and places of 
holiday resort. Haarlem was a prosperous 
place as far back as the 12th century. 
During the revolt of the Netherlands it 

320 









HAARLEM 


HABITUAL CRIMi^JALS ACT. 


sustained a famous seven months’ siege by 
the Spaniards. It is the birthplace of Lau¬ 
rence Coster, supposed inventor of movable 
and of a number of painters, Ostade, 
the Wouvermans, Ruisdael, Van Loo, &c. 
Pop. 1892, 53,692. 

Haarlem, Lake of, a former lake of Hol¬ 
land, adjoining and communicating with the 
Y, between Haarlem and Amsterdam. Pre¬ 
viously a swamp, it w'as formed in the loth 
century by the overflow of the Rhine and 
the crumbling away of the banks of the Y, 
and imperilled by its growth the towns of 
Haarlem, Amsterdam, and Leyden. It was 
18 miles long, 9 miles broad, and about 14 
feet deep. The draining of it was com¬ 
menced in 1840, and completed in 1853. 
The soil thus reclaimed, known as the Haar- 
lemmer Polder, now forms a commune, 
which numbers over 10,000 inhabitants. 

Habak'kuk, the eighth of the twelve 
minor prophets. He flourished about 600 
B.C. at the time of the invasion of Judah by 
the Chaldeans, against whom he prophesies 
Cod’s retributive justice. He concludes 
with a kind of psalm (chap. 3) remarkable 
for the majesty of its language and the 
sublimity of its thought. 

Habeas Corpus, in law, a writ addressed 
to one who has a person in custody, com¬ 
manding him to produce the body of the 
person named at a certain place and time. 
From the time of the Magna Charta im¬ 
prisonment at the discretion of any person 
has been unlawful in England, but for long 
the royal prerogative w’as so indefinite and 
the power of the crown so great that persons 
were frequently detained in custody at the 
discretion of the crown. It was not till the 
17 th century that the Habeas Corpus Act, 
passed in 1679 (31 Charles II. cap. ii.), pro¬ 
vided the great remedy for the violation of 
personal liberty by the writ of habeas corpus 
ad subjiciendum (that you have the body to 
answer). The provisions of the act may be 
stated generally thus;—1. That on complaint 
or request in writing, by, or on behalf of, 
any person committed and charged with any 
crime (unless treason, felony, &c., expressed 
in the warrant), the lord-chancellor, or any 
of the judges shall award a habeas corpus for 
such prisoner, and shall discharge the party, 
if bailable, upon security being given to ap¬ 
pear and answer to the accusation. 2. The 
writ shall be returned, and the prisoner 
brought up within a limited time, not ex¬ 
ceeding twenty days. 3. No person once 
delivered by habeas corpus shall be recom- 
VOL. IV 321 


mitted for the same offence. 4. Every person 
committed for treason or felony may insist 
on being tried at the next assizes, or ad¬ 
mitted to bail, and if not tried at the second 
assizes or sessions, he shall be discharged 
from the imprisonment. The English 
statute has been copied in the U. States 
without essential change. It is the grand¬ 
est safeguard against despotism which 
jurisprudence affords. In the days of sla¬ 
very the writ was often issued in behalf of 
slaves who had escaped from their masters, 
and when it was shown that the masters 
had brought them into a free state the 
court set them free. So important was the 
writ of habeas corpus considered by the 
framers of the constitution of the U. States 
that they inserted an express provision 
(art. I., sec. 9) that it should not be sus¬ 
pended ‘ unless when in cases of rebellion 
or invasion the public safety may require 
it.’ The question whether the power to 
suspend is vested in congress or the pres¬ 
ident, or in each alike, is a dis})uted point. 
During the civil war the power was exer¬ 
cised by the president, with the tacit con¬ 
sent or express permission of congress. No 
state court has a right to issue the writ 
for the discharge of a person held under 
the authority of the federal government. 
The pi'oceedings upon a return of a writ 
may take place in chambers before a single 
judge, or before several judges in open 
court, as determined by the language of 
the writ. 

Habergeon (ha-ber'jin), a jacket of chain- 
mail shorter than the hauberk, and without 
sleeves, worn in the middle ages by the 
squires and archers. 

Habit and Repute, in Scotch law, an 
expression applied to denote something so 
notorious that it is taken without further 
proof to be true. Thus, marriage may be 
established by habit and repute, where the 
parties cohabit and are recognized by the 
neighbours as man and wife. Also if a 
person is by habit and repute a thief, that 
is, a notorious thief, the punishment in¬ 
flicted is heavier. 

Habitants or Habitans, a name applied 
to the inhabitants of Canada, especially in 
Quebec province, who are of French ex¬ 
traction, still speak the French language 
and preserve French customs. See Canada. 

Habitual Criminals Act, a British act 
passed in 1869 (32 and 33 Viet. cap. xeix.), 
to make further provision for the suppres¬ 
sion of crimes. This statute was, however, 

117 


iiACKBERRY-HADES. 


repealed two years after by an act known 
as the Prevention of Crimes Act. 

Hackberry, the popular name of North 
American varieties of the nettle-tree, Celtis 
crassifolia, also of the Celtis occidentalis, 
belonging to the nettle family Urticacese. 

Hackensack, Bergen co., N. J., 14 m. N. 
of New York. Pop. 1890, 6004. 

Hacklander (hak'len - der), Friedkich 
WILHELM VON, a German novelist and comedy 
writer, born in 1816. He engaged first in 
commerce, then entered the Prussian artil¬ 
lery, and commenced his literary career in 
1841 with Pictures from a Soldier’s Life in 
Time of Peace. He then became succes¬ 
sively private secretary to Baron Tauben- 
hein, whom he accompanied to the East, 
and to the Crown Prince of Wurtemberg. 
In 1849 he served with the Austrians during 
the war with Sardinia, and published his 
observations in Soldier Life in Time of War. 
He was ennobled by the Emperor Francis 
Joseph. He died in 1877. Amongst his 
many writings distinguished by a mixture 
of pathos and humour, we may mention 
Daguex-reotypen (1842), Handel und Wan- 
del (1850), Her Neue I)on Quixote (1858), 
Geschichten im Zickzack (1871); of his 
comedies. Her Geheime Agent (1850) was 
the most successful. 

Hackmatack, a term applied in many 
parts of the United States to the American 
larch. See Larch. 

Hackney, a suburb of London, and pari, 
borough in Middlesex, 3 miles n.n.e. of St, 
Paul’s. It includes Hackney proper. South 
Hackney, Homerton, Clapton, Halston, &c., 
and is still a favourite residence of wealthy 
merchants. Since 1885 it returns three 
members to parliament. Pop. 229,531. 

Hackney Coach, a coach let out for hire, 
Hackney coaches began first to ply xmder 
this name in London in 1625, when they 
were twenty in number. Hackney-coach¬ 
men are generally put under police regula¬ 
tions, and a tariff of fares imposed upon 
them. Cabs are now the common kind of 
hackney coaches. 

Haddington, a royal (formerly a pari.) 
burgh of Scotland, capital of the county of 
same name, 17 miles east by north of Edin¬ 
burgh, on the Tyne. The town is neatly 
built, and has a town-house, a fine structure, 
handsome county buildings; a Gothic church 
of the 11th or 12th century, the nave of 
which forms the parish church, &c. Its 
grain-market is one of the largest in Scot¬ 
land. Prior to 1885 it united with North 


Berwick, Hunbar, Lauder, and Jedburgh in 
sending a member to the House of Com¬ 
mons. Pop. 4043.—The county, also called 
East Lothian, is bounded by the Firth of 
Forth, the German Ocean, Berwickshire, 
and IVIidlothian; area, 280 sq. miles, of 
which four-fifths are arable or fit for culti¬ 
vation. The surface rises gently from the 
coast towards the Lammermuir Hills, 500 
to 1700 feet high, which form its south 
boundary.' It is divided into two nearly 
equal portions by the river Tyne. The 
minerals include coal, limestone, ironstone, 
and sandstone; the coal is worked. Had¬ 
dingtonshire has been long celebrated for 
the skill and success with which its hus¬ 
bandry has been conducted. The low lands 
of the north and the west are very fertile, 
while the high lands adjoining the Lanimer- 
muir Hills supply excellent pasturage for 
sheep. Fishing and fish-curing are carried 
on at Hunbar and other points. The county 
sends a member to parliament. Pop. 
1891, 37,491. 

Haddock, a well-known fish of the cod 
family (Gadidm), Morrhua (Gadus) cegle- 
finus. It is smaller than the cod, 'which it 
much resembles, but it has a dark spot on 



Haddock (Morrhua (Gadus) ceglefinua). 


each side of the body just behind the head. 
This fish commonly weighs from 2 to 6 lbs., 
though sometimes as high as 10 lbs. It 
breeds in immense numbers in the northern 
seas in February and March, and constitutes 
a considerable article of food. It is plenti¬ 
ful on the coasts of America, from New 
York to the Arctic regions. 

Hadersle'ben, a town of Prussia, in 
Schleswig-Holstein, on the Hadersleben 
Fiord, in the Little Belt. Pop. 7637. 

Hades (ha'dez), originally the Greek name 
of the lord of the lower or invisible world, 
afterwards called Pluto; but in later times, 
as in the Greek Scriptures, it is applied to 
the region itself. With the ancients Hades 
was the common receptacle of departed 
spirits, of good as well as bad. 

322 ■ 













HADJ-H^CKEL. 


Hadj, the Mohammedan pilgrimage to 
Mecca, which every Mohammedan ought 
to perform once in his life, and after which 
he is entitled to prefix Hadji to his name. 
The pilgrimage has been made in disguise 
b}' Burckhardt in 1814, by Burton in 1853, 
and by T. F. Keane in 1878, each of whom 
has published accounts of his journey. 

Hadji Khalifah, the surname of Mustapha- 
Ben-Abdallah, a Turkish historian, born at 
Constantinople about 1605; became ‘first 
secretai-y ’ to Sultan Mourad IV.; and died 
at Constantinople in 1658. His most im¬ 
portant work is Keshf-ul-tzunOn, a kind of 
encyclopsedia of Arabic, Turkish, and Per¬ 
sian literature. Among his other works are 
Chronological Tables, Mirror of the World, 
History of the Maritime Wars of the Turks. 
All the works mentioned have been trans¬ 
lated into Latin or modem languages. 

Hadley, John, English astronomer, born 
towards the end of the seventeenth cen¬ 
tury. He is the reputed inventor of the 
(piadrant that goes by his name, though the 
honour is also claimed for Newton, from 
whom Hadley got a description of the in¬ 
strument in 1727, and for Thomas Godfrey 
of Philadelphia, who produced his instru¬ 
ment about the same time as Hadley in 
1731. The Royal Society decided that God¬ 
frey and Hadley were both entitled to the 
honour of the invention. Hadley also in¬ 
vented the sextant. He died in 1744. 

Hadraraaut, a district of Arabia which, 
in the older and wider use of the term, ex¬ 
tended from Yemen on the west to Oman 
on the east, and from the Indian Ocean 
on the south to the great desert of El 
Ahkaf on the north. The name is, however, 
generally confined by the natives to a much 
smaller tract in the south-west. There are 
some fertile valleys and glens, one of the 
most important being that of the Wadi- 
Hoan, where the slopes of the mountains 
are covered with towns and villages, and 
grain crops, dates, indigo, bananas, &c., are 
extensively cultivated. On the coast Mak- 
allah is the chief commercial depot. 

Ha'drian, in full, Publius H^lius Hadri- 
ANUS, the fourteenth in the series of Roman 
emperors, born at Rome, 24th Jan. 76 a.d. 
His father, who was cousin to the emperor 
Trajan, died when he was ten years old, and 
left him under the charge of his illustrious 
kinsman. He married Sabina, Trajan’s 
grand-niece, accompanied the emperor on his 
expeditions, filled the highest offices of state, 
and, on the death of IVajan, assumed the 

323 


government as his adopted son (117). He 
made peace with the Parthians, renouncing 
all conquests east of the Euphrates, and 
bought off a war with the Roxolani by pay¬ 
ment of a sum of money. From the year 
121 he spent most of his time in visiting 
the various 
provinces of 
the empire. 

Hadrian’s po¬ 
licy was a 
peaceful one, 
because he saw 
that the fur¬ 
ther extension 
of the empire 
only weakened 
it. Although 

avoiding war coin of Hadrian, 

as much as 

he could, he kept the armies in excellent 
condition, fortified the frontiers in Germany, 
and, crossing over into Britain, constructed 
the wall known as Hadrian’s Wall (or that 
of Severus), which protected the Roman 
province from the barbarous tribes of the 
north. He next travelled into Asia and 
Africa, and lived in Athens for three years. 
In 131 he promulgated the Edictum Per- 
petuum, a fixed code of laws, which forms 
an important epoch in the development of 
Roman law. In 132 the Jews revolted, and 
for four years carried on a bloody war, the 
only notable one of his long reign. Hadrian 
died at Bai* in 138. 

Hadrian’s Wall, or the Pictish Wall, 
a wall quite as often associated with the 
name of Severus. See Severus (Wall of). 

Hadrosaurus, a genus of large extinct 
reptiles, whose remains have been found in 
the newer cretaceous strata of the United 
States. It appears to have resembled the 
gigantic iguanodon of Europe in ite enor¬ 
mous dimensions, herbivorous habits, and 
anatomical structure. 

Haeckel (hek'l), Ernst, a German nat¬ 
uralist, born at Potsdam in 1834, studied 
medicine and science at Berlin, Wurzburg, 
and Vienna; travelled in Norway and Italy, 
became professor of zoology at Jena in 1865. 
Later he visited Spain, Egypt, India, and 
Ceylon to perfect his knowledge of natural 
forms. He is the most prominent exponent 
of the Darwinian theories in Germany. 
Among his works we may mention The 
Radiolariae (1862), The History of Creation 
(1868), Anthropology (1874), History of the 
Evolution of Man (1875), Collected Popular 








H^MAL CAVITY-HAGERSTOWN. 


Discourses on the Development Theory 
(1878-79), Origin and Development of Ani¬ 
mal Tissues (1884), &c. 

Haemal Cavity, in anatomy, a term ap¬ 
plied to the cavity which contains the great 
centres of circulation in the Vertebrata, 
together with the digestive and respiratory 
apparatus. The Hcumal Arch is the arch 
formed by the projections anteriorly of the 
ribs and the sternum from the vertebrae. 

Haemanthus, the blood-flower, a genus of 
South African bulbous plants. See Blood- 
flower. 

Haematem'esis, a vomiting of blood from 
the stomach, resulting from some disease of 
the stomach, as ulcer or cancer. 

Hae'matin, Hematine, the red colouring 
matter of the blood occurring in solution in 
the interior of the blood corpuscles or cells. 
It is the only structure of the body, except 
hair, which contains iron. 

Hae'matite, Red and Brown. See Hema¬ 
tite and Iron. 

Haemat'opus, a genus of wading birds, 
the best known species of which is //. ostra- 
ISyus, or common oyster-catcher. 

Haematox'ylin (CieHuOc), the colouring 
matter of logwood, or Hamatoxylon cam- 
pechianum. This colouring matter is a 
constituent part of all the colours prepared 
with logwood, and the changes which it un¬ 
dergoes by the action of acids and alkalies 
render it useful as a reagent to detect their 
presence. 

Hsematozo'a (Gr. haima, blood, and zdon, 
a living creature), a name given to the para¬ 
sitic animals which, under certain condi¬ 
tions, exist in the blood of mammals, birds, 
reptiles, fishes and many invertebrate ani¬ 
mals. They are generally microscopic, and 
are thought to be connected with various 
diseases. 

Haematu'ri'a (Gr. haima, blood, and ouron, 
urine), a discharge of bloody urine, usually 
arising from disease of the kidneys or blad¬ 
der. In some parts of Africa it is an en¬ 
demic disease arising from a parasite in the 
blood. 

Hsemog'lobin, H.emoglob'ulin, the semi¬ 
fluid or quite fluid matter of a red colour 
contained in the red corpuscles of the blood. 
It can be resolved into an albuminous sub¬ 
stance called globulin and the colouring 
matter hsematin. 

Hsemop'tysis (Gr. Aama, blood, andp^ysis, 
a spitting), the coughing up of blood, some¬ 
times produced by fulness of the blood¬ 
vessels of the lungs or throat, or by the 


rupture of blood-vessels as a consequence 
of ulceration. It is distinguished from 
blood coming from the stomach by the com¬ 
parative smallness of its quantity, and by 
its usually florid colour. It occurs in heart 
disease, in pneumonia, and tubercular dis¬ 
ease. It is sometimes a case of vicarious 
menstruation. 

Haemorrhage. See Hemorrhage. 

Haemorrhoids. See Hemorrhoids. 

Haemus, in ancient geography, the chain 
of mountains now known as the Balkan. 

Hafiz, Mohammed Shems ed din, one of 
the most celebrated and most charming 
poets of Persia, was born at Shiraz in the 
beginning of the 14th century. He studied 
theology and law, sciences which, in Mo¬ 
hammedan countries, are intimately con¬ 
nected with each other. He preferred in¬ 
dependent poverty as a dervish to a life at 
court, whither he was often invited by Sul¬ 
tan Ahmed, w'ho earnestly pressed him to 
visit Bagdad. He died at Shiraz about 1390. 
His poems, known collectively as the Divan, 
are Anacreontic in sentiment, abounding in 
the praise of love and wine. 

Hag, the name of the fishes of the genus 
Myxine, which, with the allied lampreys, 
constitute the order of Marsipobranchii. 
They are of worm-like form, and have no 
eyes or scales. The mouth is formed for 
suction, is without lips, and furnished with 
fleshy filaments or barbels. There is a 
single median fang upon the palate by means 
of which the hag makes its way into the 
interior of other fishes, such as the cod, ling, 
or haddock, where it lives parasitically. 
The Myxine glutindsa, or common hag, 
takes its name from the quantity of viscid 
mucus which it can secrete. An American 
species is not uncommon in rivers of New 
York and New England. 

Hagen, a thriving manufacturing town of 
Prussia, in Westphalia, at the confluence of 
the Volme and Ennepe. It has manufac¬ 
tures of woollen, linen, and cotton cloth, 
leather, hats, steel, and ironware. Pop. 
29,614. 

Hagenau (ha'ge-nou), a town of Germany, 
Lower Alsace, 18 miles north of Strasburg, 
on the Moder. It has some manufactures 
in woollen and cotton goods, soap, &c., and 
a considerable trade in grain, oil, hops, &c. 
Pop. 13,469. 

Hagerstown, a city, United States, 
the seat of the county of Washington, Mary¬ 
land, 6 miles nortli of the Potomac river. 
Pop. 10,118. 


324 




HAGGAl-HAHNEMANN. 


Haggai (hag'a-i), the tenth in order of the 
minor prophets, and first of those who pro¬ 
phesied after the captivity. The book of 
Haggai consists of four distinct prophetical 
addresses—two in the first and two in the 
second chapter—intended to rouse his dis¬ 
heartened countrymen to the rebuilding of 
the temple. They were delivered in 520 b.c,, 
and are written in a brief and meagre style. 
The closing prediction foreshadows the es¬ 


tablishment of the Messianic kingdom upon 
the overthrow of the thrones of the nations. 

Hagiographa (ha-ji-og'ra-fa), a term from 
the Greek, meaning in general holy writings, 
but specifically applied to the writings in¬ 
cluded in the Jewish Ketubim, or third 
division of the Scriptures. See Bible. 

Hagiology (ha-ji-oro-ji), that branch ol 
literature which has to do with the history 
of the lives and legends of the saints. 



The Hague—The Binnenhof on the Vijver or Pond. 


Hague, The (hag; Dtitch, 'S Gravenhage 
—the Count’s Hedge ; French, La llaye), 
practically, though not formally, the capital 
of the Netherlands, in the province of South 
Holland, 33 miles south-west from Amster¬ 
dam, and within 3 miles of the sea. It is 
the residence of the king and of the foreign 
ambassadors, and the seat of the States- 
general of the Netherlands. It is pleasantly 
situated, and is distinguished for width and 
straightness of streets, and general elegance 
of public buildings. Among the most im¬ 
portant structures are the royal palace, the 
palace of the Prince of Grange, the Bin¬ 
nenhof, a large irregular building, founded 
in 1249, and containing the hall of assembly 
of the states-general, and various govern¬ 
ment offices; also the provincial government- 
house, a large roomy edifice, the town-hall, 
royal library (200,000 vols.); the Groote 
Kerk, or Church of St. James, with hexa¬ 
gonal tower and finely vaulted interior; the 

325 


Mauritshuis, built by Prince John Maurice 
of Nassau, now converted into a museum 
containing some of the finest works of the 
Dutch masters. There are some manufac¬ 
tures—iron, ordnance, gold and silver wares, 
hats, furniture, &c.—but the town mostly 
depends on the presence of the court and 
the numbers of strangers that come for sea¬ 
bathing to Scheveningen, about 3 miles dis¬ 
tant. 'I'he Hague arose as a hunting-seat 
of the Counts of Holland in 1250, and be¬ 
came the political capital of the States in 
the 16th century. Pop. 1892, 165,560. 

Hagusnau. See Eagenau. 

Hahnemann (ha'ne-man), Samuel Chkis- 
TiAN Friedrich, the founder of the homoeo¬ 
pathic system, born at Meissen in 1755, 
studied medicine at Leipzig, Vienna, and 
Erlangen,' taking his degree at the last-men¬ 
tioned place in 1779. After practising in 
various places, he published in 1810 his Or¬ 
ganon der rationellen Heilkunde, which fully 






























































HAHN-HAHN 


HATNAUT. 


explained his new system of curing any dis¬ 
order by employing a medicine which pro¬ 
duces a similar disorder. (See Homoeopathy.) 
Hahnemann was driven from Saxony by the 
government prohibiting him from dispensing 
medicines, but found an asylum ultimately in 
Paris, where his system was authorized by 
the government and acquired a certain popu¬ 
larity. He died at Paris in 1843. Among 
his works notice is due to his Dictionary of 
Materia Medica, his Essays on Poisoning 
by Arsenic, and on the Effects of Coffee, 
and his treatise on Chronic Affections. 

Hahn-Hahn, Ida, Countess of, German . 
authoress, born in 1805, the daughter of 
Count Karl Friedrich of Hahn-Hahn, who 
squandered most of his means as an entre¬ 
preneur of dramatic companies. In 1826 
she married a wealthy cousin, but three 
years later was divorced, after which she 
travelled extensively in Italy, Spain, and 
the Levant. In 1835 she made her d^b'ut 
in literature with Poems, followed by Vene¬ 
tian Nights (1836), Songs and Poems (1837). 
But her popularity is chiefly founded on 
her novels, especially those of social life, 
amongst which Aus der Gesellschaft (1838), 
Grafin Eaiistine (1841), Sigismund Forster 
(1843), may be mentioned. She died in 
1880. 

Haidarabad. See Hyderabad. 

Haiducks, or Haiduks (Hungarian Haj- 
duk, drovers), a term originally applied to 
the herdsmen of Hungary, and afterwards 
to the bands of Magyar foot soldiers, who 
placed themselves at the service of any po¬ 
tentate who was willing and able to pay 
them. Their fidelity to the cause of Boc- 
skai, prince of Hungary, in the war of Suc¬ 
cession was rewarded by a grant from that 
prince, in 1605, of a separate district of the 
countr}’ for their residence, with privileges 
of nobility, &c., which they continued to 
enjoy till 1848. The name Haiducks is now 
given to macers in the Hungarian courts, 
halberdiers of Hungarian magnates, and the 
lackeys and other attendants in German 
courts. 

Hail, small masses of ice or frozen rain 
falling from the cloiids in showers or storms, 
varying in their form, being either angular, 
pyramidal, or stellated, as well as in their 
consistency, being sometimes as hard as ice 
and sometimes as soft as snow. At the 
centre there is generally an opaque spongy 
mass, resembling sleet in its composition, 
and round this a semi-transparent congealed 
mass, consisting of a succession of layers or 


strata, is formed. Properly there are two 
kinds of hail—the small gT ains which gener¬ 
ally fall in winter and usually before snow; 
and the large hail which occurs chiefly in 
spring and summer, and is most severe in 
very hot climates. The small-grained hail is 



Forms of Hailstones. 

Fig. 1. a, Hailstone which fell at Bonn in 1822: dia¬ 
meter li inch, weight 300 grains, be, Sections of differ¬ 
ently shaped Hailstones which fell on the same occasion. 
Fig. 2. «, Section of Hailstone with minute pyramids on 
its surface, bede. Fragments of do. when burst asunder 

probably formed by the freezing of rain-drops 
as they pass in falling through colder air than 
that from which they started. The large 
or common hail is probably due to the 
meeting of two currents of air, of very un¬ 
equal temperature and electric tension. The 
usual size of hailstones is about J inch in 
diameter, but they are frequently of much 
larger dimensions, sometimes even 3 or 4 
inches in diameter. In hot climates they 
ai’e very destructive to crops. 

Hailes, Lord. See Dalrymple {Sir David). 

Hainan, an island of China, belonging to 
the province of Quang-Tung, between the 
China Sea and the Gulf of Tonquin, and 
separated from the mainland by a channel 
of 15 miles, encumbered with shoals and 
coral reefs. It is almost oval in shape, and 
has an area of over 16,000 square miles. 
The fertile lowlands on the northern and 
western coasts are occupied by immigrant 
Chinese, to the number of about 1,500,000, 
who cultivate rice, sugar, tobacco, &c. The 
fisheries are also productive. The interior, 
which is mountainous and covered with 
forests, is inhabited by a distinct race still 
in a very primitive stage. The capital is 
Kiang-chow, on the northern coast, a large 
seaport. 

Hainaut, or Hainault (a-no; Dutch, 
llenneyowen; German, Hennegau), province 
of Belgium, bounded on the south and west 

326 



HAINBURG-ITATR. 


by France; area, 1406 square miles. Though 
nowhere properly mountainous, it is very 
hilly in the south-east, where it is covered 
by the Western Ardennes. In other direc¬ 
tions it is generally flat, though well di- 
versifled. About three-fourths of the whole 
surface is arable, and scarcely a hundredth 
part is waste. The soil is generally fertile, 
and there are extensive coal-fields, coal, 
together with flax, linen, hemp, tobacco, 
and porcelain being the chief articles of ex¬ 
port. Manufactures, chiefly cutlery, woollen 
and linen goods, &c., are carried on to a 
great extent. The capital is Mons. Pop. 
1892, 1,058,737. The old province of 
Hainault, in Ceesar’s time the native dis¬ 
trict of the Nervii, was in the tenth cen¬ 
tury governed by a race of counts, the suc¬ 
cession of which continued unbroken till 
1436, when Jacqueline, heiress of William 
IV., was forced to cede her lands to Philip, 
duke of Burgundy. With Mary of Bur¬ 
gundy, Hainault passed to the house of 
Austria, but in 1659 a part of it was ceded 
to France, and is now included in the de¬ 
partment of Nord. 

Hainburg, or Haimburg (hIn'burA, him'- 
burA), a town of Lower Austria, beautifully 
situated on the Danube, 27 miles south-east 
of Vienna, It is walled; has an ancient 
town-house, remains of a Roman aqueduct, 
and other antiquities. The old castle on the 
height is the Heimburc of the Nibelungen- 
lied, the old frontier fortress of the Huns. 
Pop. 4857. 

Hainichen (hi'niA-en), a town of Saxony, 
41 miles south-east of Leipzig. It has 
manufactures of woollen, linen, and cotton 
cloth, and is the chief seat of the German 
flannel manufacture. Pop. 8053. 

Hair, the fine, threadlike, more or less 
elastic substance, of various form and colour, 
which constitutes the covering of the skin 
in the class of mammalia. It has the same 
use as feathers in birds, and scales in fishes 
and reptiles. No species of mammalia is 
without hair in an adult state, not even the 
Cetacea. In quadrupeds it is of the most 
various conformation, from the finest wool 
to the quills of a porcupine or the bristles 
of the hog. The human body is naturally 
covered with long hair only on a few parts; 
yet the parts which we should generally 
describe as destitute of it produce a fine, 
short, colourless, sometimes hardly percep¬ 
tible hair. The only places entirely free 
from it are the palms of the hands and the 
soles of the feet; but the body of the male 

327 


often produces hair like that of the head on 
the breast, shoulders, arms, &c. Each hair 
consists of a shaft and a root. The shaft or 
part outside the skin does not grow; but the 
root embedded in the skin expands at its 
lower end into a swelling or bulb which is 



A B CD 

Hairs of various animals magnified. 

A, Indian bat. b, Mouse, c, Sable, n, Human. 


composed of little cells and grows by form¬ 
ing new cells, the old ones being pressed 
forward and becoming part of the shaft. 
The colour is due to minute pigment granules 
in the cells of the hair. The colour of the 
hair is a race character; and the shape 
of the shaft has likewise been used in this 
way, transverse sections showing circular, 
oval, flat, or reniform outlines. The human 
hair varies according to age, sex, country, 
and circumstances. At birth an infant gen¬ 
erally has light hair. It always grows 
darker and stiffer with age. The same is 
the case with the eyelashes and eyebrows. 
At the age of puberty the hair grows in the 
armpits, &c., of both sexes, and on the chin 
of the male. The hair of men is stronger 
and stiffer; that of females longer (even in 
a state of nature), thicker, and not so liable 
to be shed. Connected with the hairs are 
small glands which secrete an oily substance, 
serving as a lubricant to the skin as well as 
the hair. These are called sebaceous glands. 
If the root is destroyed there is no means 
of reproducing the hair; but if it falls out 
without the root being destroyed, as is often 
the case after nervous fevers, the hair grows 
out again of itself. Each hair, indeed, lasts 
only a certain time, after which it falls out 
and is replaced by another as long as the 
papilla is not weakened. Grayness of hair 
is caused by a deficient amount of pigment 
granules in the hair cells. The deficiency 
arises at the hair bulb where the cells are 
produced. Any influences that affect the 
nutrition of the bulb may thus affect the 
colour as well as the growth of the hair. 
Baldness is caused by atrophy of the papilla, 
generally due to lessened circulation of the 
blood in the scalp. For some diseases which 












HATR-DYES-HAKLUYT. 


have a close connection with the hair, see 
Plica PoLonica, Jiingworm, Mycosis. Under 
ordinary circumstances hair is a very stable 
substance. It is the last thing which decays, 
and it often grows after death and lasts for 
centuries. Hair is not acted on by water, 
but heated in it under pressure it decom¬ 
poses, evolves sulphuretted hydrogen, and 
dissolves; it is also dissolved by alkalies and 
acids. When burned it emits a disagreeable 
odour as of burning horn. 

Hair for manufacture is furnished chiefly 
from the horse, the ox, the hog, the goat, 
especially the Angora or Mohair goat, the 
camel, and the alpaca. That of the first 
three is most used for upholstery purposes, 
the short hair being manufactured into 
curled hair for stuffing, and the long straight 
hair manufactured into hair-cloth for seat¬ 
ing. The long hair is also reserved for the 
manufacture of fishing-lines, brushes, &c. 
White hair is of the most value, being most 
adapted for dyeing and for the manufac¬ 
ture of fancy articles. The horse-hair used 
for weaving comes chiefly from Russia, 
Germany, Belgium, South America, and 
Australia. Russia chiefly furnishes the 
bristles, so largely used for brushes. The 
sable, the minniver, the martin, the badger 
supply the finer brushes or hair-pencils of 
painters. The hair of the goat, the camel, 
and the alpaca is chiefly used in combina¬ 
tion with or subordinated to wool and other 
fibres for spinning and weaving into dress 
fabrics. Human hair is used chiefly for 
the manufacture of wigs, curls, beards, 
chignons, &c. Most of the supply comes 
from France, Germany, and Italy, where 
the peasant girls sell their hair to itinerant 
dealers. In every case, and for any purpose, 
hair is always best taken from the living 
subject; dead hair being much inferior. 

Hair-dyes, substances for giving hair some 
particular colour desired. The numerous 
preparations sold for this purpose have gen¬ 
erally a basis of lead or nitrate of silver. 
Bismuth, pyrogallic acid, sulphur, the juice 
of green walnut shells and other astringent 
vegetable juices, are also employed. 

Hair-grass (Aira), a genus of grasses be¬ 
longing to that division of the order in which 
the spikelets have two or more florets, and 
the inflorescence is a loose panicle. It is 
of little use for cattle, which dislike it, but 
may serve where covert is wanted for game. 
A. ccEspitosa, or tufted hair-grass, the win- 
dlestrae of the Scotch, is used as thatch for 
ricks, and in some places for making mats. 


Hair-powder, a preparation of pulverized 
starch and some perfume, formerly much 
used to whiten the head. Sometimes the 
powder was coloured. The custom of wear¬ 
ing it was introduced from France, into 
England in the reign of Charles II. To 
make the powder hold, the hair was usually 
greased with pomade. It is now scarcely to 
be seen except on the heads of footmen in 
attendance on people of rank or wealth. 

Hair-spring, in watches, the fine hair-like 
spring made of steel, which is attached to 
the axle of the balance wheel, and serves by 
its resisting power to equalize the vibrations 
of the escapement-wheel. 

Hair-worms. See Nematelmia. 

Haiti. See Ilayti. 

Hajilij, an Egyptian, Indian, and African 
tree of the genus Balanites (B. cegyptiaca)^ 
nat. order Simarubese, cultivated for its 
edible fruit, from the seeds of which an oil 
is expressed. 

Hajipur, a town of India, in the Muzaf- 
farpur District, Bengal, on the Little Gan- 
dak, a short distance above its confluence 
with the Ganges. Its command of water 
traffic gives it considerable commercial im¬ 
portance. Pop. 25,078. 

Hake, the Merlucius vulgaris of Europe, 
and the M. albldus of N. America, fishes 
belonging to that division of the cod family 



Hake [Merlucius vulgaris). 


or Gadidae, which has the head much flat¬ 
tened, and two dorsal and one long anal fin. 
The European hake is known in some places 
as king of the herrings, on which it preys. 

Hakim, a Turkish word, originally signi¬ 
fying sage, philosopher, a,ud then a, physiciair. 
JIakim bashi is the physician of the sultan, 
that is to say, the chief of the physicians, 
always a Turk; whilst the true physicians 
in the seraglio under him are western Euro¬ 
peans, Greeks, and Jews. 

Hakluyt, Richakd, one of the earliest 
English collectors of voyages and maritime 
journals, was born in 1553. He entered 
Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1575, and 
became so eminent for his acquaintance 
with cosmography, that he was appointed 
public lecturer on that science. About 
1584 he went to Paris as chaplain to the 
English ambassador, and stayed there five 


HAKODADI 


HALEVY 


years. After his return home he prepared 
for the press his collection of The Principal 
Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries of 
the English Nation, made by Sea, or over 
Land, within the Compass of these 1500 
Years. The first volume, in folio, was pub¬ 
lished in 1.589, and the third and last in 
1600. Besides narratives of nearly 220 
voyages, these volumes comprise patents, 
letters, instructions, and other documents, 
not readily to be found elsewhere. Hakluyt 
died in 1616, a prebendary of Westminster 
and rector of Wetheringset in Suffolk, and 
was interred in Westminster Abbey. 

Hakoda'di, a nty of Japan, near the 
south end of the island of Yesso, at the foot 
of a hill on the shore of a beautiful and 
spacious bay, which forms one of the best 
harbours in the world. Hakodadi is one of 
the ports opened to British commerce through 
Lord Elgin’s treaty with the Japanese gov¬ 
ernment in 1858. Pop. 1891, 55,677. 

Hal, or Halle, a town of Belgium, pro¬ 
vince of South Brabant, on the Senne, about 
10 miles from Brussels. It has a fine old 
Gothic church and town-house; manufac¬ 
tures of beet-root sugar, soap, and leather. 
Pop. 9981. 

Halacha (hara-ka),HALAKA (Heb. ‘rule’), 
the Jewish oral or traditional law, as distin¬ 
guished from^the written law laid down in 



the Scriptures, and like it believed to be of 
divine origin. It was finally reduced to a 
written code forming part of the Talmud. 
Halberd, or Halbert, an offensive wea- 
329 


pon, consisting of a pole or shaft about 
6 feet long, having its head armed with a 
steel point edged on both sides. Near tiie 
head was a cross piece of steel somewhat in 
the form of an axe, with a spike or hook at 
the back. It was much used in the Eng¬ 
lish army in the 16th century, and gave its 
name to troops called halberdiers^ to whom 
was confided the defence of the colours, and 
other special duties. It is now used only 
on ceremonial occasions. 

Halberstadt (hal'ber-stat), a town of 
Prussia, in the province of Saxony, 32 miles 
s.w. of Magdeburg, on the right bank of 
the Holzemme. It is an old town, with 
many timber-framed and curiously orna¬ 
mented houses. Its principal buildings are 
the cathedral, the Liebfrauen church, an 
old Episcopal palace, town-house, &c. It 
has considerable manufactures of carpets, 
soap, leather, oil, gloves, &c. Pop. 34,025. 

Hal'cyon, an old or poetical name of the 
kingfisher. It was fabled to lay its eggs in 
nests that floated on the sea, about the win^ 
ter solstice, and to have the power of charm¬ 
ing the winds and waves during the period 
of incubation, so that the weather was then 
calm; whence the term, halcyon days. See 
also Kinghsher. 

Hale, Sir Matthew, an eminent English 
judge, was born at Alderley, in Gloucester¬ 
shire, in 1609. He studied at Oxford, was 
called to the bar, became a judge of the 
common bench in 1654, was knighted and 
made chief baron of the exchequer in 1660, 
was raised to the chief-justiceship of the 
King’s bench in 1671, and died in 1676. 

Hale, John P., statesman and Free-soil 
candidate for the Presidency, was born in 
New Hampshire in 1806. Elected to Con¬ 
gress in 1842, he became prominent in his 
opposition to slavery. In 1846 Mr. Hale 
was chosen U. S. Senator. In 1847 he was 
nominated for the Presidency by the 
National Liberty party, and in 1852 by the 
Free-soil party. His speeches were replete 
with humor and pathos. His 16 years in 
the U. S. Senate were devoted to the agita¬ 
tion of the slavery question. Died in 1873. 

Hales, Alexander de, surnamed the 
Irrefragable Doctor; an English theolo¬ 
gian, born at Hales in Gloucestershire, date 
unknown, celebrated among the controver¬ 
sialists of the 13th century. He died in 
Paris in 1245. 

Hal^vy (a-la-ve), Jacques Francois Fro- 
MENTAL 6lie, a French musical composer, 
born of Jewish parentage at Paris, 1799. He 














HALF-BLOOD-HALIDON HILL. 


studied at the conservatory under Tiainbert 
and Cherubini, and was sent to Italy to 
finish his musical education. Here he wrote 
his first two operas Les Boh^miennes and 
Pygmalion. The first of his pieces per¬ 
formed was a little comic opera, L’Artisan, 
given at the d'heatre Feydau in Paris, in 
1 &27, His chef d’oeuvre. La Juive, appeared 
in 1835, and rapidly obtained a European 
celebiity. Among his other works are 
L’Eclairw, Guido et Ginevra, La Heine de 
Chypre, Le Val d’Andorre, La Fee aux 
Roses. He died at Nice in 1862. He was 
a cultivated and scholarly composer but 
without much genius. His son, Ludovic 
Hal6vy, born in 1834, is a popular author 
of vaudevilles, and has written the librettos 
of most of Offenbach’s operas. 

Half-blood, in law, relationship by being 
born of the same father, but not of the 
same mother (consanguinean relationship); 
or born of the same mother, but not of the 
same father (uterine relationship). In the 
succession to real or landed property in Eng¬ 
land, the half-blood relations by the father’s 
side succeed after the full-blood relations; 
and next, the half-blood relations by the 
mother’s side. 

Half-moon, in fortification, an outwork 
composed of two faces forming a salient 
angle, whose gorge is in the form of a cres¬ 
cent or half-moon. 

Half-pay, in the British army, is granted 
as a remuneration for past services, either 
to an officer who retires altogether from 
active duty after the full period of service, 
or to one who is compelled by ill-health, 
reduction of his regiment, or some excep¬ 
tional cause, to quit active service for a 
time. An officer ])laced on the retired list 
in tlie Lbiited States army is granted 75 
per cent, of the pay of his rank. 

Half-pike, a defensive weapon, formerly 
used in the navy to repel the assault of 
boarders. 

Haliaetus (hal-i-a'e-tus), the genus of 
birds to which belong the white-tailed sea- 
eagle of Britain, and the white-headed or 
bald eagle of America, the chosen symbol 
of the United States. See Eagle. 

Hal'iburton, Thomas Chandler, Anglo- 
American humorous writer, born at Wind¬ 
sor, Nova Scotia, in 1797. He practised as 
a barrister in Halifax, wTote a Historical 
and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia, ki 
1829, and contributed a series of humorous 
letters to a Halifax newspaper under the 
pseudonym of ‘Sam Slick.’ These were 


published in book form and were augmented 
by others, forming The Clockmaker, or 
Sayings and Doings of Samuel Slick. In 
1840 he became judge of the Supreme Court 
of Nova Scotia, but subsequently gave up 
his professional duties and came to reside 
in England. Here he published the Attache, 
or, Sam Slick in England. His hero again 
appears in Sam Slick’s Traits of American 
Humour (1852). Another work of his of 
some importance is Rule and Misrule of the 
English in America (1851). In 1859 Judge 
Haliburton was elected member of parlia¬ 
ment for Launceston. He died in 1865. 

Halibut, or Hol'ibdt, the Hippoglossus 
vulgaris, one of the largest of the Pleuro- 
nectidas or flat-fish family, sometimes weigh¬ 
ing more than 300 lbs. The fish has a com- 



Halibut or Holibut [Hippoglossus vulgaris). 


pressed body, one side resembling the back 
and another the belly, and both eyes on the 
same side of the head. It is caught on both 
sides of the Atlantic, and is much prized for 
the table. 

Halicamas'sus, in ancient geography, the 
capital of Caria, in Asia Minor, once an 
important city. Queen Artemisia erected 
here, in honour of her husband, King Mau- 
solus, the celebrated tomb hence known as 
the Mausoleum. Halicarnassus was the 
native place of Herodotus. 

Halichondria (-kon'-)^ an order of sponges 
comprising the common sponges of the Brit¬ 
ish coasts. They are found incrusting stones 
and sea-weed below the tide-mark, and have 
often elegant forms, but are unfit for any 
use. One species, II. oculdta, is popularly 
known as the ‘mermaid’s glove.’ 

Halicore (ha-lik'o-re). See Dugong. 

Hal'idon Hill, an eminence about a mile 
to the north-west of Berwick, the scene of 
a disastrous defeat of the Scots by the Eng¬ 
lish, 19th July, 1333. Edward III. of Eng¬ 
land had laid siege to Berwick, the governor 
of which promised to surrender on 20th of 
July if not previouslv relieved. On the 
19th Archibald Douglas, regent of Scotland, 
led a Scotch army to the relief of the town, 
and attacked the English at Halidon Hill, 
but was totally routed with the loss of 
10,000 men. 


330 



HALIFAX — 

Halifax, a municipal and parliamentary 
borough of England, in the county of York 
(West Hiding), on the Hebble, 36 miles 
w.s.w. York. It is built on a rising slope, 
and has a very picturesque appearance. 
The more modern streets are spacious and 
well paved. Among the principal buildings 
are the parish church of St. John the Bap¬ 
tist (restored 1879), All Souls’ Church, the 
Square Church, the town-hall, market-hall, 
theatre, assembly rooms, infirmary, &c. 
There are several charitable institutions, 
three public parks, and two grammar-schools. 
Halifax commands abundant supplies of coal 
and water, and an extensive inland naviga¬ 
tion connecting it with Hull and Liverpool. 
It is one of the centres of the woollen and 
worsted manufactures in Yorkshire, a great 
variety of goods being produced, d'here 
are also iron, chemical, and machine-making 
works. It became a parliamentary borough 
in 1832, and now sends two members to the 
House of Commons, Pop. 1891, 82,864. 

Halifax, a city, and the capital of Nova 
Scotia, situated on the slope of a command¬ 
ing hill, on the western side of Halifax har¬ 
bour. The harbour is one of the best and 
most spacious in America. It is easy of 



access at all seasons of the year. Its length 
from north to south is about 16 miles, and 
it terminates in a beautiful sheet of water 
called Bedford Basin, within which are 10 
square miles of good anchorage. The har¬ 
bour is well fortified, and has an extensive 
government dockyard. The city, which was 
first settled as a colony by Governor Corn¬ 
wallis in 1749, has spacious and regular 
streets, has an elegant Province Building, a 
large Roman Catholic cathedral, a military 
hospital, theatre, university, &c. It is the 

331 


- HALIOTIS. 

principal naval station of British America, 
has an extensive foreign and coasting trade, 
and exports large quantities of fish, lumber, 
and coals. There are also considerable 
manufactures embracing iron castings, ma¬ 
chinery, nails, soap, leather, tobacco, paper, 
&c. Pop. 1891, 38,556. 

Halifax, Charles Montague, Earl 
OF, an English poet and statesman, born 
1661. He was educated at Westminster 
School and Trinity College, Cambridge. 
He first attracted notice by his verses, and 
in 1687 wrote in conjunction with Matthew 
Prior, The Town and Country Mouse. He 
entered the House of Commons as member 
for Malden during the Convention Parlia¬ 
ment, became a lord of the treasury in 1692, 
and chancellor of the exchequer in 1694. 
His administration was distinguished by 
the adoption of the funded debt system, and 
by the establishment of the Bank of Eng¬ 
land. In 1700 he was raised to the peerage 
as Baron Halifax, was twice impeached by 
the House of Commons, and remained out 
of office during the reign of Anne. Having 
taken an active part in securing the succes¬ 
sion of the house of Brunswick, George I. 
created him an earl, and bestowed on him 
the order of the Garter. He became first 
lord of the treasury in 1714, and died in 
1715. His character was a mixture of 
meanness and arrogance, but his taste in 
literature and the arts was good, and he had 
a great talent for finance. 

Halifax, George Saville, Marquis of, 
son of Sir William Saville, English states¬ 
man and writer, born 1630, died 1695. 
Having exerted himself for the return of 
Charles II. he was created Viscount Hali¬ 
fax in 1667, in 1669 Earl, and in 1682 
Marquis of Halifax, being also keeper of 
the privy seal and president of the council. 
He supported James II., but lost his favour 
by opposing the repeal of the Test and 
Habeas Corpus Acts. H e was chosen speaker 
of the House of Lords in the Convention 
Parliament, and largely contributed to the 
elevation of William III. to the throne. 
He wrote Advice to a Daughter, various 
political tracts, such as the Character of a 
Trimmer, Maxims of State, &c. He him¬ 
self was a specimen of the trimmer, his con¬ 
duct, however, being guided more by patri¬ 
otic than personal reasons. 

Halio'tis, a genus of gasteropodous mol¬ 
luscs, both fossil and recent, commonly 
called ear-shells, or sea-ears, found adhering 
to rocks on the shore, and remarkable for 








HALL. 


the pearly iridescenoe of the inner surface. 
'L’he name is derived from their likeness to 
an ear. 

Hall, an ancient town of Austria, in the 
Tyrol, 6 miles east of Innsbruck, on the Inn, 
which is here navigable. It has very exten¬ 
sive salt works. Pop. 5456. 

Hall, a town of Wilrtemberg. See Schivd- 
bisch-IIall. 

Hall, Basil, a naval officer and traveller, 
son of Sir James Hall of Dunglass, born at 
Edinburgh in 1788, entered the navy in 
1802, and became post-captain in 1817. 
Amongst his principal works are: A Voyage 
of Discovery to the west coast of Corea and 
the great Loo Choo Island (1817); Extracts 
from a Journal (written on the Pacific coast 
of America); Travels in North America 
(1829); Fragments of Voyages and Travels; 
Schloss Heinfeld, or a Winter in Styria; 
besides many papers contributed to journals 
and scientific societies. Ultimately his mind 
gave way, and he died in Haslar Hospital, 
Gosport, in 1844. 

Hall, Charles Francis, an Arctic ex¬ 
plorer, born at Rochester, New Hampshire, 
U.S. in 1821. He began life as a blacksmith, 
became a journalist in Cincinnati; in 1860 
organized an Arctic expedition in search of 
Franklin, and remained amongst the Esqui¬ 
maux two years, acquiring their language 
and habits. In 1864 he undertook a second 
expedition to the same regions, where he 
remained till 1869. In 1871, at the insti¬ 
gation of Hall, the U.S. government fitted 
out the Polaris for an expedition to the 
North Pole, and placed Captain Hall in 
command. The Polaris sailed from New 
York June 29, 1871, and on 30th Aug. 
reached lat. 82° 16' n., and then turned back 
to winter in a sheltered bay, lat. 81° 38', 
where Hall died on Nov. 8. The Polaris 
was ultimately abandoned by her crew', who 
reached home only after experiencing many 
privations and adventures. An account of 
his first expedition was given by Capt. Hall 
in his Arctic Researches and Life amongst 
the Esquimaux. 

Hall, Edw'ard, an English chronicler, 
born in London about 1495. He was a 
law’yer by profession, and attained the rank 
of a Serjeant, and the office of a judge in 
the sheriff’s court. He had a seat in the 
House of Commons, and was a zealous Ca¬ 
tholic. His death took place in 1547. 
Hall’s Chronicle was published in 1548, 
and is a curious picture of the manners and 
customs of the age. 


Hall, Joseph, an English prelate and 
writer, born 1574. He was educated at 
Emmanuel College, Cambridge, became suc- 
cessivel}'^ dean of Worcester, bishop of Exe¬ 
ter (1627), and bishop of Norwdch (1641). 
He agreed with the Puritans in doctrine, 
but disapproved of their views of church 
government, and took a prominent part in 
defending the liturgy of the church against 
the views published by the Nonconformists 
in the tract Srnectymnuus. In 1642 he was 
sent to the Tower along with twelve other 
prelates who had protested against their 
expulsion from the House of Peers. In 
1643, when the destruction of the Establish¬ 
ment was finally resolved on by the Puritans, 
he w'as specially named in the ordinance 
passed for sequestering what were called no¬ 
torious delinquents, and heartlessly robbed 
of all his property by inquisitors, w'ho turned 
him houseless into the streets. Ultimately 
he was allow'ed to take possession of a small 
estate which he possessed at Higham, in the 
vicinity of Norwich. Here he spent the re¬ 
mainder of his days unostentatiously, per¬ 
forming the duties of a faithful pastor, and 
died at the advanced age of eighty-tw'o in 
1656. Amongst his writings are; Virgide- 
miarum, a series of poetical satires w'ritten 
in his earlier years; A Century of Medita¬ 
tions; Contemplations; &c. 

Hall, Marshall, English physician and 
physiologist, born 1790, died in 1857. He 
studied at Edinburgh and on the European 
continent, commenced practice at Notting¬ 
ham in 1815, and removed to London in 
1826, where he obtained a large practice. 
Dr. Hall was distinguished by his medical 
writings on diagnosis, the circulation of the 
blood, and female diseases; but particularly 
by his discoveries made public in his work 
on the nervous system, and by his method 
of restoring asphyxiated persons. 

Hall, Robert, a celebrated divine among 
the Dissenters in England, was born at 
Arnsby, Leicestershire, 1764, and was the 
son of a Baptist minister. He studied -at 
the Baptist College at Bristol, and after¬ 
wards at Aberdeen. In 1783 he became 
assistant pastor of Broadmead Church in 
Bristol, suffered for a time from mental 
alienation, recovered and became pastor of 
the Baptist Church at Cambridge, where 
he soon acquired a great reputation by his 
preaching and his writings, such as Apol¬ 
ogy for the Freedom of the Press (1793); 
Modern Infidelity (1800); Reflections on 
War (1802). He again became insane and 

332 


halleluia. 


HALL 


resigned his charge, but recovering married 
and settled at Leicester in 1808, till in 1826 
he was again called to Bristol. Nearly all 
his life he suffered so intensely from calculus 
in the kidney that for twenty years he was 
never able to pass an entire night in bed, 
and could obtain rest only by a ruinous use 
of laudanum. He died in 1831. 

Hall, Samuel Carter, English writer, 
born in 1801, died in 1889. He studied law 
and became a barrister; reported parliamen¬ 
tary debates for the New Times; edited in 
succession the Amulet, the New Monthly 
Magazine, and the Art Journal (1839-80), 
besides various popular annuals, and the 
Book of Gems, Book of British Ballads, 
and Baronial Halls. He also published 
Memories of Great Men and Women of the 
Age (187 0 ),and The Retrospect of a Long Life 
(1883). He was associated with the found¬ 
ing of various London charities, and from 
1880 received an annual civil-list pension. 
His wife, Anna Maria Fielding (born at 
Dublin 1805, died 1881), assisted him in his 
literary work, and was herself the author 
of Sketches of Irish Character, Lights and 
Shadows of Irish Character, Stories of Irish 
Peasantry, &c. 

Hallam, Henry, English historian, a son 
of the dean of Bristol, born at Windsor in 
1777. He was educated at Eton and Oxford, 
and studied for the law, but abandoned it for 
literary pursuits. His contributions to the 
Edinburgh Review brought him into notice, 
and his View of the State of Europe during 
the Middle Ages, which appeared in 1818, 
at once established his reputation. His next 
work, the Constitutional History of Eng¬ 
land, published in 1827, showed like the 
first the solid learning, patient research, ac¬ 
curacy and impartiality of statement, which 
are the characteristics of Mr. Hallam’s work. 
In 1837-39 appeared his last great work, the 
Introduction to the Literature of Europe, 
a useful survey of literary history, though 
wanting in the fineness of judgment neces¬ 
sary for such a work. He died in 1859. 
His eldest son, Arthur Henry, a youth of 
high promise, suddenly cut off at the age 
of twenty-two, is the subject of Tennyson’s 
poem. In Memoriam. 

Halle (hal'le), usually called Halle an 
DER Saale (Halle on the Saale), to dis¬ 
tinguish it from other places of the same 
name, an important German town in the 
Prussian province of Saxony, about 20 miles 
north-west of Leipzig, on the river Saale. 
The older streets are narrow and crooked, 

333 


but the appearance of the town has of late 
been much improved. Among the principal 
buildings are the Church of the Virgin and 
that of St. Maurice, the ‘Red Tower’ (a 
clock-tower) in the market-place, the medi¬ 
aeval town-house, the ruined Moritzburg, 
originally the citadel, the university build¬ 
ings, the Protestant cathedral, the theatre, 
quite a new building, and Erancke’s Insti¬ 
tution, founded by Pastor Erancke in 1698, 
comprising an orphan asylum, schools, &c. 
The university, with which that of Witten¬ 
berg was incorporated in 1817, is a celebi-ated 
institution founded in 1694, and attended 
by 1500 students. Halle has extensive 
trade and manufactures, chiefly chemicals, 
oil, malt, d 3 es, agricultural machines, &c., 
besides its celebrated salt-works. Halle is 
mentioned as early as 806. It was long a 
powerful member of the Hanseatic League. 
Pop. 1891, 101,401. 

Halleck, Fitz Greene, an American poet, 
born in 1790. He became a clerk in a New 
York banking-house, and for years was in 
the employment of John Jacob Astor. In 

1819 poems by him and a friend (J. R. 
Drake) appeared in the New York Even¬ 
ing Post under the signature of Croaker 
& Co., and attracted some attention. In 

1820 he published Fanny, his longest poem, 
a satire on the follies and fashions of the 
day. In 1822 he visited Europe. Amongst 
his best poems are Marco Bozzaris, To the 
Memory of Burns, Alnwick Castle, and Red 
Jacket. He died in 1867. 

Halleck, Henry Wager, an American 
general, born at Utica, near New York, in 
1815, was educated for the army at West 
Point, and entered the engineers in 1839. 
In 1846 he published Elements of Military 
Art and Science, and he was raised to the 
rank of captain for his services in the Mexi¬ 
can war. In 1854 he left the army and 
settled in San Francisco as a lawyer and 
director of a mining company. On the out¬ 
break of the civil war in 1861 he was created 
major-general in the United States army. 
After the victories at Paducah, Fort Henry, 
Fort Donelson, and the capture of Corinth, 
he became in 1862 commander-in-chief, till 
superseded by General Grant in 1864. Ul¬ 
timately he received the command of the 
South Division at Louisville, where he died 
in 1872. Amongst his writings are two 
works on International Law. 

Halleluia, or Hallelujah, or Alleluia 
(praise ye the Lord), a Hebrew formula of 
praise often occurring in th« Psalms, and 




HALLER 


HALLUCINATIONS. 


which is retained in the translations of the 
various Christian churches, probably on ac¬ 
count of its full and fine sound, so proper 
for public religious services. The Great 
Halleluja is the name given by the Jews to 
Psalms cxiii.-cxvii., which are sung on the 
feasts of the Passover and Tabernacles. 

Haller, Albkecht von, Swiss physician 
and physiologist, born in Bern 1708, studied 
medicine at Tubingen, and afterwards at 
Leyden under the famous Boerhaave. He 
became a public lecturer on anatomy at 
Bern, and afterwards physician to the hos¬ 
pital and principal librarian. In 1736 he was 
made professor of anatomy and surgery in 
the University of Gottingen. In 1747 his 
Primae Lineae Physiologiae appeared, and 
in 1757 his Elementa Physiologiae Corporis 
Humani. Amongst his other works are: 
leones Anatomicae (1743), Bibliotheca Bo- 
tanica (1771), Bibliotheca Anatomica (1774), 
Bibliotheca Chirurgica (1774), Bibliotheca 
Medicinae Practices (1776). He was en¬ 
nobled by the Emperor Francis I., and be- 
Ccarne chief magistrate of Bern, to which he 
had retired in 1753. Haller had a consider¬ 
able reputation as a poet. He also wrote 
three philosophical romances, Usong, Alfred 
the Great, and Fabius and Cato. He died 
in 1777. 

Halley, Edmund, an English mathema¬ 
tician and astronomer, born in 1656. He 
was educated at Queen’s College, Oxford, 
published before he was nineteen a method 
for finding aphelia and eccentricity of pla¬ 
nets, and stayed two years in St. Helena 
(1676-78) cataloguing the stars of the south¬ 
ern hemisphere and arranging them into con¬ 
stellations. In 1682 he discovered the comet 
which bears his name, and his prediction of 
its return in 1759 was the first of its kind 
that proved correct. He surveyed the coast 
of Dalmatia at the request of the German 
Emperor, and, returning to England, was 
elected Savilian professor of geometry at 
Oxford (1703). In 1713 he was made sec¬ 
retary of the Royal Society, and astronomer- 
royal in 1719. He died in 1742. 

Halley’s Comet, discovered in 1682 by 
Edmund Halley. (See preceding article.) 
Halley’s demonstration that this comet was 
the same with the comet of 1456, 1531, and 
1607 first fixed the identity of comets. It 
performs its revolution in about 75 years. 
Its last appearance was in 1835. 

Halliwell-Phillipps, James Orchard, 
originally J. O. Halliwell, Shaksperian 
scholar, born 1820, died 1889. In 1839 he 


began his editorial labours with a reprint of 
Mandeville’s Travels. He was a leading and 
active member of the Percy and Shakspere 
societies; for the former he edited the 
Minor Poems of Lydgate, Early Naval Bal¬ 
lads of England, Nursery Rhymes of Eng¬ 
land, &c.; and for the latter. The Coventry 
Mysteries, Tarleton’s Jests, The Fairy My¬ 
thology of Shakspere, &c. His chief Shak¬ 
sperian publications are a Life of Shakspere 
(1848), the Works of Shakspere in 16 folio 
volumes, only 150 copies printed; Calendar 
of the Records of Stratford-on-Avon; His¬ 
tory of New Place; and Outlines of the Life 
of Shakspere. He issued also 47 volumes of 
lithographed facsimiles of the quarto plays, 
and a great number of pamphlets on Shak¬ 
spere, Stratford, and kindred topics. He also 
published a valuable Dictionary of Archaic 
and Provincial Words. 

Hall-mark, the official stamp affixed by 
the Goldsmiths’ Company of London and 
certain assay offices to articles of gold and 
silver as a mark of their fineness. The 
hall-mark generally denotes the place of 
manufacture or assay, as an anchor for Bir¬ 
mingham; a leopard’s head for London; tree, 
salmon, and ring for Glasgow; a crown for 
Sheffield. The standard-mai'k for gold is a 
lion passant for England; for Edinburgh, a 
thistle; for Glasgow, a lion rampant; for 
Ireland, a harp crowned. 

Hallow-even, or Hallowe’en, the even¬ 
ing of the 31st of October, so called as being 
the eve or vigil of All Hallows, or All 
Saints, which falls on the 1st of November. 
It is associated in the popular imagination 
with the prevalence of supernatural influ¬ 
ences, and in Scotland is frequently cele¬ 
brated by meetings of young people, with 
the performance of various mystical cere¬ 
monies humorously described by Burns in 
his poem Hallowe’en. 

Hallucinations, according to Esquirol, 
are morbid conditions of mind in which the 
patient is conscious of a perception without 
any impression having been made on the 
external organs of sense. Hullucinations 
are to be distinguished from delusions, for 
in these there are real sensations, though 
they are erroneously interpreted. Pinel 
was the first who connected hallucinations 
with a disturbance of the phenomena of 
sensation, and the investigation has been 
pursued further by Esquirol, Maury, Brihre 
de Boismont, and others. All the senses 
are not equally subject to hallucinations; 
the most frequent are those of hearing; 

334 



HALLUIN — 

next, according to many, come those of 
Bight, smell, touch, and taste; and halluci¬ 
nations of several senses may exist simul¬ 
taneously in the same individual, and also 
be complicated with certain delusions. The 
simplest form of hallucinations of hearing 
is the tingling of the ears; but the striking 
of clocks, the sounds of musical instruments 
and of the human voice are often heard, and 
in these instances, as in those of the pertur¬ 
bations of the other senses, there must be a 
diseased sensorium, though there should be 
no structural derangement of the nerves. 
Hallucinations are not confined to those 
whose mental faculties have been alienated, 
but occasionally assail and torment even 
the sane. Occasionally hallucinations super¬ 
vene where the system is healthy, and the 
individual fully conscious of the unreality 
of the objects that address his senses, and 
this disorder is often associated with much 
ability and wisdom in the conduct of life. 
Amongst well-known and authenticated hal¬ 
lucinations are that of the second Earl Grey, 
who was haunted by a gory head, which, 
however, he could dismiss at will, and that 
of Bernadotte, king of Sweden, who was 
beset in his rides by a woman in a red 
cloak, although perfectly conscious of the 
hallucination under which he laboured. 

Halluin (al-ii-an), a town of France, dep. 
of Nord, on the right bank of the Lys, 10 
miles N.N.E. of Lille. It has considerable 
manufactures of cloths, linen, and calicoes, 
besides cotton and oil mills, &c. Pop. 9327. 

Hallux, the innermost of the five digits 
which normally compose the hind foot of a 
vertebrate animal; in a person the great toe, 
in a bird the hind toe. 

Halmstadt (halm'stat), a seaport of Swe¬ 
den, on the Cattegat, at the mouth of the 
Nissa. It has cloth-making, brewing, salmon 
fisheries, and a trade in deals, lumber, pitch. 
Pop. 1891, 12,282. 

HaTo, the name given to coloured circles of 
light sometimes seen round the sun or moon, 
and to other connected luminous appearances. 
These phenomena are classified as: (1) halos 
'proper, consisting of complicated arrange¬ 
ments of arcs and circles of light surround¬ 
ing the sun or moon, accompanied by others 
tangent to or intersecting them; (2) coronas, 
simple rings, generally somewhat coloured; 
(3) aureolas, the name given to the kind of 
halo surrounding a shadow projected upon 
a cloud or fog-bank, or to the coloured rings 
observed by aeronauts on the upper surface 
of clouds. All these appearances are the 

335 


- RAMADAN. 

result of certain modifications which light 
undergoes by reflection, refraction, disper¬ 
sion, diffraction, and interference when it 
falls upon the crystals of ice, the rain¬ 
drops, or the minute particles that constitute 
clouds. 

Hal'ophytes, a class of plants which in¬ 
habit salt marshes, and by combustion yield 
barilla, as Salsola, Salicornia, &c. 

Halstead, Murat, journalist, was born 
in Butler CO., Ohio, Sept. 2, 1829. Beginning 
as local reporter on the Cincinnati Com¬ 
mercial in 1853, in 1867 its control passed 
into his hands. After ])ursuing for a time 
a course of independent journalism, he al¬ 
lied himself with the Republican party. In 
1883 the Commercial and Gazette were con¬ 
solidated. Mr. Halstead has exercised a not¬ 
able control in the councils of his party. 

Ham, one of the three sons of Noah. He 
had four sons—Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and 
Canaan — from the first three of whom 
sprang the tribes that peopled the African 
continent, as C^anaan became the father of 
the tribes that principally occu[-ied the ter¬ 
ritory of Phoenicia and Palestine. See 
Hamites. 

Ham (am), a town of France, dep. of 
Somme, on the Somme. It is an ancient 
place, and contains a church with fine bas- 
reliefs and a curious crypt; but is chiefly 
deserving of notice for its citadel, which 
served as a state-prison. Louis Napoleon 
(afterwards Napoleon III.) was kept pris¬ 
oner here from 1840 to 1846. Pop. 3122. 

Ham, the inner angle of the joint which 
unites the thigh and the leg of an animal, 
but more generally understood to mean the 
cured and smoked thigh of the ox, sheep, or 
hog, especially the last. Usually the meat is 
first well rubbed with salt, and a few days 
after it is rubbed again with a mi.xture of 
salt, saltpetre, and sugar, though sometimes 
the saltpetre is omitted. After lying for 
eight or ten days it is ready for drying. 
The smoking of hams consists in subjecting 
them to the smoke of a fire, wood being 
used in preference to coal in the ])rocess of 
smoking. A good ham should have the 
recently-cut fat hard and white, the lean 
fine-grained and of a lively red. 

Hamadan', a city of Persia, on the site 
of the ancient Ecbatana, in the province of 
Irak-Ajemi, 260 miles north-west of Ispa¬ 
han. It is agreeably situated near the base 
of a great range of mountains, has narrow 
and dirty streets, and is surrounded by heaps 
of ruins as well as by beautiful orchards 



HAMADRYAD-HAMBURG. 


and gardens. It has extensive caravanserais 
and bazaars, a number of tanneries, and 
also considerable manufactm’es of carpets, 
woollens, and cotton stuffs. Pop. estimated 
at 35,000. 

Ham'adryad, in Greek mythology, a kind 
of wood-nymph conceived to inhabit each a 
particular tree, with which they were born 
and with which they perished. 

Hamadryas. See Baboon. 


Ha'mah, or Ha'math, a city of Syria, on 
the banks of the Orontes or El-Azy, on 
the caravan route between Aleppo and 
Damascus, in a well-watered and productive 
district. Amongst the curiosities are huge 
Persian water-wheels, 70 or 80 feet in 
diameter, which are turned by the current 
of the river and supply the houses and 
gardens with water. The famous Hamath 
Inscriptions were noticed by Burckhardt in 



View in Hamburg Lower Harbour. 


1812, but only recently examined and pub¬ 
lished. They are cut in relief on four stones 
of black basalt. The characters are entirely 
different from any others known, and no 
key to their decipherment has yet been 
discovered. 

Hamamelida'cese, the witch - hazels, a 
small natural order of epigynous exogenous 
trees or shrubs, varying in height from 6 to 
30 feet. HamamUh virginica yields the 
drug hazeline. 

Hamba'to. See Ambato. 

Hamburg, a maritime city in Germany, 
formerly free, now a portion of the empire, 
and the greatest commercial port on the 
continent of Europe, is situated about 80 
miles from the North Sea, on the north 
branch of the Elbe, which is navigable for 
large vessels. The town of Altona adjoins 


it on the west. From the Elbe proceed 
canals which intersect the eastern and lower 
part of the city in all directions, and it is 
also intersected by the Alster, which here 
foi’ms two fine streets, the Binnenalster and 
Aussenalster. The quays and harbour ac¬ 
commodation are very extensive. After the 
destructive fire of 1842 whole streets were 
rebuilt in a magnificent and expensive style. 
Hamburg is not, however, very rich in not¬ 
able buildings. Amongst the most impor¬ 
tant are the church of St. Nicholas, a noble 
Gothic structure with a lofty tower and spire, 
built between 1845 and 1874; St. Peter’s, 
another lofty Gothic edifice; St. Michael’s, 
the largest of the churches ; St. Catherine’s, 
an ancient edifice; St. James’, erected in 
1354, but surmounted b}’' a modern tower; 
an elegant Jewish temple; an exchange, a 

336 






















































HAMBURG-HAMILTON. 


noble edifice, consisting chiefly of a magni¬ 
ficent hall, surrounded by a fine colonnade. 
There are also the Johanneum institution, 
containing an ancient college, museums, and 
the city library, with about 300,000 volumes; 
several well-endowed hospitals; zoological 
and botanic gardens; the Kunsthalle, a 
large collection of pictures and sculpture; 
theatres, &c. Hamburg is of most impor¬ 
tance on account of its great shipping trade 
and the business of banking, exchange, 
marine assurance, &c., carried on in connec¬ 
tion with that. Its manufactures, though 
large, are less important, including ship¬ 
building, tobacco and cigar making, iron¬ 
founding, brewing, &c. In 1891 the im¬ 
ports were 150,469,100 marks; vessels en¬ 
tered with an aggregate burden of 5,762,369 
tons. A great many emigrants embark 
here. The state of Hamburg embraces a 
territory of 158 sq. miles, and consists of 
three divisions, viz.:—City of Hamburg, 
with a pop. 1890, of 323,928; fifteen rural 
districts, pop. 245,337 ; outlying towns and 
bailiwicks (Cuxhaven, Ritzebiittel, &c.), pop. 
47,193. The legislative power belongs in 
common to the senate and the house of bur¬ 
gesses, but the executive power is vested 
chiefly in the senate, which is composed of 
eighteen members, of whom nine must have 
studied law or-finance, and of the other nine 
seven must belong to the commercial class. 
The members are elected for life. The 
house of burgesses consists of 160 members, 
half of whom are elected every three years 
by the votes of all tax-paying citizens, while 
the other half are chosen partly by a much- 
restricted franchise, and partly deputed by 
guilds and corporations. The revenue for 
1892 was 58,083,000 marks, the debt 280,- 
241,181 marks. The city owes its foundation 
to the emperor Charlemagne, who (808-811) 
built a citadel and a church on the heights 
between the Elbe and the eastern bank of the 
Alster, as a bulwark against the neighbour¬ 
ing pagans. It became important as a com¬ 
mercial city in the 12th century, and in the 
13th it combined with Liibeck in forming 
the Hanseatic League. In 1618 Hamburg 
was formally acknowledged a free city of 
the empire. During the Thirty Years’ war 
its population and prosperity continued to 
increase on account of the immunity of its 
position, and in the following century it ob¬ 
tained a large share of the trade with North 
America. In 1810 it was formally incor¬ 
porated in the French empire along with 
the north-western part of Germany. In 1815 
VOL. IV. 337 


it joined the Germanic Confederation as a 
free city. In 1888 the city was included in 
the Zollverein or German Customs Union. 

Ham'eln, a town of Germany, in Hanover, 
on the Weser, which is here crossed by a 
suspension bridge. It has many picturesque 
old buildings and remains. Pop. 11,830. 

Ha'merton, Philip Gilbert, an English 
art critic, born at Laneside, in Lancashire, 
in 1834, studied landscape-painting, but de¬ 
viated into literature, publishing a work on 
Heraldry in 1851, and in 1855 The Isles of 
Loch Awe and other Poems. In 1859 Mr. 
Hamerton married a French lady, and has 
since resided chiefly at Autun. He has 
made himself well known to the English 
public as a writer on art. Amongst his 
works are Thoughts about Art (1862), Etch¬ 
ing and Etchers (1866), Contemporary 
French Painters (1867), Wenderholme (a 
novel, 1869), The Intellectual Life (1873), 
Round my House (1876), Marmorne (a 
novel, 1878), Modern Frenchmen (1878), 
Landscape (1885), French and English 
(1889), &c. 

Hamil'car, the name of several Cartha¬ 
ginian generals, of whom the most cele¬ 
brated was Hamilcar, surnamed Barca (the 
lightning), the father of the great Hannibal. 
While quite a young man he was appointed 
to the command of the Carthaginian forces 
in Sicily, in the eighteenth year of the first 
Punic war, B.c. 247, when the Romans were 
masters of almost the whole island. For 
two years he defied all the efforts of the 
Romans to dislodge him; but the Cartha¬ 
ginian admiral, Hanno, having been totally 
defeated off the Hlgates, b.c. 241, he reluc¬ 
tantly consented to evacuate Sicily. A re¬ 
volt of the returned troops, joined by the 
native Africans, was successfully repressed 
by Hamilcar. He then entered on a series 
of campaigns in Spain, where he founded a 
new empire for Carthage. Here he passed 
nine years, and had brought the whole 
southern and eastern part of the country 
under Carthaginian rule when he was slain 
in battle against the Vettones, B.c. 229. His 
great design of making Spain a point of at¬ 
tack against Rome was ably carried out by 
his son Hannibal. 

Hamilton, a royal and parliamentary 
burgh of Scotland, in Lanarkshire, on the 
Clyde, about 10 miles south-east of Glas¬ 
gow. Numerous villas and gardens give it 
a })leasant rural aspect. Coal, ironstone, and 
limestone are extensivel}’^ worked in the 
vicinity. The county buildings, town-hall, 


HAMILTON. 


and extensive cavalry barracks are the most 
important public buildings. Near the town 
is Hamilton Palace, seat of the Duke of 
Hamilton, a large building, chiefly modern. 
In the adjacent grounds are the ruins of 
Cadzow Castle and a few old oaks, the re¬ 
mains of Cadzow Forest. Here a herd of 
wild cattle are kept, white, with black ears 
and muzzles. Hamilton joins with Linlith¬ 
gow, Lanark, Falkirk, and Airdrie in send¬ 
ing one member to parliament. Pop. 24,863. 

Hamilton, the inland metropolis of the 
western district of Victoria, Australia, on 
the Grange Burn Creek, counties of Dundas 
and Normanby, 224 miles w. of Melbourne, 
with which it is connected by railway. The 
municipal area is 5100 acres, and there is a 
good supply of gas and water. There are 
a number of hotels; an hospital, town-hall, 
mechanics’ institute, a district college, the 
usual government buildings, churches, and 
schools. The district is pastoral and agri¬ 
cultural. Pop. 3000. 

Hamilton, the capital of the Bermudas, 
on the coast of the largest island, near the 
middle of the group. It has a landlocked 
harbour. Pop. 2i)00. 

Hamilton, a town of New Zealand, prov, 
Auckland. Pop. 1201. 

Hamilton, a thriving town of Canada, in 
the province of Ontario, county of Went¬ 
worth, on the south side of Burlington Bay, 
Lake Ontario, the principal part being built 
about 1 mile from the bay. It is situated 
in the centre of the finest grain-producing 
territory in America, and is an important 
centre of the chief Canadian railways. The 
public buildings, many of which are hand¬ 
some, include jail and court-house, two 
market-houses, custom-house, theatre, nu¬ 
merous churches and chapels, several sub¬ 
stantial banks, a large number of manufac¬ 
tories, and a splendid central school. It is 
the seat of an active and increasing: trade, 
and has manufactures of j)aper, soap, iron 
goods, glass, carriages, &c. Pop. 48,980. 

Hamilton, a town. United States, Ohio, 
seat of Butler county, on the Miami river, 
25 miles n. of Cincinnati. It is a prosper¬ 
ous manufacturing place, has woollen and 
cotton factories, paper and saw mills, and 
iron-foundries. J’op. 1890, 17,565. 

Hamilton, Alexander, a distinguished 
American oflicer and legislator during the 
contest for independence, was born in 1757 
in the island of Nevis, West Indies. At the 
age of sixteen he became a student of Co¬ 
lumbia College, New York. On the outbreak 


of the war he received (1776) a commission 
as captain of artillery, and soon attracted the 
attention of Washington, who appointed him 
his aide-de-camp and employed him in the 
most delicate and difficult affairs. In 1781 
he left the service, studied law, became a de¬ 
legate from the state of New York in 1782, 
and in 1787 was one of the delegates who 
revised the Articles of Confederation. He 
was a strong supporter of the federal party, 
and by the letters which he wrote to the 
Daily Advertiser of New York, afterwards 
published under the title of The Federalist, 
contributed greatly to the success of the 
party. On the organization of the federal 
government in 1789, with Washington at 
its head, Hamilton was appointed secretary 
of the treasury. This office he held till 1795, 
when he resigned and retired into private 
life. In 1798 he was appointed second in 
command of the provisional army raised 
under the apprehension of a French inva¬ 
sion, and on the death of Washington, in 
1799, he became commander-in-chief. In 
1804 he became involved in a political dis¬ 
pute with Mr. Aaron Burr, then candidate 
for the governorship of New Yoi*k, accepted 
a challenge from that gentleman, and was 
shot by him July 11, 1804. 

Hamilton, Anthony, Count, a poet, cour¬ 
tier, and man of letters, was descended from 
a younger branch of the family of the dukes 
of Hamilton in Scotland, but was born in 
Ireland about 1646. After the death of 
Charles I. he went with his parents to 
France, but after the accession of Charles II. 
made frequent visits to England, and was 
appointed governor of Limerick by James 
II. Afterwards, on the ruin of the royal 
cause, he accompanied the king to France. 
His talents and agreeable manners made 
him a favourite in the best circles. He 
died at St. Germain in 1720. Count Ham¬ 
ilton is chiefly known by his Memoirs of 
Count Grammont (his brother-in-law), a 
lively and skilful picture of the frivolous 
life at the French and English courts of the 
time. The count’s other works are Poems 
and Fairy Tales (burlesque), which, as well 
as the Memoirs, are in French, and are also 
remarkable for their fine wit and elegance 
of style. 

Hamilton, Family of, a family long con¬ 
nected with Scotland, though probably of 
English origin, the name being evidently 
territorial. The first person of the name in 
Scotland of whom we have reliable informa¬ 
tion was Walter Fitz-Gilbert of Hamil- 

338 



HAMILTON. 


ton, who, in 1296, swore fealty to Edward 
I. of England for lands in Lanarkshire, and 
held Bothwell Castle for the English at the 
time of the battle of Bannockburn. For his 
early surrender of this fortress King Robert 
Bruce gave him important grants of land. 
He continued faithful to King David Bruce, 
and had a command at Halidon Hill under 
the Steward of Scotland, In 1445 the family 
was ennobled in the person of Sir James 
Hamilton of Cadyow, who was created Lord 
Hamilton of Cadyow. At first he adhered 
to the Douglases against the crown; but, 
deserting them opportunely, he was rewarded 
by large grants of their forfeited lands, and 
at a later period by the hand of the Princess 
Mary, eldest daughter of King James II,, 
and widow of Thomas Boyd, earl of Arran. 
He died in 1479. His only son was James, 
second Lord Hamilton and first Earl of 
Arran, who died in 1529, and was succeeded 
by his son James, whose nearness to the 
throne, and his great possessions and follow¬ 
ing, made him a person of such mark and 
consequence that Henry II, of France gave 
him a grant of the duchy of Chatelherault; 
and his eldest son was proposed at one time 
as the husband of Elizabeth of England, and 
at another as that of Mary of Scotland, 
This son having become insane, the second 
son. Lord John Hamilton, created Mar¬ 
quis of Hamilton in 1599, succeeded in 1575 
to the family estates. Dying in 1604 he 
was succeeded by his son James, who was 
created Earl of Cambridge in 1619, and died 
in 1625. His son James, the third marquis, 
one of the ablest and most distinguished of 
the family, created Duke of Hamilton in 
1643 by Charles I. was taken prisoner by 
the parliamentary forces soon after the 
battle of Preston, and beheaded in March, 
1649. A successor was created Duke of 
Brandon in 1711, and was killed in a duel 
with Lord Mohun in 1712. James George, 
seventh duke, on the death of Archibald, 
duke of Douglas, in 1761, became also the 
male representative and chief of the red or 
Angus branch of the house of Douglas, with 
the titles of Marquis of Douglas and Earl 
of Angus. He died in 1769, and was suc¬ 
ceeded by his brother, Douglas, eighth Duke 
of Hamilton, who, in 1799, was succeeded by 
his uncle Lord Archibald Hamilton. He 
died in 1819, and was succeeded by his eldest 
son Alexander, who, dying in 1852, was 
succeeded by his only son William Alex¬ 
ander Anthony Archibald. In 1843 he 
married the Princess Marie of Baden, and 

339 


he died at Paris July 15, 1863. William 
Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas Ha¬ 
milton, twelfth Duke of Hamilton in the 
peerage of Scotland, and ninth Duke of 
Brandon in the peerage of Great Britain, 
is premier peer of Scotland, and hereditary 
keeper of Holyrood House. The ennobled 
offshoots of the main branch of the Hamil- 
tons are numerous and distinguished. Among 
these are the Dukes of Abercorn, the Earls 
of Selkirk, Orkney, and Haddington, and the 
Viscounts Boyne. 

Hamilton, Gavin, a Scottish painter, born 
in Lanark about 1730. He studied at Rome, 
devoting himself to historic painting. In 
1773 he published at Rome a folio volume, 
3 he Italian School of Painting, illustrated 
with splendid plates. His illustrations of 
Homer are amongst his best productions. 
He was very successful also as a discoverer 
of classical antiquities. He died at Rome 
in 1797. 

Hamilton, Lady Emma, a celebrated 
beauty, the illegitimate daughter of a maid¬ 
servant and a man of rank. She was born 
about 1761, died at Calais 1815. At the 
age of thirty years she became the wife of 
Sir William Hamilton, British ambassador 
at Naples. It was while in this position 
that she made the acquaintance of Lord 
Nelson, and acquired an influence over him 
which was the cause of some of the least 
creditable incidents in the great admiral’s 
career. She left behind her Memoirs, which 
have been published. 

Hamilton, Patrick, usually considered as 
the first Scottish reformer, was the second 
son of Sir Patrick Hamilton of Kincavel 
and Stanehouse, and of Catharine, daughter 
of the Duke of Albany, second son of James 
II. He was probably born in Glasgow in 
1504, and was educated partly at St. An¬ 
drews and partly^ at Paris, where he took 
his degree in 1520. While still a boy he 
had been appointed Abbot of Fearn, in 
Rosshire, but never went into residence, 
settling instead at St. Andrews in 1523. 
Here he began to announce his convictions 
in the principles -of the Reformation, and 
was summoned in 1526 by Archbishop 
Beaton to stand his trial for heresy. He 
fled to Germany, where his education as a 
reformer was completed by an intimate ac¬ 
quaintance with Luther and Melanchthon. 
After six months’ absence he returned to 
Scotland, and began to preach the gospel 
openly at Linlithgow, but was allured by 
Beaton to St. Andrews under pretence of a 


HAMILTON-HAMITES. 


friendly conference, put on his trial, con¬ 
victed of various heresies, and burned at the 
stake, March 1, 1527, in the twenty-third 
year of his age. His death did perhaps 
more to extend the principles of the Eefor- 
mation in Scotland than even his life could 
have done. 

Hamilton, SiE William, grandson of 
William, third duke of Hamilton, was born 
in Scotland in 1730. In 1761 he was elected 
member of parliament for Midhurst, and in 
1764 he received the appointment of am¬ 
bassador to the court of Naples. He devoted 
his leisure to science, making observations 
on Vesuvius, ^Etna, and other volcanic moun¬ 
tains; and the results of his researches are de¬ 
tailed in the Philosophical Transactions, and 
in his Campi Phlegraei, or Observations on 
the Volcanoes of the Two Sicilies (Naples, 
1776-79, three vols. folio). He took an 
active part in the excavation of Hercula¬ 
neum and Pompeii, and collected a cabinet 
of antiquities, of which an account was pub¬ 
lished by D’Hancarville, in a splendid work 
with finely-coloured plates. Sir William’s 
second wife was the notorious Lady Ha¬ 
milton. (See Hamilton, Lady Emma.) He 
died in 1803. 

Hamilton, Sir William, a metaphysician, 
the most acute logician and most learned 
philosopher of the Scottish school, was born 
in 1788 at Glasgow, where his father and 
grandfather held in succession the chairs of 
anatomy and botany. Having studied with 
distinction at Glasgow, in 1809 he entered 
Baliol College, Oxford, as a Snell exhibi- 
tionei*, where he gained first-class honours. 
In 1813 he was admitted to the Scottish bar, 
but never acquired a practice in his profes¬ 
sion, his taste lying much more towards the 
study of philosophy, in which he had already 
made extensive researches. In 1820 he be¬ 
came a candidate for the chair of moral 
philosophy in Edinburgh, rendered vacant 
by the death of Thomas Brown, but being 
defeated by Professor John Wilson he was 
obliged to content himself with the unim¬ 
portant chair of universal history, forming 
no part of the college curriculum, to which 
he was appointed in 1821 by its patrons, 
the Faculty of Advocates. In 1829 the 
publication in the Edinburgh Review of his 
celebrated critique of Cousin’s system of 
philosophy gave him at once a first place 
amongst the philosophical writers of the 
time. This was followed in 1830 by his 
criticism of Brown, and in 1831 by his 
article on the authorship of the Epistolae 


Obscurorum Virorum. In 1836 he was ap¬ 
pointed to the chair of logic and meta¬ 
physics in Edinburgh University. Here he 
gathered about him a number of ardent 
students, and re-established the fame of the 
Scottish school of metaphysicians, which had 
begun to wane. In 1846 he published an 
annotated edition of the works of Thomas 
Reid, and in 1854 the first volume of a 
similar edition of the works of Dugald 
Stewart. He died suddenly at Edinburgh 
in 1856. His lectures on logic and meta¬ 
physics were collected and edited by Dean 
Mansel and Professor Veitch. Hamilton’s 
most important contributions to philosophy 
are connected with his doctrine of the 
Quanti6cation of the Predicate in his sys¬ 
tem of logic; his theory of the ‘relativity of 
knowledge,’ in the Kantian sense, held along 
with an apparently incompatible doctrine of 
immediate perception of the non-ego; and 
his definition of the infinite or unconditioned 
as a mere negation of thought. 

Hamilton, Sir William Rowan, mathe¬ 
matician and astronomer, was born in Dub¬ 
lin in 1805. Before he had completed his 
fourteenth year he had made himself ac¬ 
quainted with thirteen languages, among 
which were Arabic, Persian, Hindustani, 
Sanskrit, and Syriac. At the age of seven¬ 
teen he was pronounced by a competent 
authority the first mathematician of his age. 
At Trinity College, Dublin, he gained the 
highest honours, and he was appointed in 
1827 professor of astronomy in Trinity Col¬ 
lege, as well as astronomer-royal. He was 
knighted in 1835, and elected in 1837 presi¬ 
dent of the Royal Irish Academy. He con¬ 
tributed numerous papei*s to the transac¬ 
tions of learned bodies, and made some 
valuable discoveries ; but his fame is chiefly 
founded on his invention of the calculus of 
quaternions, a new method in the higher 
mathematics. Amongst his published works 
are General Method in Dynamics, Algebra 
as the Science of Pure Time, Memoirs on 
Discontinuous Functions. 

Hamirpur, a town of India, North-wes¬ 
tern Provinces, on the right bank of the 
Jumna. Pop. 7155. 

Hamites (descendants of Ham), the name 
given to a number of races in North Africa, 
who are regarded as of kindred origin and 
speak allied tongues. They include the an¬ 
cient Egyptians and their modern descen¬ 
dants, the Co[)ts, the Berbers, Tuaregs, 
Kabyles, the Gallas, Falashas, Somali, Dan- 
kali, &c. 


340 






HAMLET — 

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the hero 
of Shakspere’s famous tragedy. The story 
is founded on an old tradition, related, 
amongst others, by Saxo-Grammaticus, of a 
Danish prince, Hamlet, who lived about 
500 B.C., but essentially altered in details 
and conclusion. 

Hamlin, Hannibal, Vice-President of 
the U- S., was born in Maine in 1809. He 
learned printing, practised law, and served 
as a member of the Legislature. In 1842 
he was elected to Congress, and in 1848 
U. S. Senator. In 1800 he was elected Vice- 
President. In 1869 he was chosen U. S. 
Senator,serving until 1881. He was an orig¬ 
inal anti-slavery man. Died July 4,1891. 

Hamm, a manufacturing town of Prussia, 
province of Westphalia. Pop. 22,523. 

Hammer-beam, a short beam attached to 
the foot of a principal rafter in a roof, in 
the place of the tie-beam.* Hammer-beams 
are used in pairs, and project from the wall, 



Hammer-beam Roof, Westminster Hall. 


extending less than half-way across the 
apartments. The hammer-beam is gener¬ 
ally supported by a rib rising up from a 
corbel below; and in its turn forms the 
support of another rib, constituting with 
that springing from the opposite hammer- 
beam an arch. 

Hammer-cloth, a cloth sometimes used 
to cover the box-seat of a private carriage. 
It usually bears the coat of arms of the 
owner of the carriage. 

Hammerfest, a maritime town in Nor¬ 
way, in Finmarken, on Hvaloe (Whale Is¬ 
land), a bare, treeless, barren spot, in lat. 
70° 40' N., being thus the most northerly 
town in the world. It is a fishing centre, 
and carries on a lively trade. Though 
within the Arctic circle, the winter is com- 

341 


HAMMOND^ 

paratively mild, and the surrounding waters 
seldom freeze. Pop. 2127. 

Hammer-headed Shark. See Shark. 

Hammer-oyster, a bivalve shell-fish. Mal¬ 
leus vulgaris, inhabiting the Indian Archi¬ 
pelago, resembling the pearl-oyster when 
young, but becoming always more hammer¬ 
like as it advances in age, by the lengthen¬ 
ing of its two ears. 

Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph Freiherr 
VON, an eminent orientalist, was born in 
1774 at Gratz, in Styria. He was educated 
at the Oriental Academy, Vienna, and when 
still a very young man took a share in the 
preparation of IMeninsky’s Arabic, Persian, 
and Turkish Lexicon. In 1799 he accom¬ 
panied as interpreter to Constantinople the 
internuncio Freiherr von Herbert, who after¬ 
wards intrusted him with a mission to 
Egypt, where he collected various antiquities 
and manuscripts for the Imperial Library. 
He also accompanied, as interpreter and 
secretary. Sir Sidney Smith and Yussuf- 
Pasha in the campaign against General 
Menou. In 1810, on the occasion of the 
marriage of Napoleon with Maria Louisa of 
Austria, he accompanied the latter to Paris, 
where he became intimate with Sylvestre 
de Sacy and other orientalists. In 1817 he 
was appointed imperial councillor at the 
court of Austria, where he also held the 
post of interpreter. On succeeding to the 
estates of the Countess of Purgstall in 1835 
he received the title of Freiherr (Baron). 
He died in 1856. Among his numerous 
literary works may be mentioned Constitu¬ 
tion and Administration of the Ottoman 
Empire; Constantinople and the Bosporus; 
History of the Ottoman Empire (ten vols.); 
Histoi’y of Turkish Poetry; History of 
Arabic Literature. 

Hammersmith, a suburban district of 
London, in Middlesex, about 6 miles w.s.w. 
of the London, post-office. The Thames is 
here crossed by a fine suspension bridge. 
The vicinity is occupied chiefly by nurseries 
and market-gardens. Pop. of parish, 
1891, 97,2.37. 

Hammock, a rectangular piece of cloth or 
netting about 6 feet long and 4 feet wide, 
gathered together at the two ends and slung 
horizontally, forming a sort of bed or place 
in which one may recline for pleasure. 
Hammocks are in common use on board 
ships of war. The word is said to be of 
Caribbean origin. 

Hammond, Lake co., Ind., ou Michigan 
Central R. R. Fop. 1890, 5428. 

















HAMPDEN-HAMSTER. 


Hampden, John, celebrated for his patri¬ 
otic opposition to taxation by prerogative, 
was born in London in 1594, being cousin- 
german by the mother’s side to Oliver Crom¬ 
well. In 1609 he was entered a gentleman 
commoner at Magdalen College, Oxford. 
He began the study of law in the Inner 
Temple, but having inherited an ample for¬ 
tune on his father’s death he lived the 
usual life of a country gentleman. He 
entered parliament in the beginning of 
Charles I.’s reign as member for Gram- 
pound, and continued to sit in the House 
of Commons three times in succession as 
member for Wendover, and finally as mem¬ 
ber for Bucks. Although for some years a 
uniform opposer of the arbitrary practices in 
church and state, it was not till 1636 that 
his resistance to Charles’s demand for ship- 
money made him theargumentof all tongues. 
Although the decision in the Court of Ex¬ 
chequer was given against him by seven 
voices to five, the victory, as far as regarded 
public opinion, was his. In the following 
year (1637) he was one of those who medi¬ 
tated emigration to America, which they 
were prevented from carrying out by an 
order in council detaining them. Hence¬ 
forward he took a prominent part in the 
great contest between the crown and the 
parliament, and was one of the five mem¬ 
bers whom the king, in 1642, so imprudently 
attempted, in person, to seize in the House 
of Commons. When the appeal was made 
to the sword, Hampden accepted the com¬ 
mand of a regiment in the parliamentary 
army under the Earl of Essex, and was 
fatally wounded on Chalgrove Field, 24th 
June, 1643. 

Hampshire, Hants, or Southampton- 
SHIRE, a maritime county, including the 
Isle of Wight, in the south of England; 
area, 1,037,764 acres. Its surface is plea¬ 
santly varied with gently rising hills, fruit¬ 
ful valleys, and extensive woodlands. The 
coast-line is very irregular; the principal in¬ 
dentation, Southampton Water, is navigable 
almost to its head for vessels of considerable 
burden. The country is well watered by 
the Avon, Exe, Test, Itching, and Hamble. 
In the west is the New Forest; in the 
south-east are the Forests of Bere and Wal¬ 
tham Chase. Two ranges of chalk hills, 
the North and South Downs, traverse the 
county, running in direction nearly east and 
west. On the Downs large flocks of sheep 
known as the ‘Hampshire Downs’ are fed. 
Hampshire is also famous for its wool, bacon, 


honey, and timber. The manufactures are 
unimportant, but the shipping is very ex¬ 
tensive. For parliamentary purposes it is 
divided into six divisions, viz.; Northern or 
Basingstoke, Western or Andover, Eastern 
or Petersfield, Southern or Fareham, New 
Forest, and Isle of Wight; one member for 
each. Pop. 1891, 690,086. 

Hampshire, New. See New Hampshire. 

Hampstead, a suburb of London, and 
parliamentary borough in Middlesex. It is 
situated on the declivity of a hill on the 
north-western side of the city, and has long 
been celebrated for its fine air and the 
beauty of its surroundings. Hampstead 
Heath crowns the summit of the hill, and is 
now sprinkled over with handsome villas. 
It returns one member to parliament. Pop. 
1891, 68,425. 

Hampton, a village of Middlesex, situated 
14 miles s.w. of London, on the left bank of 
the Thames. Pop. 4776. About a mile from 
the village are the palace and park of Hamp¬ 
ton Court, originally built by Cardinal Wol- 
sey in 1525. Hampton Court has been the 
residence of many sovereigns, from Henry 
VIII., to whom it was presented by Wol- 
sey, down to George II. It contains a valu¬ 
able collection of pictures by Holbein, Lely, 
Kneller, West, &c. 

Hampton, Elizabeth City co., Va., 3 m. 
from Fortress Monroe. Principal trade in 
fish and oysters. Pop. 2513. 

Hampton Court Conference, a conference 
which took place in 1604 at Hampton Court 
under the presidency of James I. between 
the representatives of the Episcopalian and 
Puritan parties in the church. A few 
slight alterations were made in the Com¬ 
mon Prayer Book, and it was determined 
that a new version of the Bible should be 
undertaken. This, the Authorized Ver¬ 
sion, appeared in 1611. 

Hampton, Wade, ex-U. S. Senator, was 
born in Charleston, S. C., March 28, 1818. 
His services in the civil war as Confederate 
general were conspicuous; he was thrice se¬ 
verely wounded. He served two terms as 
U. S. Senator (from 1879 to 1890) and as 
Governor of South Carolina. He was ap¬ 
pointed railroad commissioner in 1893. 

Hamster (Cricetus), a genus of rodent 
animals belonging to the family of the 
Muridse (mice). They are distinguished by 
their having cheek-pouches in which they 
convey grain, peas, &c., to their winter 
residence, and are common in the north of 
Europe and Asia. 


342 


HAND. 


HAN 


Han, a Chinese dynasty (B. c. 206 to a. D. 
220), with which commences the modern 
history of China. 

Han'aper, formerly an office in the 
English Court of Chancery, so called be¬ 
cause all writs regarding the public were 
once kept in a hanaper or hamper. 

Hanau (han'ou), a town of Prussia, pro¬ 
vince Hesse-Nassau, at the confluence of 
the Kinzig with the Main. Pop. 24,377. 

Hancock, John, Revolutionary patriot 
and President of Congress, born in Quincy, 
Mass., in 1737. In the inception of the 
Revolutionary struggle he was a leading 
sj)irit. The attempt to arrest Hancock and 
Samuel Adams led to the battle of Lex¬ 
ington. Mr. Hancock was a member of 
the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1780, 
also from 1785 to 1786, serving as President 
of the body from 1775 to 1777. The Dec¬ 
laration of Independence as first published 
bore only his name. He served as Gov¬ 
ernor of Massachusetts twelve years. As 
an orator he was eloquent; as a presiding 
officer, dignified and impartial. He died 
in 1793. 

Hancock, Winfield Scott, was born 
in Pennsylvania in 1824. His grandfather 
was of Scottish birth. Winfield graduated 
at West Point in 1844. He participated in 
the important battles of the Mexican war. 
In 1861 he was made brigadier-general. 
At Fredericksburg he led his men through 
such a fire as has been rarely encountered 
in warfare. At Gettysburg he was dan¬ 
gerously wounded. In 1866 was appointed 
major-general in the regular army. In 
1880 was the Democratic candidate for the 
Presidency of the U. S. He died in 1886. 

Hand, the part of the body which ter¬ 
minates the arm, consisting of the palm and 
fingers, connected with the arm at the wrist; 
the principal organ of touch and prehension. 
The human hand is composed of twenty- 
seven bones, namely eight bones of the car¬ 
pus or wrist arranged in two rows of four 
each, the row next the fore-arm containing 
the scaphoid, the semilunar, the cuneiform, 
and the pisiform, and that next the meta¬ 
carpus, the trapezium, the trapezoid, the os 
magnum, and the unciform. The metacar¬ 
pus consists of the five bones which form 
the palm, the first being that of the thumb, 
the others that of the fingers in succession. 
Lastly, the fingers proper contain four¬ 
teen bones called phalanges, of which the 
thumb has but two, all the other digits 
having three each. These bones are jointed 

343 


so as to admit of a variety of movements, 
the more peculiar being those by which the 
hand is flexed backwards, forwards, and 
sideways, and by which the thumb and 
fingers are moved in different ways. The 
chief muscles which determine these move¬ 
ments are the flexors, which pass down the 
fore-arm, are attached by tendons to the 
phalanges of the fingers, and serve to flex 
or bend the fingers; and the extensors for ex¬ 
tending the fingers. There are two muscles 
which flex all the fingers except the thumb. 
The thumb has a separate long and short 
flexor. There is a common extensor for the 
fingers which passes down the back of the 
fore-arm and divides at the wrist into four 
tendons, one for each finger, each being at¬ 
tached to all three phalanges. The fore¬ 
finger and little finger have, in addition, 
each an extensor of its own, and the thumb 
has both a short and a long extensor. The 
tendons of the muscles of the hand are in¬ 
terlaced and bound together by bands and 
aponeurotic fibres, and from this results a 
more or less complete unity of action. It is 
sometimes difficult to make a movement with 
a single finger without the others taking part 
in it, as in executing instrumental music, 
for instance; but practice gives to these 
movements perfect independence. Of all 
the movements of the hand the opposition 
of the thumb to the other lingers, alone or 



Skeleton of Human Hand and Wrist. 


1, Scaphoid bone. 2, Semilunar bone. 3, Cuneiform 
bone. 4, Pisiform bone. 5, Os trapezium. 6, Os trape- 
zoides. 7, Os magnum, 8. Unciform bone. 9, Metacar¬ 
pal bones of thumb and lingers. 10, First row of i)ha- 
langes of thumb and fingers. 11, Second row of phalanges 
of fingers. 12, Third row of phalanges of thumb and 
fingers. 

united, especially characterizes the human 
hand. This action of the thumb results 
from its length, from the first metacarpal 
bone not being placed on the same plane as 
the other four, as is the case in the monkey, 
and from the action of a muscle—the long 
flexor of the thumb—peculiar to the human 
hand. This muscle completes the action of 







HANDCUFFS-HANDEL. 


the other motor of the thumb, and permits 
man to hold a pen, a graver, or a needle; 
it gives to his hand the dexterity necessary 
in the execution of the most delicate work. 
Properly speaking then, the hand, with its 
highly specialized muscles, belongs to man 
alone. It cannot be considered, as in the 
ape, as a normal organ of locomotion. It 
is essentially the organ of touch and pre¬ 
hension. It moulds itself to a body to as¬ 
certain its form; it comes to the aid of the 
eye in completing or rectifying its impres¬ 
sions. The functions of touch devolve prin¬ 
cipally upon its anterior or palmar face, the 
nervous papillae abounding specially at the 
ends of the fingers. A layer of adipose 
tissue, very close in texture, protects, with¬ 
out lessening its power or its delicacy, the 
network of muscles, vessels, and nerves, with 
which this remarkable organ is equipped. 

Handcuffs, an instrument formed of two 
iron rings connected by a short chain or 
fixed on a hinge on the ends of a very short 
iron bar, which, being locked over the wrists 
of a malefactor, prevents his using his hands. 

Handel (properly Haendel), George 
Frederick, a great German composer born 
at Halle on the Saale, February 23, 168f. 
The strong passion which he early showed 
for the art overcame his father’s opposition 
to training him as a musician, and at the age 
of seven he was placed under the tuition of 
Zachau, organist of Halle Cathedral, and 
was soon so far advanced in the practical 
part of the science as to be able to officiate 
occasionally as deputy to his instructor. In 
1696 he was sent to Berlin, where he heard 
the music of Bononcini and Ariosti, then at 
the head of the Berlin Opera House. He 
returned to Halle, was appointed organist 
of the cathedral in 1702, but soon left to 
visit Hanover and Hamburg, where Steffani 
and Reinhard Keiser, the latter the greatest 
German operatic composer of his day, re¬ 
sided. At Hamburg he played second vio¬ 
lin in the orchestra, and brought out in 
1704 his first work, an oratorio on the Pas¬ 
sion, and his first opera, Almira, followed in 
February by his Nero, and subsequently by 
his Florinda and Daphne. In 1706 he went 
to Italy, visiting Florence, Venice, Naples, 
and Rome. On his return to Germany he 
entered the service of the Elector of Hanover, 
afterwards George I. of England, as musical 
director. He visited England twice, and 
ultimately, having received a pension from 
Queen Anne, settled down there. For some 
years his popularity was very great. He 


was placed at the head of the newly-founded 
Royal Academy of Music, and accumulated 
a large fortune in spite of the heavy losses 
which he incurred by setting up an opera 
company in oppositi to that supported by 



the leading nobility and the principal Italian 
singers. Amongst the operas which he had 
composed up to this date (1735) are: Rada- 
misto, Ottone, Giulio Cesare, Flavio, Tamer¬ 
lane, Scipio, Ricardo I., Orlando, Ariadne^ 
&c. His last opera was performed in 1740. 
By this time he had begun to devote him¬ 
self chiefly to music of a serious nature, 
especially the oratorio. The approval which 
his first works of this kind (Esther, 1731; 
Deborah, 1732; Athalia, 1733) had met 
with encouraged him to new efforts; and 
he produced in succession Israel in Egypt, 
L’Allegro and II Penseroso, Saul, and The 
Messiah. The last-mentioned, which is his 
chief work, was brought out in 1741, for the 
benefit of the Foundling Hospital. It was 
not much appreciated at the first representa¬ 
tion, but increased in reputation every year. 
In 1742 the Samson appeared, in 1746 the 
Judas Maccabeeus, in 1748 the Solomon, 
and in 1752 the Jephthah. In 1752 he be¬ 
came blind, but did not lose his spirits, con¬ 
tinuing to perform in public and even to 
compose. He died at London, 13th April, 
1759. He w'as buried in Westminster Ab¬ 
bey. Handel was of large and ungainly 
person. His manners were rough and his 
temper violent, but his disposition was 

344 




HAND-FISH HANNA Y. 


humane and liberal. As a musician his 
characteristics are boldness and strength of 
style and combination of vigour, spirit, and 
invention in his instrumental compositions. 

Hand-fish. See Cheironectes. 

Handicapping, in horse-racing and vari- 
oiis other games and sports, a system of 
equalizing the chances of victory in favour 
of each of the competitors by allowing cer¬ 
tain advantages to an inferior competitor, 
as, in horse - racing, the making the best 
horses carry heavier weights proportionably 
to their racing qualities, or, in chess-play¬ 
ing, the stronger player giving up one or 
more of his men at the beginning of the 
game. 

Hand-language. See Deaf and Dumb 
Alphabet. 

Hand-plant, the Cheirostemonplatanoides, 
a Mexican tree of the order Sterculiaceae. 
It grows about 30 feet or more in height, 
and has flowers, the stamens of which pre¬ 
sent an appearance somewhat like that of 
the human hand. 

Hands, Laying on of. This rite, as a 
token of blessing, or the communication of 
spiritual gifts, or of something else which 
could not be literally delivered into the 
hands of another, has been in use from the 
earliest times. It occurs in Scripture as a 
patriarchal usage, appropriate and becoming 
perhaps rather than strictly religious, but 
later assumes more of the character of a 
formal rite, as in the ritual of animal sacri¬ 
fice amongst the Jews, when the oflicer was 
required to lay his hands on the victim 
while still alive, except in the case of the 
paschal lamb. In the early church this 
rite was used in benediction, absolution, 
the unction of the sick, and the reconcilia¬ 
tion of penitents as well as in ordination 
and confirmation. The rite is still retained 
by most western churches in the ceremony 
of ordination, and in the Roman Catholic, 
Anglican, and Lutheran churches both in 
confirmation and ordination. 

Hang-Chow, or Hang-Choo, a large city 
in China, capital of the province of Che¬ 
kiang, on the estuary of the Tsien-tang- 
kiang. It is one of the handsomest cities 
of China, with many magnificent temples, 
monuments, and triumphal arches. It has 
extensive manufactures in silks, furs, gold 
and silver ornaments, tapestries, lacquered 
ware, fans, &c., and a large trade. The 
larger portion of the inhabitants live with¬ 
out the walls in the beautiful suburbs and 
in boats on the river. It is also a great 

345 


centre of literary and ecclesiastical life. 
Pop. estimated at 800,000. 

Hanging, as a mode of 
Capital Punishment. 

Hanging-buttress, in 
arch., a buttress not stand¬ 
ing solid on a foundation, 
but supported on a cor¬ 
bel. It is applied chiefly 
as a decoration. 

Hankow' (‘ Mouth of the 
Han’), a town and river- 
port in China, in the pro¬ 
vince of Hupeh, at the 
junction of the Han with 
the Yang-tse-kiang; Han¬ 
yang being on the oppo¬ 
site bank of the Han, and 
Wuchang on the other side 
of the Yang-tse. The port 
was opened to foreign 
trade in 1862, and has 
become the chief empo¬ 
rium for the green-tea 
districts in the central pro¬ 
vinces, which formerly 
sent their produce for ex¬ 
port to Canton. Large 
steamers ascend to the 
town. In 1857 Hankow fell into the hands 
of the Taiping rebels, and was almost com¬ 
pletely demolished by them. Pop. 750,000. 

Han'ley, a municipal and parliamentary 
borough of North Staffordshire, England, 
pleasantly situated on rising ground near 
the Trent, 18 miles north by west of the 
county town of Stafford. It is quite a 
modern town, owing its growth entirely to 
the vast manufactures of china and earthen¬ 
ware in which the inhabitants are mostly 
employed; but there are also iron-furnaces, 
foundries, brick-woi’k.s, and several impor¬ 
tant collieries. Since 1885 it returns one 
member to parliament. Pop. 54,846. 

Hannay, James, a Scotch man of letters, 
born at Dumfries in 1827, died at Barcelona 
Jan. 9, 1873. At an early age he entered 
the navy, but left it in 1845 to bec-ome a 
reporter on the Morning Chronicle in Lon¬ 
don. In 1860 he went to Edinburgh as 
editor of the Edinburgh Courant, but re¬ 
signed this post in 1864. In 1868 he was 
appointed British consul at Barcelona. He 
wrote several novels, amongst which Single- 
ton Eontenoy and Eustace Conyers are the 
best; also. Lectures on Satire and Satirists, 
Studies on Thackeray, and a Course of Eng¬ 
lish Literature. 


execution. See 



Hanging-buttress. 





































HANNIBAL. 


Han'nibal, or An'nibal, one of the greatest 
generals of antiquity, born B.c. 247, was the 
son of Hamilcar Barca, also a general and 
leader of the popular party amongst the 
Carthaginians. He was but nine years of 
age when his father made him swear at the 
altar eternal hatred to the Romans. He 
grew up in his father’s camp in Spain 
(see Hamilcar), but returned to Carthage 
when his father fell in battle, in 229 b.c. 



Hannibal. 


At the age of twenty-two he returned to 
the army in Spain, then commanded by his 
brother-in-law Hasdrubal, and three years 
after, on the murder of Hasdrubal, received 
the chief command by acclamation. Han¬ 
nibal now prepared to carry out his great 
designs against Rome. His siege and cap¬ 
ture of Saguntum, a city in alliance with 
Rome, led to a declaration of war from the 
Romans, who made preparations to carry 
on the war in Spain. But Hannibal, judg¬ 
ing that Rome could be overthrown only in 
Italy, undertook his great march on Rome 
across the Pyrenees, the Rhone, and the 
Alps. He set out with 90,000 foot-soldiers, 
40 elephants, and 12,000 horsemen. When 
he reached the northern foot of the Alps he 
had still 50,000 foot-soldiers, 9000 horse, 
and 37 elephants. \Vhen he arrived at the 
southern foot, after 15 days of incredible 
toils, his force had diminished to 20,000 
foot-soldiers and 6000 horse. The point at 
which he crossed is generally believed to 
have been the Little St. Bernard. On the 
banks of the Ticino he first encountered a 
Roman army under Publius Scipio, and 
defeated it mainly by the superiority of 
his Numidian cavalry, 218 b.c. Shortly 
after another Roman army, under Semnro- 


nius, was totally routed on the Trebia. 
After winteiing in Cisalpine.Gaul, Hanni¬ 
bal opened next year’s campaign (217) by 
defeating the Roman general Flaminius, 
whom he enticed into an ambush at Lake 
Thrasymenus. In this battle half the Ro¬ 
man army perished, and the rest were taken 
prisoners. Hannibal now marched into 

Apulia, spreading terror wherever he ap¬ 
proached. Rome, in consternation, pro¬ 

claimed Fabius Maximus dictator, who 
sagaciously resolved to hazard no more open 
battles, but exhaust the strength of the 
Carthaginians by delay. But for some time 
the wisdom of this policy was not under¬ 
stood by his countrymen, who, dissatisfied 
with his inactivity, appointed Minutius 
Felix his colleague. The result was that 
the latter was drawn into a battle by Han¬ 
nibal, and would have perished but for the 
aid of Fabius. After this the Roman gen¬ 
erals avoided engagements, and Hannibal 
at this critical period saw his army wasting 
away in inactivity. Next year (216), how¬ 
ever, the rashness of the new consul Teren- 
tius Varro gave Hannibal the last of his 
great victories. The battle was fought at 
Cannae, the Romans under L. H^milius 
Paulus and Varro numbering more than 
80,000 men, the Carthaginians about 50,000, 
and ended in a total defeat of the Romans, 
40,000 or 50,000 of whom were slain and 
the rest scattered. Instead of marching on 
Rome, Hannibal now sought quarters in 
Capua, where luxurious living undermined 
the discipline and health of his troops. The 
campaigns of 215, 214, and 213 were com¬ 
paratively unimportant. While Hannibal 
was seizing Tarentum (212), Capua was 
invested by two Roman armies. To relieve 
Capua Hannibal marched on Rome, and 
actually appeared before its gates (211), but 
the diversion remained fruitless, and Capua 
fell. In 207 a reinforcement tardily sent 
by the Carthaginians to Hannibal, under 
command of his brother Hasdrubal, was in¬ 
tercepted by the Romans and destroyed at 
the Metaurus. Hannibal now retired to 
Bruttium (the toe of Italy), where he still 
maintained the contest against overwhelm¬ 
ing odds, till, in 203, he was recalled to 
defend his country, invaded by Scipio. 
In Africa he was defeated by the Romans 
at Zama (202 B.c.), and the second Punic 
war ended, after a bloody contest of eighteen 
years, in Cai’thage having to accept the most 
humiliating conditions of peace. Hannibal 
now devoted himself as civil magistrate to 

346 













HANNIBAL - 

restoring the resources of Carthage, and 
was working at reforms of administration 
and finance when the jealous Romans sent 
ambassadors to demand his surrender. He 
fled to the court of Antiochus of Syria, and 
offered his services for the war then com¬ 
mencing against the Romans, They were 
accepted, but Hannibal’s advice for the 
conduct of the war was not followed, and 
he himself as commander of the Syrian 
fleet failed in an expedition against the 
Rhodians, In 190 b.c, Antiochus was forced 
to conclude a disgraceful peace with the 
Romans, one of the terms of which was that 
Hannibal should be delivered up, Hannibal, 
again obliged to flee, took refuge with Pru- 
sias, king of Bithyuia, and is said to have 
gained several victories for Prusias against 
Eumenes, king of Pergamus, an ally of the 
Romans. But the Roman senate once more 
sent to demand the surrender of their in¬ 
veterate enemy, and Hannibal, finding that 
Prusias could not protect him, took poison 
rather than fall into the hands of the Ro¬ 
mans, He died in B.c, 183. 

Hannibal, a town in the United States, in 
Marion county, Missouri, on the right bank 
of the Mississippi, 150 miles above St. Louis. 
It has tobacco factories, machine-shops, 
foundries, pork-packing establishments, saw 
and flour mills, and an extensive trade in 
lumber. Pop, 1890,12,857, 

Hanno, a Carthaginian navigator of the 
5th and 6th centuries B.c,, who made a 
voyage on the western coast of Africa for 
the purpose of discovery and of settling 
colonies. He wrote an account of his voyage, 
which still survives in a Greek translation 
known as the Periplus of Hanno. From this 
account Hanno would appear to have gone 
as far as the coast of Guinea. 

Hanoi', or Kesh'o, capital of Tonquin, on 
the river Song-ka, in a fruitful plain. Gold 
and silver filagree, lacquered wares, silks, 
mat and basket weaving are its principal 
industries. Although the river is navigable 
only for small vessels the trade of Hanoi is 
considerable, chiefly with the southern pro¬ 
vinces of China, Pop, variously estimated 
from 80,000 to 150,000, 

Han'over (Ger, Hannover), formerly a 
kingdom in the north-west of Germany, 
now a province of Prussia. It is of very irre¬ 
gular shape, and is divided by intervening 
territories into three distinct portions, be¬ 
sides some small territories to the south, and 
a range of sandy islands lining the coast. 
The total area is 14,857 sq, miles. For 


- HANOVER. 

administrative purposes it is divided into 
six districts—Hanover, Hildesheim, Liine- 
burg, Stade, Osnabriick, Aurich. The sur¬ 
face in the south is covered by the Hartz 
Mountains, but the rest of the country is a 
low, monotonous flat, with a gentle slope to 
the North Sea. The Ems, the Weser (with 
its tributaries the Leine and Aller), and the 
Elbe flow through fertile districts industri¬ 
ously cultivated for corn and flax. Near 
the coast the land is marshy, but feeds large 
numbers of very superior cattle. In Cen¬ 
tral Hanover the soil is of a barren, sandy 
nature. The Hartz Mountains are rich in 
minerals, the working of which is an im¬ 
portant industry.—Hanover was long con¬ 
nected with the Brunswick family, and lat¬ 
terly more especially with the line of Bruns- 
wick-Liineburg. Ernest Augustus, a prince 
of the latter line, became in 1692 the first 
Elector of Hanover, married a granddaughter 
of James I. of England, and was succeeded 
in 1698 by his son, George Louis, who in 
1714 became George I. of England. Hence¬ 
forth it was ruled in connection with Eng¬ 
land. In 1814 the Congress of Vienna 
raised Flanover to the rank of a kingdom, 
the crown of which was worn by George 
IV. and William IV., but on the accession 
of Queen Victoria, passed by Salic law to 
Ernest Augustus, duke of Cumberland. In 
1851 he was succeeded by his son, George V., 
but in 1866, Hanover having become in¬ 
volved in the Austro-Prussian contest, bis 
kingdom was absorbed by Prussia. Pop. 
1890, 2,278,361. 

Hanover, capital of the Prussian province 
of Hanover, situated in an extensive plain 
on the Leine, which here receives the Ihme 
and becomes navigable. The old town, ir¬ 
regularly built and with many antiquated 
buildings, is surrounded by the handsome 
new quarters which have arisen to the north, 
east, and south-east. There are fine prome¬ 
nades, and a large wood with beautiful 
walks, the Eilenriede, lies on the eastern side 
of the city. Amongst the principal buildings 
are the Market Church, the Old ’Fown-house, 
the Theatre, one of the finest in Germany, 
the Royal Palace, the Museum of Art and 
Science, the Royal Library, containing 
175,000 volumes, the Central Railway Sta- 
tion, the Waterloo Monument, &c. About 
a mile to the N.w. is Schloss Herrenhausen, 
the favourite residence of George I., George 
II,, and George V. Nearer the town is 
the colossal Welfenschloss, or palace of the 
Guelphs, now fitted up as a polytechnw 



HANSARD-HANSWURST. 


school. Hanover is a manufacturing town 
of some importance, has cotton-spinning, 
machine - works, iron - foundries, chemical 
works, tobacco and cigar factories, &c. 
Hanover is first mentioned in 1163. It 
joined the Hanseatic League in 1481. It 
became the residence of the dukes of 
Brunswiek-Liineburg, and capital of the 
principality in 1636. Pop. 1890, 165,499. 

Han'sard, a firm of printers in London 
well-known in connection with the printing 
of parliamentary debates and papers. The 
founder of the business was Luke Hansard, 
who, in 1800, became printer to the House 
of Commons. The reports of speeches printed 
in Hansard are extracted from the Ijondon 
newspapers, but are generally sent to those 
by whom they were spoken for revision and 
correction. 

Hanse Towns, certain German and other 
commercial cities of Northern Europe asso¬ 
ciated for the protection of commerce and 
united by what was called the Hanseatic 
League. In the middle of the 13th century 
the sea and land swarmed with pirates and 
robbers. In particular the thriving ports of 
the Baltic and the North Sea were infested, 
and in 1219 a compact was made between 
Hamburg, Ditmarsh, and Hadeln to protect 
the adjacent waters. This was followed in 
1241 by an alliance between Hamburg and 
Llibeck to keep open the road across Holstein, 
connecting the North Sea with the Baltic. 
In 1247 this league was joined by Brunswick, 
and out of this grew the Hansa or league, 
which at its most flourishing period em¬ 
braced 85 towns, maritime and inland, from 
Reval and Narva to Amsterdam and Middle- 
burg, and from Cologne to Breslau and Cra¬ 
cow. Amongst these the town of Llibeclc 
was recognized as the chief town of the 
league. Here assembled the deputies of 
the other Hanse towns to deliberate on the 
affairs of the confederacy; but the decrees 
of the diet had no effect unless they re¬ 
ceived the sanction of the separate towns. 
The chief trading centres of the league were 
the factories of Novgorod in Russia, Bergen 
in Norway, Bruges, and London (the so- 
called Steelyard). These factories were 
subject to an almost monastic discipline, 
which even required their officers to be celi¬ 
bates and live at a common table. During 
the latter half of the 14th century the power 
of the league was at its height. It had 
armies and navies, gained victories in war 
over the kings of Norway and Denmark, 
and deposed a king of Sweden. It made 


thorough provision for the security of com* 
merce on the Baltic and North Seas, con¬ 
structed canals, introduced a uniform sys¬ 
tem of weights and measures, and developed 
the principles of mercantile law. But as 
its power and ambition increased it was felt 
to be an oppressive monopoly established 
mainly in the interests of the great seaport 
towns. It became less needful also for 
commercial security, as the princes learned 
the advantages of trade, formed naval forces 
of their own, and encouraged navigation. 
Most of the inland members of the con¬ 
federation withdrew, and during the 15th 
and 16th centuries the cities of Hamburg, 
Liineburg, and Lubeck were almost alone in 
their active efforts to maintain the power of 
the Hansa and secure for it the command of 
the Baltic. About the middle of the 16th 
century the Dutch became predominant in 
the Baltic trade. In 1597 England revoked 
all special privileges of the Hanseatic mer¬ 
chants, and in 1614 Lubeck, Stettin, Dan¬ 
zig, Brunswick, Liineburg, Hamburg, Bre¬ 
men, and Cologne, with a few smaller towns, 
were the only places that contributed to 
the support of the Hansa. The league still 
made desperate efforts to retain its mono¬ 
polies, but the cost of doing so now be¬ 
came a heavy tax on the remaining allies. 
At the last general assembly, held in 1630 
at Lubeck, many of the members sent repre¬ 
sentatives only to renounce their allegiance. 
The name still remained attached to the 
free cities of Liibeck, Bremen, and Ham¬ 
burg, under whose protection the surviving 
factories continued to exist, that of Bergen 
being still managed in the old way till 1763. 
In 1813Frankfort-on-the-Main was included 
in the number of the Hanse towns, and in 
the German Confederation these four cities 
had together one vote in the diet. Frankfort 
was incorporated in Prussia in 1866, but 
the other three towns are still separate con¬ 
stituents of the German Empire. 

Hansi, town of Hissar district, Punjab, 
on the Western Jumna Canal. Pop. 12,656. 

Hansom-cab, a two-wheeled hackney-car¬ 
riage or cabi’iolet used in the cities and large 
towns of Britain, and named after the in¬ 
ventor. It holds two persons besides the 
driver, who sits on an elevated seat behind 
the body of the carriage, the reins being 
brought over the top. 

Hanswurst, the name o£ a standing comic 
character on the older German stage, corre- 
spending in its grotesque traits and mirth¬ 
making qualities to the English clown or 

348 



HANTS-HARCOURT. 


Italian harlequin. The name is equivalent 
to the J ack Pudding of England. 

Hants. See Hampshire. 

Hanuman', in Indian mythology, the name 
of a fabulous uioiikey-god, who plays a pro¬ 
minent part ill the epic R^mayana. As 
the monkey-general who aided Rama (the 
seventh incarnation of Vishnu) in his war 
against the giant Ravana, he is worshipped 
as a denii-god, and on his account the whole 
tribe of monkeys, to which he is fabled to 
belong, is treated as sacred and allowed to 
multiply indefinitely. 

Han'way, Jonas, English traveller and 
philanthropist, born in 1712. At an early 
age he was apprenticed to a merchant at 
Lisbon, and in 1743 became a partner in a 
British house at St. Petersburg. He trav¬ 
elled in Persia, and published An Histori¬ 
cal Account of the British Trade over the 
Caspian Sea. Latterly he settled in London, 
where he became widely known as an active 
philanthropist. He is popularly known as 
one of the first Englishmen to persist in 
the regular use of an umbrella. He died 
in 1786. 

Hapsburg (properly Hahichtshurg or 
Habshurg, the hawk’s castle), a small place 
in the Swiss Canton of Aargau, on the right 
bank of the Aar. The castle was built 
about 1027 by Bishop Werner of Strassburg. 
Werner II., who died in 1096, is said to 
have been the first to assume the title of 
Count of Hapsburg. After the death, about 
1232, of Rudolph II., the family divided 
into two branches, the founder of one of 
which was Albert IV. In 1273 Rudolph, 
son of Albert IV., was chosen Emperor of 
Germany, and from him descended the series 
of Austrian monarchs all of the Hapsburg 
male line, down to Charles VI. inclusive. 
After that the dynasty, by the marriage 
of Maria Theresa to Francis Stephen of 
Lorraine, became the Hapsburg-Lorraine. 
Francis II., the third of this line, was 
the last of the so-called ‘Holy Roman Empe¬ 
rors,’ this old title being changed by him 
for that of Emperor of Austria. From the 
Emperor Rudolph was also descended a 
Spanish dynasty which began with the Em¬ 
peror Charles V. (Charles I. of Spain), and 
terminated with Charles II. in 1700. The 
castle of Hapsburg is still to be seen on the 
Wiilpelsberg. 

Hapur, town of India, in the Meerut 
District, North-western Provinces. It has 
a considerable trade in sugar, grain, cotton, 
timber, &c. Pop. 13,212. 

349 


Har'akiri, or Sep'puku, a mode of inflict¬ 
ing death upon themselves allowed in Japan 
to criminals of the Samurai or two-sworded 
class as more honourable than public execu¬ 
tion. It consists in cutting open the body 
so as to disembowel it by means of a wound 
made with one sword perpendicularly down 
the front and another with the other sword 
horizontally. It is (or was) frequently re¬ 
sorted to to save dishonour or exposure. 

Harar, a city of North-eastern Africa, 
about 150 miles from the coast of the Gialf 
of Aden. It is the centre of a small 
district governed as an independent sove¬ 
reignty by an emir. The inhabitants are 
strict Mohammedans. Pop. variously esti¬ 
mated from 10,000 to 30,000. 

Harbour, a general name given to any 
bay, creek, or inlet of the sea affording 
accommodation for ships and protection 
against the wind and sea. The great re¬ 
quisites of a good harbour are accessibility, 
adequate depth of water, and shelter from 
violence of wind and water. Harbours are 
either natural or artificial, the latter being 
made wholly or partly by the construction 
of moles or breakwaters. In connection 
with the more important harbours there are 
usually docks, in which the water is kept 
as nearly as possible at the same level, thus 
giving facility in loading and unloading. 
See Breakwater and Docks. 

Harbour Grace, a seaport of Newfound¬ 
land, on the west side of Conception Bay. 
It is the seat of a R. Catholic bishop, has 
a handsome cathedral, and an active trade. 
Pop. 6770. 

Harburg, a town in Prussia, in the pro¬ 
vince of Hanover, on the left bank of the 
South Elbe, opposite to Hamburg. It has 
varied manufactures and an important trade. 
Pop. 22,341. 

Harcourt, Sir William George Gran¬ 
ville Venables Vernon, lawyer and poli¬ 
tician, son of the late Rev, William Vernon 
Harcourt, was born in 1827. He was edu¬ 
cated at Trinity College, Cambridge, was 
called to the bar in 1854, became Queen’s 
Counsel in 1866; contributed frequently to 
the press, in particular the letters to the 
Times signed ‘Historicus;’ was returned 
for Oxford city in 1869 in the Liberal inter¬ 
est; distinguished himself by his powers of 
satire and ridicule in debate; was made 
solicitor-general in Mr. Gladstone’s ministry, 
Nov. 1873; home secretary in 1880, when 
he lost his seat for Oxford but was returned 
for Derby. He introduced the Arms Bill 



HARDA 


(Ireland), 1881; Prevention of'Crimes Bill, 
1882; an Explosives Bill, 1883. In Feb. 
3 886, he was made chancellor of the exche¬ 
quer; and after the resignation of Mr. Glad¬ 
stone’s ministry became a prominent leader 
of the Gladstonian section; in 1892 re¬ 
appointed chancellor of the exchequer. 

Harda, a town of Hindustan, in the Cen¬ 
tral Provinces. Pop. 11,203. 

Hardangerfjord, a fjord on the west 
coast of Southern Norway with magnificent 
scenery. 

Hardenberg, Friedrich von, German 
writer, better known under the name of 
Novalis, born 1772, died 1801. He studied 
at Jena, Leipzig, and Wittenberg, was the 
friend of Tieck and the Schlegels, and spent 
his brief life in study and literary produc¬ 
tion. He was one of the leaders of the 
‘romantic school,’ and his writings are a 
strange mixture of imagination, profundity, 
and mysticism. Amongst his works are an 
unfinished novel, Heinrich von Ofterdingen, 
and Spiritual Songs. 

Hardenberg, Karl August, Prince von, 
Prussian chancellor of state, was born at 
Essenrode in Hanover in 1750. He entered 
the civil service of his country, but left it 
for that of Brunswick, and next became 
Prussian minister of state, and in 1804 
first minister of Prussia. His conduct was 
vacillating, now favouring an alliance with 
Napoleon and again hostile to him. After 
the Peace of Tilsit, he was banished from 
the Prussian court by command of Na¬ 
poleon, was recalled to office as chancellor 
in 1810, and after the French disaster at 
Moscow was amongst the first to declare 
that the time had now come for a general 
effort against Napoleon. Hardenberg signed 
the Peace of Paris, and was created prince. 
He was one of the most prominent actors 
at the Congress of Vienna; became president 
of the Prussian council of state; was present 
in 1818 at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle; 
in 1819 at Carlsbad; in 1820 at Troppau; in 
1820-21 at Laibach; and in 1822 at Verona. 
He died in 1822. He abolished feudal privi¬ 
leges in Prussia, and was a munificent patron 
of the sciences. 

Harderwijk (har'der-vik), a town of the 
Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland, 
on the Zuider Zee, 30 miles east of Amster¬ 
dam. Pop. 7318. 

Hard-fern, the popular name for Lomaria 
spicant, which is also known as Blechnum 
boreale. It is a very common fern, being 
found everywhere in Britain growing on 


HARDINGE. 

heaths, in glens, on old roadside walls, and 
other places. 

Hard-hack, the American popular name 
of a plant, the Spircea tomentosa, common 
in pastures and low grounds, and celebrated 
for its astringent properties, which cause it 
to be used medicinally. 

Hardicanute, or Harthacnut, King of 
England and Denmark, was the only legiti¬ 
mate son of Canute. At the time of his 
father’s death, in 1036, he was in Denmark, 
where he was immediately recognized as 
king. His half-brother Harold, however, 
who happened to be in England at the time, 
laid claim to the throne of that part of their 
father’s dominions, and succeeded in getting 
possession of Mercia, Northumbria, and 
Wessex, but died in 1040, when Hardicanute 
peacefully succeeded him. He reigned till 
1042, leaving the government almost entirely 
in the hands of his mother and the powerful 
Earl Godwin, while he gave himself up to 
feasts and carousals. 

Hardinge (har'ding), Henry, ViscouNTy 
English commander, was a son of the Rev. 
Henry Hardinge, rector of Stanhope, Dur¬ 
ham, and was born in 1785. He was ga¬ 
zetted ensign in 1798, and was present at all 



Viscount Hardinge. 


the great battles and sieges in the Peninsula 
He lost his left hand at the battle of Ligny. 
He became M.P. for Durham in 1820, was 
made secretary-at-war, secretary for Ire¬ 
land, and in 1844 succeeded Lord Ellen- 
borough as Governor-general of India. Be¬ 
ing forced into war by an invasion of Sikhs 
he took a command under Lord Gough, and 
after the great battles of Mudki, Ferozeshah, 

350 





HARDNESS-HARE. 


and SoRraon dictated a peace in the Sikh 
capital of Lahore. In reward of his services 
he was created Viscount Hardinge and re¬ 
ceived a pension of £3000. In 1852, on the 
death of the Duke of Wellington, he suc¬ 
ceeded to the post of coniinander-in-chief. 
In 1855 he was made a field-marshal, and 
he died in 1856. 

Hardness, the quality of bodies which 
enables them to resist abrasion of their sur¬ 
faces. 1 n mineralogy a scale is used in which 
a set of standard bodies are arranged and 
numbered, and other bodies are referred to 
this scale with respect to hardness. The 
following is the scale given by F. Mohs:— 
talc 1, rock-salt 2, calc spar 3, fluor spar 4, 
apatite 5, felspar 6, quartz or rock-crystal 7, 
topaz 8, cox’undum 9, diamond 10. Materials, 
according to this arrangement, which are 
scratched by rock - crystal and are not 
scratched by felspar are said to have a hard¬ 
ness between 6 and 7. 

Hardoi, a town of India, administrative 
headquarters of Hardoi district, Oudh, 63 
miles from Lucknow. Pop. 10,026. 

Hardouin (ar-do-an), Jean, a learned 
French Jesuit, born 1646, died 1729. He 
maintained the extraordinary hypothesis 
that all the writings under the names of the 
Greek and Roman poets and historians, ex¬ 
cept those of Homer, Herodotus, Cicero, 
and Pliny the Elder, the satires and epistles 
of Horace, and the Georgies of Virgil, are 
the spurious productions of the 13th century, 
written by monks under the direction of one 
Severus Archontius. 

Hardwar, a town of India, in Saharanpur 
district. North-western Provinces. It is 
situated on the Ganges, and is one of the 
principal places of Hindu pilgrimage, and 
of the ceremonial of bathing in the sacred 
river. The town is of great antiquity and 
has interesting ruins. Pop. 3614. 

Hardware, the name usually given to the 
commoner articles made of iron, brass, and 
copper. The manufacture of such articles 
now forms a gigantic industry in Great 
Britain, especially in England, where its 
chief seats are Birmingham and Sheffield, 

Hard-wooded Trees are usually trees of 
slow growth, such as the oak, beech, witch- 
elm, elm, ash, service-tree, walnut, chestnut, 
acacia, &c. They are distinguished from 
soft-wooded trees such as the willow, poplar, 
&c., and resinous trees such as the pine, fir, 
cedar, larch, &c. 

Hardy, Thomas, novelist, born in Dorset¬ 
shire, England, 1840. He served an appren¬ 

351 


ticeship as an ecclesiastical architect; pub¬ 
lished his first novel. Desperate Remedies, in 
1872, and has since continued a series of 
favourite fictions. His best known work is 
Far from the Madding Crowd, with its fine 
air of rural life. Others are The Hand of 
Ethelberta, The Trumpet Major, The Wood- 
landers, The Return of the Native, The 
Mayor of Casterbridge, &c. 

Hare, the common name of the rodent 
quadrupeds of the genus Lepus with long 
ears, long hind limbs, a short tail, soft 
hair, and a divided upper lip; its dental 
formula is: incisors 4, canines molars f-f 
= 28; the two fore-feet have five and the 
hinder four toes. They run by a kind of 
leaping pace. The females produce litters 
of three to six about four times a year. The 
young leverets have their eyes open at birth. 
The common hare {L. timidus) is found 
throughout Europe and some parts of Asia. 
It is tawny red on the back and white on 
the belly, and is about 2 ft. long. The' 
mountain hare or varying hare {L. variabilis), 
confined to Northern Europe and the moun¬ 
tainous regions of the south, is smaller than 
the common hare, and becomes white in 
winter. L. cunieGlus is the rabbit, properly 
so called, distinguished by its smaller size 
and burrowing habits, (See Rabbit.) The 
American hare {L. Americanus), not much 
larger than a rabbit, is found in most parts 
of North America. In North America there 
are also the polar hare {L. glacialis), a variety 
of the var 3 dng hare {L. variabilis), but of su¬ 
perior size and purer colour; and the prairie 
hare (X, campestris), one of the species known 
as jackass hares or Jack-rabbits, from their 
size and length of limb. The hare, which 
has no courage and little cunning, is pro¬ 
tected from its enemies mainly by the acute¬ 
ness of its sight and hearing and its extra¬ 
ordinary swiftness of foot. Its voice is never 
heard except when seized or wounded, when 
it utters a sharp loud cry, not very unlike 
that of a child. Its flesh is rather dry, but 
is much prized for its peculiar flavour. 

Hare, J ulius Charles, an English writer 
on theological and social subjects, born in 
1796, died 1855, He was educated at the 
Charterhouse, and Trinity College, Cam¬ 
bridge. In 1832 he became rector of Herst- 
monceaux, in 1840 was appointed Arch¬ 
deacon of Lewes, in 1851 obtained a prebend 
in Chichester Cathedral, and in 1853 became 
one of her majesty’s chaplains. In concert 
with his brother, Augustus William Hare, 
he published a well-known work entitled 


HAREBELL — 

Guesses at Truth by Two Brothers. His 
other writings include several volumes of 
sermons; a Memoir of John Sterling, pre¬ 
fixed to a collection of his writings; and a 
Vindication of Luther against 
his recent English Assailants. 

Harebell, the Scotch Blue¬ 
bell {Campanula rotundifo- 
lia), a plant of the nat. order 
Campanulaceae, common on dry 
and hilly pastures, by road¬ 
sides, Sic., in most districts of 
Europe, with a bell-shaped 
blue (sometimes white) flower. 

The radical leaves are cordate 
or reniform, the stem-leaves 
partly ovate or lanceolate, 
partly linear. Its slender stem 
is from 4 to 6 inches high, and 
bears sometimesasingleflower. 

Several American species of Campanula 
are known to all lovers of wild flowers. 

Har'eld {HareldaglaciaUs), the long-tailed 
duck, an oceanic duck having a short thick 
bill, a high forehead, and two very long 
feathers in the tail of the male, whilst the 
females have the tail short and rounded. It 
inhabits the northern seas, and is frequent 
in Orkney and Shetland. 

Hare-lip, a malformation consisting in a 
fissure or vertical division of the upper lip, 
sometimes extending also to the palate. 
Children are frequently born with this mal¬ 
formation, and the cleft is occasionally 
double. The name is given from the 
imagined resemblance which the part has 
to the upper lip of a hare. The cure of 
hare-lip is performed by cutting off quite 
smoothly the opposite edges of the fissure, 
and then bringing them together and main¬ 
taining them in accurate apposition till they 
have firmly united. 

Ha'rem, Hareem' (Ar., the prohibited), is 
used by Mussulmans to signify the women’s 
apartments in a household establishment, 
forbidden to every man except the husband 
and near relations. The women of the harem 
may consist simply of a wife and her atten¬ 
dants, or there may be several wives and an 
indefinite number of concubines or female 
slaves, with black eunuchs, &c. The greatest 
harem is that of the Sultan of Turkey. The 
women of the imperial harem are all slaves, 
generally Circassians or Georgians. Their 
life is spent in bathing, dressing, walking 
in the gardens, witnessing the voluptuous 
dances performed by their slaves, &c. The 
women of other Turks enjoy the society of 


HARINGTON. 

their friends at the baths or in each other’s 
houses, and appear in public accompanied 
by slaves and eunuchs; but the women of 
the sultan’s harem have none of these pri¬ 
vileges. It is of course only the richer Mos¬ 
lems who can maintain harems; the poorer 
classes have generally but one wife. 

Hare’s Ear {Bupleurum), a plant of the 
nat. order Umbelliferae. The most common 
British species (B. rotundifolium) flourishes 
best on a chalky soil. Under the name of 
thorough-wax it was at one time used as a 
vulnerary. 

Harfleur (ar-flewr), a town, France, dep. 
of Seine-Inferieure, on the Lezarde near its 
entrance into the Seine, 6 miles east of 
Havre, once the chief port at the mouth of 
the Seine. Pop. about 2000. 

Hargreaves (har'grevz), -James, English 
inventor, author of two important improve¬ 
ments in the art of cotton-spinning, was 
born near Blackburn about 1720, died 1778. 
In 1760 he invented a machine for carding, 
and some years after the spinning-jenny, 
by which he was able to spin with several 
spindles at once. Suspecting that he em¬ 
ployed machinery, his neighbours broke into 
his dwelling and destroyed his machine; and 
on the repetition of this kind of persecution 
Hargreaves removed in 1768 to Notting¬ 
ham. In 1770 he obtained a patent for his 
invention, but it was after all declared in¬ 
valid on the ground that he had sold sev¬ 
eral of the machines before taking out the 
patent. For the rest of his life he carried 
on business as a manufacturer. 

Har'icot, a general term for various species 
of kidney-bean, genus PhaseHlw:. They con¬ 
stitute a palatable and nutritious article of 
diet. 

Hari-Kari. See Harakiri. 

Haring (ha'ring), Wilhelm, best known 
as Wilibald Alexis, a German novelist, born 
1797, died 1871. He adopted law as a 
profession, but gave it up in favour of litera¬ 
ture. In 1823 and 1827 respectively he 
published the novels Walladmor and Schloss 
Avalon, which were translated into English 
and other languages. These were followed 
by a long series of writings, consisting not 
only of novels and novelettes, but of books 
of travel, plays, ballads, &c. His most 
important works, however, were historic 
novels, such as Cabanis, Roland von Berlin, 
Her Falsche Waldemar, &c. 

Harington, Sir John, an English poet of 
some merit, born 1561, died 1612. At his 
baptism Queen Elizabeth stood sponsor. 

352 





Harehell (C. 
rotundifolia). 



HARIRI-HARMATTAN, 


He was in 1596 excluded from court on 
account of his poem Metamr-rphoses of Ajax, 
but was soon allowed to return. His best- 
known performance is, perhaps, his transla¬ 
tion of Orlando Furioso in heroic verse. 

Hariri, Abu Mohammed el Xasem Ben 
Ali, surnamed El Hariri, or the silk mer¬ 
chant, his father’s occupation, a celebrated 
Arabic scholar and poet, who lived chiefly 
at Bassorah in the time of the Abbasside 
caliphs, born a.d. 1054, died 1121 or 1123. 
He is best known by his Mekamm4t, a col¬ 
lection of tales narrated as incidents in the 
life of the hero Abu Zeid, a clever impostor 
who adopts every career in life, and succeeds 
in all to admiration. 

Harlaw', Battle of, in Scottish history, 
a battle, fought in 1411, which delivered the 
Lowlands from a Highland invasion and 
the fear of Highland supremacy. Donald, 
lord of the Isles, having collected an army 
10,000 strong, threatened to overrun all 
northern Scotland, and ravaged the country 
until he was met at, Harlaw, on the Urie, 
in Aberdeenshire, by a much inferior Low¬ 
land force under the Earl of Mar. The 
battle resulted in the defeat of Donald, 
although many of the Lowland gentry, the 
provost and chief magistrates of Aberdeen, 
and a large number of men fell on the field. 

Harlebeke, or Haehlebeke (harle-ba-ke), 
a town in Belgium, in West Flanders, on 
the Lys. It is said to be the oldest town in 
Flanders, and has a beautiful parish church, 
and a pulpit regarded as a master-piece of 
carving. Pop. 6000. 

Harleian Library. See Harley. 

Harlequin {Fv.arlequin; Ital. aWecc/tmo), 
a character of the Italian comedy introduced 
on the stage of other countries. On the 
Italian stage he is a comic character, full of 
drolleries, tricks, and knaveries, and some¬ 
what resembles the English clown. The 
harlequin of British pantomimes is quite 
different. He is supposed to be the lover 
of the columbine, and possesses a wonder¬ 
working wand, with which he protects his 
mistress against the clown and pantaloon, 
who pursue and endeavour to capture her, 
until the pursuit is brought to a termina¬ 
tion by a good fairy. The harlequin wears 
a tight dress of bright colours, and glitter¬ 
ing with spangles. See Clown. 

Harlequin Duck {ClangUla histrionica), 
a species of duck, so called on account of 
its party-coloured plumage of white, gray, 
and black. It inhabits the Arctic regions. 
At Hudson Bay it is called the Painted 
VOL. IV. 353 


Puck; along the coast of New England 
the Lord. In length it is about 17 inches. 

Harley, Robert, Earl of Oxford, English 
minister, born 1661, died 1724, the son of 
Sir Edward Harley. After the accession 
of Anne he and his colleague St. John, 
afterwards Lord Bolingbroke, became leaders 
of the Tories. Harley was chosen speaker 
of the House of Commons in 1702 under 
Rochester, and in 1704 was appointed chief 



Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford. 


secretary of state, but resigned in 1708. 
After the fall of Marlborough Harley be¬ 
came chancellor of the exchequer in 1710, 
and next year was created Earl of Oxford. 
He and Bolingbroke secured the Treaty of 
Utrecht (1713), but afterwards quarrelled. 
Early in the reign of George I. he was im¬ 
peached of high treason on the ground of 
his alleged Jacobite intrigues. He was kept 
in the Tower for two years, but, owing to 
the inability of the Peers and the Commons 
to agree about the mode of procedure, he 
was acquitted. His patronage was exten¬ 
ded to Swift, Pope, and other literary men, 
and he made a valuable collection of books 
and MSS., which latter are preserved in 
the British Museum, where they form the 
Bibliotheca Harleiana. Those which have 
been printed constitute the Harleian Mis¬ 
cellany. 

Harlingen (har'ling-en), a seaport of Hol¬ 
land, province of Friesland, intersected by 
numerous canals. It has great trade with 
England in corn, cattle, butter, &c. Pop. 
10,735. 

Harmat'tan, a hot and dry wind, which, 
coming from the interior of Africa, prevails 

119 


HARMODIUS 


HARMONIUM. 


at times on the coast of Guinea in Decem¬ 
ber, January, and February. Under its 
influence vegetation withers, and the grass 
becomes like hay. It is similar to the 
simoom of Egypt and the sirocco of Italy. 

Harmo'dius. See Ilippias and Aristo- 
geiton. 

Harmon'ica, Franklin’s name for a musi¬ 
cal instrument constructed with glasses of 
different sizes, revolving by means of me- 
I chanism worked by the foot, and played 



upon by touching the rim of the glasses 
with the moistened finger. It constituted 
the ‘musical glasses ’ of Goldsmith’s era. 
The name is now usually applied to an in¬ 
strument consisting of a series of glass keys 
played by two small hammers. 

Harmonics, the accessory sounds accom¬ 
panying the predominant and apparently 
simple tone of any string, pipe, or other 
sonorous body. No purely simple sound, 
i.e. no sound whose vibrations are all in the 
same period, is producible in nature. When 
a sound is produced by the vibration of an 
open string, the whole string vibrates as a 
unity, giving rise to a tone called the funda¬ 
mental. The string, however, further di¬ 
vides into various sections, which vibrate 
separately and more rapidly, and produce 
sounds differing from the fundamental, but 
bearing certain fixed proportions to it. The 
first harmonic of the fundamental note of 
any string is that produced by half the 
string, and is the octave of the first; the 
second harmonic is given by the third of 
the string, and is the fifth or dominant of 
the fundamental note, and so on, the com¬ 
plete series of harmonics containing all the 
notes of the musical scale. But while har¬ 
monics enter into the composition of any 
musical sound from any vibrating body 
whatsoever, the different structure of differ¬ 
ent instruments suppresses now some now 
others of the succession of harmonics, and a 
different body of tone is thus produced, dis¬ 
tinguishing a note in one instrument from 
the same note in another. These differences 
are called in English quality^ in French 
timbre, in German klangfarhe. 


Har'monists, a religious sect tounded at 
Wtirtemberg about the year 1788 by two 
brothers called George and Frederick Rapp. 
They endeavoured to re-establish the social 
practices of the early Christian church, en¬ 
couraged celibacy, held all their goods in 
common, and taught the second advent. 
Persecuted by their countrymen, the fol¬ 
lowers of Rapp emigrated to America, and 
established themselves (1805) successfully 
at Harmony in Pennsylvania. They after¬ 
wards migrated to Indiana, but this ven¬ 
ture not proving successful, they sold their 
land at New Harmony to Robert Owen the 
socialist, and finally settled at a place which 
they named Economy, 17 miles from Pitts¬ 
burg. George Rapp died in 1847, but the 
community still exists. 

Harmo'nium, a musical instrument of 
modern invention, producing sounds some¬ 
what resembling those of the organ, result¬ 
ing from the pressure of wind on a series of 
vibrating metallic reeds. By the action of 
bellows, to which the feet communicate 
a more or less rapid movement, the air is 
made to impinge against thin tongues of 
metal (here termed reeds), and to set them 
vibrating. These metal tongues are fitted 
into a slit in the top of a small box or sonor¬ 
ous cavity, called a wind-box, and are en¬ 
abled to vibrate by being fixed only at one 
end. The discovery that the form of the 
wind-boxes determines the quality of the 
sound produced by the vibration of these 
metallic tongues contributed very much to 
the development of the harmonium, as it 
enabled the player to imitate the sound of 
the oboe, flute, &c. The instrument has 
a key-board like that of a piano, and when 
one of the keys is pressed down a valve is 
opened, which allows the wind from the 
bellows to rush through one of the wind- 
boxes and act on the vibrator. There are 
several stops, by means of which the per¬ 
former can direct the stream of wind into 
the wind - boxes which produce a flute, 
clarionet, or any other sound. There is also 
a knee action, which either serves as an ex¬ 
pression stop, or brings all the stops of the 
instrument into play at once, and what is 
called the percussion action, which consists 
in the application of a small hammer, which 
strikes the vibrator as soon as the key is 
pressed down, and thus aids the action of 
the wind. The better class of harmoniums 
have now usually two or more extra rows of 
vibrators, which, acted U[)on by separate 
stops, add so many octaves to the compass, 

354 




HARMONY 


HAROLD IL 


Harmony. See Music and Counterpoint. 

Harmony, Evangelical, or Harmony op 
THE Gospels, the title of works written with 
a view to prove the substantial agreement 
of the four evangelists. The heretic Tatian 
composed in the second century the Diates- 
saron, the first work of this kind, a continu¬ 
ous narrative of the events written in the 
gospels. From this harmony all passages 
were omitted which favoured the doctrine 
of the real humanity of Christ, and hence 
told against the peculiar doctrines of Tatian. 
Theophilus of Antioch is said to have com¬ 
posed a book of a similar kind, and Am- 
monius Saccas (died 243 a.d.) executed 
another Diatessaron, with the corresponding 
passages arranged in parallel columns. The 
Ten Indexes of Eusebius probably appeared 
in the fix’st half of the fourth century, and 
was more complete than its predecessors. 
Among modern harmonists are Gresswell, 
Robinson, Tischendorf, &c. 

Harmony of the Spheres, an hypothesis 
of Pythagoras and his school, according to 
which the motions of the heavenly bodies 
produced a music imperceptible by the ears 
of moi’tals. He supposed these motions to 
conform to certain fixed laws, which could 
be expressed in numbers corresponding to 
the numbers which give the harmony of 
sounds. 

Har'motome, or Cross-stone, a mineral 
which occurs in right rectangular prisms 
terminated by four rhombic planes corres¬ 
ponding to the solid angles of the prism; 
but more frequently in twin-crystals formed 
by the intersection of two flattened prisms 
at right angles to each other. Its prevailing 
colour is white, but may be yellow, red, or 
brown; it is translucent or semi-transparent, 
with a somewhat pearly lustre, and is hard 
enough to scratch glass. It consists chiefly 
of silica, alumina, baryta, and water. 

Harness, the various articles which are 
required to yoke a horse or another animal 
to any vehicle, or to control and suit them 
for any kind of work. See Bit^ Bridle, 
Collar, Saddle, &c. 

Haroeris. See llorus. 

Harold (or Harald) I., Haarfager (Beau¬ 
tiful-haired), King of Norway, one of the 
greatest monarchs of that country, succeeded 
his father in 863. He brought all the Nor¬ 
wegian jarls under his power, and completely 
subjected the country, allowing his hair to 
remain uncut for twenty years until he at¬ 
tained this object (885). Of the conquered 
jarls, Hrolf, or Kollo, emigrated to Neustria 


(France); others established themselves tn 
Iceland, the Shetland Isles, the Faroes, and 
the Orkneys. In consequence of their in¬ 
cursions into his dominions, Harold em¬ 
barked with a naval force to subdue them, 
and having conquered the Orkneys, &c., re¬ 
turned home. He fixed his residence at 
Trondhjem, and died there in 933. 

Harold III. {Ilardrada, the Hardy), 
King of Norway, the son of Sigurd, a 
descendant of Harold Haarfager, In his 
youth he went to Constantinople, joined the 
Varangian Guard, and took part in the 
expedition to Italy and Sicily against the 
African pirates. He was ultimately ap¬ 
pointed commander of the imperial body¬ 
guard, and defeated the Saraceiib. About 
1042 he returned to Norway, after having, 
on his way through Russia, married the 
daughter of the Grand-duke Jaroslav, In 
1047 he succeeded his nephew, Magnus the 
Good, as sole king of Norway, In 1066 he 
joined Tostig, the brother of Harold II. of 
England, in an invasion of that country, but 
was defeated and slain at the battle of 
Stamford Bridge. See Harold IL below. 

Harold I., surnamed Ilarefoot, Danish 
king of England, succeeded his father Canute 
in 1035 as king of the provinces north of the 
Thames, and became king of all England in 
1037. His countrymen, the Danes, main¬ 
tained him upon the throne against the 
efforts of Earl Godwin in favour of Hardi- 
canute; and Harold latterly gained the earl 
over. After a reign of four years Harold 
died in 1040. 

Harold II., King of England, born about 
1022, was the second son of Godwin, earl of 
Kent. On the death of Edward the Confes¬ 
sor, Jan. 5, 1066, he stepped without opposi¬ 
tion into the vacant throne, without attend¬ 
ing to the claim of Edgar Atheling, or the 
asserted bequest of Edward in favour of the 
Duke of Normandy. The latter immedi¬ 
ately called upon him to resign the crown, 
and upon his refusal prepared for invasion. 
He also instigated Harold’s brother, Tostig, 
to infest the northern coasts of England in 
conjunction with the King of Norway. (See 
Harold III. above.) The united fleet of 
these chiefs sailed up the Humber, and 
landed a numerous body of men; but at 
Stamford Bridge, in Yorkshire, were totally 
routed by Harold, whose brother Tostig fell 
in the battle. Immediately after he heard 
of the landing of the Duke of Normandy at 
Pevensey, in Sussex. Hastening thither 
with all the troops he could muster, a general 


HAROUN AL RASCHID-HARP-SHELL. 


engagement ensued at Senlac, near Hast¬ 
ings, October 14, 1066, in which Harold was 
slain, and the crown of England passed to 
William. 

Harouu al Raschid. See Harun at 
Rashid. 


1 2 


Ancient Harps. 

1,2, Egyptian. 3, Assyrian. 4, Anglo-Saxon. 

Harp, a stringed instrument of great 
antiquity, found among the Assyrians, 
Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, Irish, Welsh, 
and other nations. Its variety of form and 
construction was only equalled by its uni¬ 
versality. The modern instrument is well 
known; its form is nearly triangular, and 
the strings distended from the upper part 
to one of the sides. It stands erect, and is 
played with both hands, the strings being 
struck or pulled with both fingers and 
thumbs. The instrument in its ancient 
forms was very defective. Egyptian harps 
are represented with four, seven, ten, twenty, 
or more strings, but we have little idea of 
the scale to which they were tuned. The 
frames are depicted as being curved in vari¬ 
ous forms, and the front pillars are want¬ 
ing. The harps of the Hebrews were pro¬ 
bably similar to the Egyptian instruments. 
It is probable that the various Celtic harps 
were derived from some oriental pattern. 
Among the Anglo-Saxons the harp was a 
favourite instrument. The modern harp was 


by no means an efficient instrument, until 
pedals were invented, an invention finally 
perfected by Sebastian Erard, whose patent 
was taken out in 1795. In 1810 he patented 
a double-action harp with seven pedals, each 
effecting two changes in the pitch of the 
strings. The harp thus constructed con¬ 
tains forty-three strings tuned according to 
the diatonic scale, every eighth string being 
a replicate in another octave of the one 
counted from. 

Harp, .^OLiAN. See JSolian Harp. 

Harpe. See La IJarpe. 

Harper’s Ferry, a village, United States, 
West Virginia, on the Potomac, at its junc¬ 
tion with the Shenandoah, and formerly a U. 
S. depot of military stores. It is famous as 
the scene of the unsuccessful rising headed 
by John Brown with a view to destroy 
slavery (Oct. 16, 1859). The rising was 
suppressed, and Brown was executed. 
Harper’s Ferry is the seat of Stover College 
for coloured students. Pop. 764. 

Harpies, the ancient Greek goddesses 
of storms. Their parentage, ages, appear¬ 
ance, names, and number are very differ¬ 
ently given by the poets. In the Homeric 
poems they are merely storm-winds. Hesiod 
represents them as two young virgins of 
great beauty called Aello and Ocypete. The 
later poets and artists vied with each other 
in depicting them under the most hideous 
forms, covered with filth and polluting every¬ 
thing in contact with them. They are often 
represented as having female faces. 



Harpoon', one of the principal instru¬ 
ments used for the capture of whales. See 
Whale-fishery. 

Harp-seal. See Seal. 

Harp-shell, the shell of a genus of mol¬ 
luscs {Ilarpa) belonging to the gasteropoda 
and to the whelk family. The species are 
found more especially at the Mauritius. 
'I’he shells are very beautiful, but exposure 
to light causes their colours to fade. 

353 


































HA.RPSTCHORD-HARROW. 


Harp'sichord, a keyed, stringed instrn- 
JHent formerly in use, in appearance and 
construction similar to a grand pianoforte. 
In the front the keys were disposed, the 
long ones being the naturals, and the short 
ones the sharps and flats. These keys being 
pressed by the fingers, their inclosed ex¬ 
tremities raised little, upright, oblong slips 
of wood called jacks, furnished with crow- 
quill plectrums which struck the wires, in¬ 
stead of the hammers of the modern piano¬ 
forte. 

Y Harpy-eagle {Thrasaetus Ilarpyia or 
) Ilarpy ia destructor), a rapacious bird which 
inhabits tropical America from Southern 
Mexico to Southern Brazil, It is an ex¬ 
tremely powerful bird, and in total length 
slightly in excess of the golden eagle. It 
has, however, a somewhat shorter expanse of 
wing. Its shoulder muscles possess enor¬ 
mous strength. Its bill is powerful and 
crooked, and its claws are extremely strong 
and sharp. The harpy-eagle feeds on birds, 
sloths, fawns, raccoons, &c., as well as on fish, 
water-snakes, and the eggs of the tortoise. 

Harquebuse. See Arquebus. 

Harrier, a kind of dog employed to hunt 
the hare. It closely resembles the foxhound, 
but is smaller in size. 

Harrier, the name of several hawks of the 
genus Circus, allied to the buzzards. They 
strike their prey upon the ground and gen¬ 
erally fly very low. The marsh-harrier, the 
hen-harrier, and the ash-coloured harrier, 
are found in Great Britain. The marsh- 
harrier {C. ceruyinosus) is from 21 inches to 
23 inches long. The hen-hai’rier {C. cyaneus) 
is 18 inches to 30 inches long. It is very 
destructive to poultry-yards, whence the 
name. The marsh-harrier is found in 
North America and Cuba. 

Harri-karri. See Hari-kari. 

Harrington, James, a celebrated politi¬ 
cal writer, born 1611, died 1677. Having 
studied under Chillingworth at Oxford, and 
travelled on the Continent, he was, on the 
outbreak of the Civil war, desirous of pro¬ 
curing a reconciliation between the king and 
Parliament, but his efforts were futile. Dur¬ 
ing the Protectorate he wrote his Oceana, 
which describes an ideal republic, and which 
was published in 1656. In the reign of 
Charles II. he was imprisoned on a charge 
of plotting against the government, but was 
released on account of the decay of his men¬ 
tal faculties. In addition to the Oceana he 
also published an English translation of four 
booli of the iEneid. 

367 


Harrisburg, a city of the United States, 
capital of Pennsylvania, 126 miles north 
of Washington, on the Susquehanna, over 
which there are three railway bridges be¬ 
sides a bridge for ordinary traffic. It occu¬ 
pies an elevated and commanding site, and 
has important industries connected with 
iron and steel. Pop. 1890, 39,385. 

Harrison, Benjamin, President of the 
United States, born in Ohio in 1833. He 
studied law, and was reporter of the State 
Supreme Court. In 1862 he entered the 
army, serving through the war, receiving 
the brevet of Brigadier-General. In 1880 
he was elected U. S. Senator, and in 1888 
President, serving until March 4, 1893. 

Harrison, Wm. H., President of the 
United States, was born in Virginia in 
1773. In 1792 he was appointed Lieuten¬ 
ant, and in the Indian wars, then raging, 
was distinguished for gallantry. In the 
war of 1812 his services were important on 
the Canadian border. He served terms in 
both Houses of Congress. In 1840 he was 
elected President. March 4,1841, he was 
inaugurated; but died on April 4. 

Harrison, John, English mechanician, 
was born in Yorkshire in 1693 and died 
1776, was the son of a carpenter, and became 
an assistant to his father, who was occa¬ 
sionally employed in repairing clocks. An 
act of parliament had been passed in 1714 
offering rew'ards of £10,000, £15,000, or 
£20,000 for a method of ascertaining longi¬ 
tude within 60, 40, or 30 miles. This Har¬ 
rison set himself to accomplish, but it was 
not till 1765 that he was fully successful, 
the highest award being then allotted him 
for the invention of his chronometer. He 
also applied the principle of the different 
expansibility of metals in his gridiron pen¬ 
dulum. 

Harrison, Hudson co., N. J., has manu¬ 
factories of trunks, etc. Pop. 1890, 8338. 

Har'rogate, a town of England, county of 
York (West Riding), noted for its magnesia, 
sulphur, and chalybeate springs. The waters 
are especially recommended for patients with 
deranged digestive organs, chronic gout, and 
some cutaneous diseases. The sulphureous 
springs possess laxative and diuretic proper¬ 
ties. The chalybeate are tonic. The bathing 
season lasts from May to September, and 
the number of annual visitors is about 40,000. 
Pop. 1891, 13,917. 

Harrow, an agricultural implement, em¬ 
ployed for smoothing land which has been 
ploughed. It consists of a frame of wood- 


HARROW-ON-THE-HILL-HARTLEPOOL. 


work, or of iron, in which are fixed rows of 
iron teeth. There are several varieties of 
this implement, such as the ‘brake’ for 



Set of Iron Harrows. 


breaking down rough land ; the ‘ drill har¬ 
row’ for pulverizing between furrows of 
green crops, the ‘grubber’ for pulverizing 
land before the deposition of seed. 

Harrow-on-the-Hill (or simply Harrow), 
a town of England, county of Middlesex, 
on a hill of peculiar form. The grammar- 
school of Harrow, the rival of Eton, was 
founded in 1571 for the education of the 
poor children of the parish, certain fees 
being charged for strangers; but it is now 
almost entirely a school for the wealthy. 
The education originally given was exclu¬ 
sively classical, but mathematics, science, 
English history and literature, music, and 
drawing are now included among the sub¬ 
jects taught. Pop. 5558. 

Harry (or Henry) the Minstrel, com¬ 
monly called Blind Harry, a wandering 
Scottish poet of the 15th century, to whom 
is attributed a poetical narrative of the 
achievements of Sir William Wallace. Its 
date may probably be placed between 1470 
and 1480. It professes to be based on a 
history written in Latin by John Blair and 
Thomas Gray, which is now lost. It is often 
inaccurate, and has ceased to be much read. 

Hart, a stag of five years of age. See 
Stag. 

Harte, Francis Bret, American novelist 
and poet, born at Albany, N. Y., 1837. He 
went to California in 1854, and figured as 
a coal-dealer, a teacher, and a type-setter 
on the Golden Era, in which appeared some 
of his earliest literary efforts. He next be¬ 
came editor of the Californian, and in 1864 
secretary to the U. S. Mint at San Francisco. 
In 1868 he became editor of the Overland 
Monthly, in which appeared, in 1869, the 
humorous poem of The Heathen Chinee. 
In 1878 he became U. S. consul at Crefeld, 
whence he was transferred to Glasgow in 
1880, and remained there until 1885. Among 
his best-known works are The Luck of Roar¬ 
ing Camp; The Outcasts of Poker Flat; 
The Argonauts of ’49; Two Men of Sandy 
Bar; Gabriel Conroy; Mrs. Skagg’s Hus¬ 


bands ; East and West Poems ; In the Car. 
quinez Woods; Mariija, a Novel, &c. 

Hartford Convention, composed of rep¬ 
resentatives from the New England States, 
met at Hartford, Conn., December, 1814, 

‘ to confer on the subject of their public 
grievances.’ The war of 1812 had been de¬ 
structive to her industry and wealth. The 
convention’s secret proceedings aroused sus¬ 
picion and drew on its members and their 
cause bitter but unjust denunciation, 

Hartford, a city of America, the capital 
of Connecticut, on the Connecticut River, 
60 miles above its mouth. It is pleasantly 
situated, is built with great regularity, and 
has among its edifices the state-house (built 
at a cost of $3,100,000), city-hall, deaf 
and dumb and lunatic asylums, Trinity 
College (Episcopal), R. C. Cathedral, the 
Wadsworth Athenseum, &c. Both manu¬ 
factures and trade are of large extent, the 
former embracing carpets, linen, silk, edge- 
tools, &c., and it is the seat of the Colt 
Firearms Co. It is a great centre of the 
insurance business. The American asylum 
for the education and instruction of the deaf 
and dumb at Hartford was started in 1817. 
Hartford was settled in 1635 by an English 
colony from Massachusetts. Pop. 53,230. 

Hartington, Right Hon. Spencer Comp¬ 
ton Cavendish, Marquis of, born 1833, 
eldest surviving son of the seventh Duke 
of Devonshire. He was educated at Trinity 
College, Cambridge, of which he is B. A. and 
LL.D. He was attached, in 1856, to Earl 
Granville’s Russian mission, and in 1857 
was elected one of the members for North 
Lancashire, In 1863 he became a lord of 
the admiralty, and was war secretary from 
1863 to 1866. In 1868 he lost his seat for 
North Lancashire, but became postmaster- 
general under Mr. Gladstone, and was re¬ 
turned for the Radnor burghs. In 1871 he 
was appointed chief secretary for Ireland. 
He went out with tho Gladstone ministry 
in 1874, and soon after he became the leader 
of the Liberal party. On the fall of the 
Conservative government in 1880 he became 
secretary for India under Mr. Gladstone, 
and was transferred to the war office in 1882. 
In the general election of 1885 he was re¬ 
turned for the Rossendale division of lian- 
cashire. He strenuously opposed Mr. Glad¬ 
stone’s Home Rule Scheme of 1886, and 
has since bestowed an ‘outside support’ on 
Lord Salisbury. 

Hartlepool, a parliamentary borough of 
England, including the municipal borough 

358 















HARTLEY-HARVEST-MOON. 


of Hartlepool and the town of West Hartle¬ 
pool, in the county of Durham, 17 miles s.e. 
of the city of that name. The trade and in¬ 
dustries of the towns are much of the same 
character; they possess iron-works, puddling 
furnaces, brass-foundries, engine and boiler 
works, ship-yards, saw-mills, breweries, &c. 
Extensive fisheries are also carried on. The 
two towns may be said to form one port. 
I'here are spacious docks and a fine pier, 
serving as a breakwater. Pop. of municipal 
borough of Hartlepool 21,521, of West 
Hartlepool 42,492. The parliamentary 
borough, officially described as ‘The Ilar- 
tlepools,' and sending one member to par¬ 
liament, has a pop. 1891, of 64,914. 

Hartley, David, an English physician, 
principally celebrated as a writer on meta¬ 
physics and morals, born 1705, died 1757. 
He became a fellow of Jesus College. Cam¬ 
bridge, and finally practised medicine at 
Newark, Bury St. Edmund’s, and in London, 
and ended his days at Bath. In his Obser¬ 
vations on Man (1749, two vols.) he formu¬ 
lates his hypothesis of nervous vibration 
and of the association of ideas. 

Hartmann von der Aue, German poet, 
born about 1170, died about 1220. He 
wrote poetical tales, among which are Erec, 
Iwein, both belonging to the Arthurian 
cycle of legends, and Der Arme Heinrich, 
founded on by Longfellow in his Golden 
Legend. 

Hartshorn, in pharmacy, the horn of 
the common stag, from which substances 
deemed of high medical value were formerly 
prepared by distillation, such as spirits of 
hartshorn, oil of hartshorn, and salt of harts¬ 
horn. The active ingredient of these was 
ammonia, which is now obtained from gas- 
liquor and other sources. 

Hart’s-tongue (Scolopendrium), a genus 
of highly ornamental ferns. Their fronds 
are simple and undivided. There are about 
a dozen species known, the S. vulgdre being 
British. Found in N. York and Kentucky. 

Hartz. See Harz. 

Harun al Rashid (ha-ron' al-ra-shed'), a 
celebrated caliph of the Saracens, 786-809. 
(See Calijih.) The popular fame of this 
caliph is evinced by the Arabian Nights’ 
Entertainments, in which Harun, his wife 
Zobeide, his vizier Giaffer, and his chief 
eunuch Mesrur are conspicuous characters. 

Haruspices. See Aruspices. 

Harvard University, the oldest univer¬ 
sity in the United States, situated in Cam¬ 
bridge, Massachusetts. The nucleus of it 

359 


was formed in 1636 by the voting of a sum 
of £400 by the general court of Massa¬ 
chusetts. In 1638 the Rev. John Harvard 
bequeathed half of his property and his 
entire library to the projected institution. 
The college was immediately opened and 
received the name of its benefactor. The 
first graduation occurred in 1642. Its en¬ 
dowments have greatly increased since that 
time, and its invested funds now amount to 
about $5,000,000. The principal college 
buildings number twenty-five, and include 
several halls, such as University Hall, Har¬ 
vard Hall, &c. The general library con¬ 
tains upwards of 292,000 volumes. There 
are upwards of 60 professors, exclusive of 
assistants, and the number of students is 
about 1500. An entrance examination is 
required in one of two sets of subjects, of 
which classics predominate in the one, ma¬ 
thematics and science in the other. A.fter 
the first year’s course, which embraces a 
prescribed series of studies, the student has 
a large number of different courses to select 
from in order to qualify for the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts. The course of study ex¬ 
tends to four years. Among the depart¬ 
ments connected with the university are: 
1. The Law School; 2. The Lawrence Scien¬ 
tific School; 3.The Divinity School; 4. The 
Medical; and 5. The Dental School, both 
situated in Boston; 6. The Bussey Institu¬ 
tion of Agriculture; 7. The School of Mining. 
We may also mention the Museum of Com¬ 
parative Zoology (the Agassiz Museum), the 
Botanical Garden, and the Peabody Mu¬ 
seum of American Archaeology and Eth¬ 
nology. 

Harvest-bug {Leptus autumndlis),a. small 
larval insect of the family Acaridae or mites. 
It is of a bright red colour, so small as 
scarcely to be visible, and resembles a grain 
of cayenne pepper. It appears in June or 
July, and attacks the skin of domestic ani¬ 
mals, as horses, dogs, sheep, &c., under 
which it burrows, causing a red pustule to 
arise. Its attacks are also very annoying 
to human beings, of whom it attacks the 
legs, thighs, and lower part of the abdomen. 

Harvest-fly, a name given in the United 
States to a species of cicada, which appears 
as a winged insect in the harvest season. 

Harvest-moon, a name which denotes a 
peculiarity in the apparent motion of the full 
moon, by which in U. States and high lati¬ 
tudes generally it rises about the same time 
in the harvest season (or about the autumnal 
equinox in September) for several successive 



HARVEST-MOUSE-HARZ. 


evenings. In southern latitudes this pheno¬ 
menon occurs in March. It is owing to the 
fact that the moon is then travelling in that 
part of her orbit at which it makes the least 
possible angle with the ecliptic. 

Harvest-mouse (il/i<smessoW«s), the small¬ 
est British quadruped, first made known to 
science by White of Selborne. It builds a 
globular nest usually suspended among stalks 
of wheat, &c. 

Harvest-spider {Phalangium longlpes), 
the Shepherd-spider abounding in autumn, 
possessing legs of unusual length. When 
irritated it has the peculiar property of 
throwing off one or more of its legs. 

Harvey, Sir George, an eminent Scottish 
painter, born 1806, died 1876. He was a 
native of St. Ninians, near Stirling, and in 
his eighteenth year entered the Trustees’ 
Academy, Edinburgh. In 1826 he became 
an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy, 
and in 1829 an Academician. He was 
highly successful in depicting scenes con¬ 
nected with the religious history of Scotland, 
such as The Covenanters Preaching, The 
Battle of Drumclog, Quitting the Manse, 
&c. He also excelled in depicting moun¬ 
tain scenery. In 1864 he was elected presi¬ 
dent of the Royal Scottish Academy, and 
he was knighted in 1867. 

Harvey, William, an English physician, 
the discoverer of the true theory of the cir¬ 
culation of the blood, was born at Folke¬ 
stone 1578, died 1657. He entered Caius 



William Harvey. 


College, Cambridge, in 1593, and about 
1599 proceeded to Padua, then the most 
celebrated school of medicine in Europe, 
and attended lectures on anatomy, surgery, 


and other branches of medical science. He 
took the degree of M.D., and returned to 
England in 1602. He settled in London, 
was admitted Fellow of the College of Phy¬ 
sicians, elected physician of St. Bartho¬ 
lomew’s Hospital, and in 1615 was chosen 
Lumleian lecturer. His views on the circu¬ 
lation of the blood were formally given to 
the world in his Exercitatio Anatomica de 
Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus (On 
the Movement of the Heart and Blood in 
Animals), published at Amsterdam in 1628, 
in which he claims to have expounded and 
demonstrated them for upwards of nine 
years. Harvey’s theory was attacked by sev¬ 
eral foreign physicians; but from the com¬ 
mencement his views were widely received. 
In 1623 he was appointed physician extra¬ 
ordinary to James I., and in 1632 he became 
physician in ordinary to Charles I. He 
was present at the battle of Edgehill, and 
afterwards accompanied Charles to Oxford. 
Here he received the degree of M.D., and 
was elected Master of Merton College, an 
office which he lost on the surrender of Ox¬ 
ford to the parliament. He returned to 
London in 1646, and spent the remainder 
of his life in retirement. Of Harvey’s works, 
the next in importance to the De Motu is 
his Exercitationes de Generatione Animal- 
ium (On the Generation of Animals; 1651). 

Harwich (har'ich), a seaport of England, 
county Essex, 66 m. e.n.e. London. The 
harbour is spacious, and has been much im¬ 
proved by the construction of two break¬ 
waters. Steam packets ply regularly to 
continental ports. Ship-building and other 
maritime employments are carried on, and 
cement is dredged up outside the harbour. 
Harwich is much frequented by sea-bathers. 
Pop. 1891, 8191. 

Harz, or Hartz (harts), the Hercynia 
Silva of the Romans, the most northerly 
mountain chain of Germany, from which an 
extensive plain stretches to the North Sea 
and the Baltic. It extends from south-east 
to north-west, and comprises an extent of 
about 60 miles in length and nearly 20 in 
breadth, embracing the towns of Klausthal, 
Goslar, Blankenburg, Wernigerode, &c. The 
Brocken, its highest summit, is 3742 feet 
high. (See Brocken.) That part of the 
Harz which includes the Brocken, with the 
neighbouring high summits, is called the 
Upper Harz, and consists entirely of granite. 
The south-east portion is called the Lower 
Harz. The Harz abounds in woods and 
fine pastures; and is rich in minerals, in- 

360 


HASDRUBAL- 

cluding silver, iron, lead, copper, zinc, ar¬ 
senic, manganese, granite, porphyry, slate, 
marble, alabaster, &c. 

Has'drubal (more correctly Asdrubal, 
‘Baal is his help’), the name of several 
Carthaginian leaders, particularly the bro¬ 
ther of Hannibal, the hero of the Second 
Punic war. On the departure of Hanni¬ 
bal for Italy, B.c. 218, he was left in com¬ 
mand of the army in Spain, in which capa¬ 
city he carried on a long series of military 
operations against the Roman troops, which 
were commanded by Cnseus and Publius Sci- 
pio. His brother Hannibal requiring his 
assistance in Italy, Hasdrubal led an army 
from Spain into that country (b.c. 207), but 
before he could join forces with his brother 
he was defeated on the right bank of the 
Metaurus by C. Nero and M. Livius. Nero 
is said to have thrown Hasdrubal’s head into 
Hannibal’s camp, by way of announcing 
the defeat and death of his brother. 

Hash'ish, an intoxicating preparation made 
in Eastern countries from common hemp 
{Cannabis satlva), or rather from the Indian 
variety of it {Cannabis indica); also a name 
for this plant itself or for its tender shoots. 
The juice of the plant has powerful narcotic 
properties, and is variously made use of. A 
resin which the plant gives out is often ga¬ 
thered and kneaded and formed into small 
balls called churrus, and from this a narcotic 
is prepared. It has the appearance of a tena¬ 
cious ointment of a greenish-yellow colour, 
with an acrid savour and a nauseous smell. 
Hashish produces a kind of intoxication, 
accompanied with ecstasies and hallucina¬ 
tions. When dried and smoked as tobacco 
the plant is called bhang; or this name is 
given to a drink prepared from the leaves 
and shoots. Ganja or Gunja is the dried 
shoots of the female plant with the resin on 
them. Hashish in several forms is employed 
in medicine. 

Haslar Hospital. See Gosport. 

Haslingden, a town, England, county of 
Lancaster, 16 miles north of Manchester, 
with manufactures of cottons, woollens, &c. 
Pop. 1891, 18,22.5 

Hasselt, Belgium. Pop. 13,318. 

Hastings, Adams co., Neb., on the Union 
Pacific R. R. Has a large trade with sur¬ 
rounding country. Pop. 1890, 13,584. 

Hastings (has'tingz), a pari, and mun. 
borough and market town of England, county 
of Sussex, one of the Cinque Ports, pleasantly 
situated on the sea-coast, and including the 
suburb of St. Leonards-on-Sea. In front of 

361 


— HASTINGS. 

the town is an esplanade, a fine pier 900 feet 
long, and baths said to contain the largest 
tepid swimming-bath in the world. There 
is no harbour. Fishing and boat-building 
are carried on, but the principal support of 
the town is derived from the numerous visi¬ 
tors who frequent it during the bathing and 
winter seasons. There are here the ruins 
of an ancient castle, and of the church and 
conventual buildings of a college, supposed 
to have been founded in the reign of Henry 
I. William of Normandy defeated Harold 
near here, 14th October, 1066. Hastings 
returns one member to parliament. Pop. 
of parliamentary and municipal borough 
respectively, in 1891, 60,878 and 52,340. 

Hastings, Francis Rawdon, Marquis 
OF, Governor-general of India, born 1754, 
died 1825. Having studied at Oxford, he 
entered (1771) the 15th Foot. From 1776 
to 1782 he served with distinction in the 
American war. In 1793 he became Earl 
of Moira, and in 1795 commanded the ex¬ 
pedition to Quiberon. From 1813 to 1823 
he was Governor-general of India, and was 
successful in the Nepaulese and Mahratta 
wars. In his latter years he was governor 
of Malta. 

Hastings, Warren, first Governor-general 
of India, was born at Daylesford in Worces¬ 
tershire 1732, and died there 1818. He was 



Warren Hastings. 


grandson of the rector of Daylesford. He 
was educated at Westminster School, and 
in 1750 he set out for Bengal in the capa¬ 
city of a writer in the service of the East 
India Company. When stationed at Cos- 



HASTINGS-HAT. 


simbazar he was taken prisoner by Suraj ah 
Dowlah on the capture of the place (1756). 
Having made his escape, he served as a 
volunteer under Clive in 1757. He was 
representative of the Company at Moorshe- 
dabad from 1758 to 1761. In the latter 
year he removed to Calcutta, having obtained 
a seat in the Bengal Council, but returned 
to England in 1764. As he lost the bulk 
of his means by unfortunate Indian invest¬ 
ments, he again entered the Company’s ser¬ 
vice, and sailed for India in 1769. In con¬ 
sequence of the misgovernment of the Nabob 
of Bengal the Company had deprived him 
of all real power, and now wished to have 
the country more directly under their con¬ 
trol. Warren Hastings was its chief in¬ 
strument in this undertaking, and in 1772 
became president of the Supreme Council 
of Calcutta. Mohammed Reza Khan, the 
administrator of the revenues of Bengal, 
was now accused by an unprincipled char¬ 
acter named Nuncomar of corruption and 
abuses of power.. In this prosecution Hast¬ 
ings acted as the tool of the Company. Mo¬ 
hammed and Shitab Roy, dewan of Behar 
(who had been similarly accused), were after¬ 
wards honourably acquitted, but meantime 
the reorganization desired by the Company 
had been carried out. In 1773 the Com¬ 
pany’s powers were considerably modified 
by an act of parliament and Hastings 
now received the title of Governor-general 
of India. As the majority of the Council 
disapproved of Hastings’ past policy, Nun¬ 
comar, his old ally, took advantage of the 
circumstance to accuse him of peculation 
(1776). The accusations were favourably 
received by the Council, when Nuncomar 
was suddenly accused by a Calcutta mer¬ 
chant (acting probably on the instigation of 
Hastings) of forgery, tried, and executed. 
In 1776 the directors of the Company peti¬ 
tioned government for his removal from the 
Council, but Hastings resigned, and a suc¬ 
cessor to him was appointed. In 1777 one 
of the members of the Council died, and 
Hastings, having thus procured a casting vote, 
withdrew his resignation, and returned to 
office. He now displayed extraordinary re¬ 
source in meeting dangerous movements on 
the part of the Mahrattas, the Nizam of the 
Peccan, and Hyder Ali of Mysore, and to 
procure the needful money was less than 
scrupulous in his treatment of the rulers of 
Benares and Oude. He thus gave good 
grounds for censure, and a motion for his 
recall was passed in the House of Commons. 


Fox’s India Bill was thrown out in 17^3, 
but next year Pitt’s bill, establishing the 
board of control, passed, and Hastings re¬ 
signed. He left India in 1785, and was 
impeached by Burke in 1786, being charged 
with acts of injustice and oppression, with 
maladministration, receiving of bribes, &c. 
This celebrated trial, in which Burke, Fox, 
and Sheridan thundered against him, began 
in 1788, and terminated in 1795 with his 
acquittal, but cost him his fortune. The 
Company in 1796 settled on him an annuity 
of £4000 a year, and lent him £50,000 for 
eighteen years free of interest. He passed 
the remainder of his life in retirement at 
Daylesford, which he purchased. 

Hat, an outdoor covering for the head of 
various shapes and materials (as felt, silk, 
wool, straw), but having a brim as its most 



Forms of Hats in 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. 

1, 2, time of Henry viii. 3, time of Mary. 4, time of 
Elizabeth. 5, 6, time of James and Charles r. 7, 8, time 
of Commonwealth. 9, 10, time of William iii. 11-16, 
Eighteenth Century. 

distinctive and general feature. Hats are 
of ancient origin. Among the Greeks, 
for instance, the petasos was worn, which 
had a brim, and was similar to the round 
felt now worn. The shape of the hat has 
varied extremely in Europe at different 

362 



HATCHING-HAUFP. 


periods. The dress hat or silk hat with a 
smooth nap outside is the most important 
form of this article at present, though felt 
hats are perhaps in more general wear. 
(See Felt.) The silk hat was invented at 
Florence about 1760. The manufacture, 
however, did not make much progress till 
1828. Up to and even after this time 
beaver fur was the chief material for hats. 
A silk hat is composed of a skeleton, to 
which the silk plush is glued. The skeleton, 
consisting of three parts, the cylindrical part 
or body, the crown, and the brim, is usually 
made of linen, covered with gum-lac, and to 
the cylindrical part the crown is gummed. 
The cylindrical part is made by gumming 
together the edges of a piece of cloth shaped 
on a cylinder. The brim is composed of 
superposed layers of stiffer cloth, and made 
with a flat projecting surface round its 
inner edge, which is gummed to the skele¬ 
ton. For covering the hat a sort of hood 
of silk plush is made, cut across in an 
oblique line. This cover is drawn over the 
skeleton on the block, and fitted exactly to 
it by the application of a hot iron. The 
heat of the iron melts the gum-lac, which 
on cooling cements the covering to the ske¬ 
leton. The edges of the oblique cut are 
also coated with gum-lac. The hat is finally 
shaped on the block or form, and the plush 
damped and polished, while the hat revolves 
on a turning-lathe. In the manufacture of 
straw hats the straw' commonly used is that 
of wheat or barley. The best comes from 
Italy, and particularly from Tuscany, but 
straw hats are also largely made in Eng¬ 
land. Palm-leaf hats are imported from 
China and Manilla, and are also machine- 
made in the United States. 

Hatching, natural and artificial. See 
Incubation. 

Hatchment (corrupted from achievement), 
in heraldry, the coat of arms of a person 
dead, usually placed on the front of a house, 
in a church, or on a hearse at funerals, by 
which the fact of the death and the rank 
of the deceased may be known; the whole 
being distinguished in such a manner as to 
indicate whether the person was a bachelor, 
a married man, a wife, &c. 

Hatchway, a square or oblong opening in 
the deck of a ship, affording a passage from 
one deck to another, or into the hold. The 
after-hatchway is placed near the stern, 
the fore-hatchway towards the bows, the 
main-hatchway is placed near the main¬ 
mast. 


Hat'field, a town of England, in the county 
of Hertford. Near it is Hatfield House, 
built by Sir Robert Cecil, the residence of 
the Marquis of Salisbury. Pop. 4059. 

Hathor. See Athor. 

Hatras, a town of India, North-west 
Provinces, Aligarh Distinct, formerly one of 
the strongest fortresses in India, now a com¬ 
mercial centre. Pop. 25,656. 

Hatteras, Cape. See Cape Hatteras. 

Hatti - sheriff, the Turkish name of an 
edict signed by the sultan, who subscribes 
it usually with these words:—‘Let my order 
be executed according to its form and im¬ 
port.’ These words are usually edged with 
gold, or otherwise ornamented. An order 
given in this way is irrevocable. 

Hatto, the name of two archbishops of 
Mainz, of which the second, who died in 
969 or 970, is the best known. He was 
Abbot of Fulda until 968, when he was ap¬ 
pointed Archbishop of Mainz. Of his sub¬ 
sequent life very opposite accounts exist; 
some represent him as an upright prelate 
and reformer of abuses; others in the blackest 
colours. The legend of his being devoured 
by rats, and which Southey has popularized, 
is well known. 

Hatton, Sir Christopher, Lord-chan¬ 
cellor of England, a favourite of Queen 
Elizabeth, born about 1540, died 1591. He 
was introduced at court in 1564. He was 
elected a member of parliament in 1571, be¬ 
came captain of the queen’s guard in 1572, 
vice-chamberlain and a privy-councillor in 
1577, lord-chancellor in 1587. He was one 
of the commissioners for the trial of Mary, 
queen of Scots, in 1586. 

Hatzfeld (hats'felt), a town of the Austrian 
Empire, in Hungary, district of Torontal. 
Pop. 8621. 

Hauberk, a kind of coat of mail, com¬ 
prising the small and the large hauberk, the 
former consisting of a jacket in scales de¬ 
scending to the hips, with loose sleeves not 
reaching to the elbow; the latter with a 
camail or hood, reached to the knee, the 
sleeves extending a little below the elbow. 

Hauff (houf), Wilhelm, German novelist 
and writer of humorous and fantastic stories, 
born 1802, died 1827. His first publication 
was his Almanach of Tales for the Year 
1826, which was followed by similar collec¬ 
tions for the next two years, the whole 
forming a collection that has been highly 
popular. Extracts from the Memoirs of 
Satan appeared in 1827, but remained un¬ 
completed. Lichtenstein, a novel written 


863 



HAURAN 


HAVANA. 


under the inspiration of Sir Walter Scott, 
appeared in 1826, and is one of the best 
German novels of its class. In 1827 was 
issued The Man in the Moon, and the same 
year Fantasies in the Wine Cellar of Bre¬ 
men Council, a piece of excellent humour. 
Among the best of his works are two novel¬ 
ettes, The Picture of the Emperor and The 
Beggar-woman of the Pont-des-Arts. 

Hauran, a district in Syria, east of the 
Jordan and south of Damascus. It contains 
the ruins of many ancient towns, with nu¬ 
merous Greek inscriptions. In the Roman 
period it was one of the four provinces of 
Bashan. It is very fertile but thinly in¬ 
habited. 

Haussa. See Iloussa. 

Haustella'ta, a very extensive division 
of insects, in which the mouth is furnished 
with a haustellum or proboscis adapted for 
suction. It includes the butterflies and 
moths, two-winged flies, &c., these insects 
being contrasted with the Mandibulata, 
which have jaws acting as cutting organs. 

Hautboy (o'boi). See Oboe. 

Hautelisse Tapestry (ot'lis), a kind of 
tapestry wrought with a perpendicular warp, 
as distinguished from Basselisse. 

Hautes-Alpes. See Alpes. 

Hautes-P 3 rrenees. See Pyrenees. 

Haiiy (a-u-e), Rene Just, a French min¬ 
eralogist, born 1743, died 1822. He studied 
theology, became an abb4, and during 
twenty-one years occupied the place of a 
professor, at first in the college of 
Navarre, and afterwards in that 
of the Cardinal Le Moine. He 
studied botany, and subsequently 
mineralogy, and introduced a 
once celebrated system of crystal¬ 
lography. On the outbreak of the 
revolution Haiiy was imprisoned 
for refusing to subscribe to the 
new constitution, but his life was 
saved by the exertions of Geoffroi 
de St. Hilaire. In 1793 he was ap¬ 
pointed a member of the Commis¬ 
sion of Measures and Weights, in 
1794 conservator of the Cabinet 
des Mines, and in 1795 teacher 
of physics in the Ecole Normale. 

In 1802 Napoleon made him pro¬ 
fessor of mineralogy in the Musde d’Histoire 
Naturelle, and also shortly after in the 
Faculty des Sciences. Haiiy was remarkable 
for the extreme modesty of his disposition. 
His principal writings are his Essai sur la 
Th^orie et la Structure des Cristaux (1784), 


his Traite de Min^ralogie (1802), his Traits 
elementaire de Physique (1803), and his 
Traite de Cristallographie (second edition, 
1822), &c.—His brother Valentin, born 
1745, died 1822, started the first institution 
for the instruction of the blind. See Blind 
{The). 

Havan'a (Spanish, La llabana, ‘the 
haven’), an important maritime city, capital 
of Cuba, on the north-west side of the island, 
with an extensive and excellent natural 
harbour. The town in the older parts has 
narrow, badly-paved streets, but there are 
also wide and handsome promenades and 
avenues. The houses, which are low and 
with flat roofs, resemble those of Southern 
Spain. Havana is the see of a bishop, and 
was the seat of the governor. The cathedral 
contained the ashes of Columbus, which 
were brought hither from San Domingo 
in 1796. Among the other buildings are 
the governor’s house, the admiralty, the 
university, the exchange, the opera-house, 
&c. The staple manufacture is that of its 
celebrated cigars. The other manufactures, 
consisting chiefly of chocolate, straw-hats, 
and woollen fabrics, are not of much conse- 
(pience. The trade is extensive, the most 
important articles of export being sugar 
and tobacco, unmanufactured or in the form 
of cigars and cigarettes; other exports are 
molasses, coffee, wax, honey, rum. The 
United States have the principal share of 
the trade, and Spain and England rank next. 


Havana Harbour 

1 


ENGLISH MIUES 



The town was founded in 1511, but was only 
fairly begun in 1519. It was blockaded by 
the American fleet during the war with 
Spain. Jan. 1, ’99, the U. S. military au¬ 
thorities took formal possession of the city 
Pop. 1888, 198,261. 

364 










HAVEL- 

Hav'el, a navigable river of Germany, 
which rises in Mecklenburg-Schweriu, enters 
Prussia, flows past Spandau, where it re¬ 
ceives the Spree, and joins the Elbe, after 
a course of 160 miles. 

Havelberg, a town in Prussia, province 
of Brandenburg, on the Havel, engaged in 
brewing, sugar-refining, and ship-building. 
Pop. 6936. 

Havelock (hav'lok). Sir Henry, K.C.B., 
major-general in the British army, was born 
at Bishop-Wearmouth, near Sunderland, on 
5th April, 1795. Having entered the army, 
he served with distinction in the Burmese 
war (1824-26). In 1829 he married a 



Sir Henry Havelock 


daughter of Marshman, the celebrated mis¬ 
sionary, became a Baptist, and was distin¬ 
guished daring the remainder of his life by 
his earnest religious zeal. He attained his 
captaincy in 1838, participated in the Af¬ 
ghan war, was present at the storming of 
Ghazni and the capture of Cabul, and in 
Sale’s march to Jelalabad, and assisted in 
the defence of that city, and in the defeat 
of Mohammed Akbar, 1843. He was made 
a Companion of the Bath, and brevet-ma¬ 
jor, took part in the Mabratta war, and 
distinguished himself in the Sikh war of 
1845, being present at Mudki, Ferozeshali, 
and Sobraon. In 1851 he was promoted to the 
adjutant generalship of the queen’s forces 
in India, and he commanded a division in 
the Persian war (1856-57). On the out¬ 
break of the Indian mutiny he was des¬ 
patched to Allahabad in order to support 

365 


-HAVRE. 

Sir H. Lawrence at Lucknow and Sir H. 
Wheeler at Cawnpore. On his march to 
Cawnpore he defeated the rebels at Fattih- 
pur, Aong, Pandunadi, and Maharajpur. 
On arriving at Cawnpore he found that 
Nana Sahib had massacred the prisoners. 
Pursuing his march to Lucknow, he defeated 
the rebels at Bithoor, and finally, with the 
aid of Outram, won the battle of Alumbagh. 
Having captured Lucknow, Havelock and 
Outram were shut up there until relieved 
by Sir Colin Campbell, 17th Nov. 1857. 
He died of dysentery at Dilkusha on the 
24th. He was raised to the rank of major- 
general, made a baronet, and a Knight 
Commander of the Bath. 

Haverfordwest, a town of Wales, county 
town of Pembroke, and one of the Pem¬ 
broke district of parliamentary boroughs, 
on the West Cleddaw River. It manufac¬ 
tures paper, and has a small shipping trade. 
Pop. 6393. 

Hav'erhill, a town of the XJ. States, in 
Massachusetts, on the Merrimac, with ex¬ 
tensive manufactures of boots and shoes. 
Pop. 1890, 27,412. 

Hav'ersack, a bag of strong cloth with a 
strap fitting over the shoulder, worn by sol¬ 
diers in marching order, for carrying their 
provisions. 

Haver'sian Canals, a net-work of minute 
canals, which traverse the solid substance 
of bones, conveying the nutrient vessels. 

Haverstraw, Rockland co., N. Y., 32 m. 
north of New York city. Pop. 5070. 

Havildar', the highest non-commissioned 
officer in the native armies of India, in 
rank equivalent to a sergeant. Also a police 
official in villages. 

Havre (a-vr), Le (formerly Le Ilavre-dct 
Grdce), a seaport of Northern France, dep. 
Seine-Inf6rieure, on the north side of the 
estuary of the Seine, 108 miles north-west 
of Paris, built of brick or stone in straight, 
wide streets. The public buildings possess 
little i.iterest. The manufactures include 
chemicals, machinery, cotton goods, earthen 
and stone ware, paper, glass, oil, refined 
sugar, ropes, &c. A government tobacco 
factory employs 300 workmen; and a great 
number of vessels are built. But the chief 
dependence of Havre is on its commerce, 
which is the greatest of any French port 
next to Marseilles. It has a large trade 
with England and Germany, and especially 
with America, importing great quantities 
of cotton and other produce; and exporting 
numerous articles of French manufacture. 





HAWAII 


HAWKWEED. 


The importance of Havre dates from the 
early part of the 16th century. Pop. 116,369. 

Hawaii (ha-wi'e). See Sandwich Islands. 

Hawarden (har'den), a town in Flintshire, 
Wales, lying in a coal district, and having 
valuable clay beds in the vicinity. In the 
neighbourhood is Hawarden Castle, the resi¬ 
dence of the Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone, 
M.P. Pop. 7087. 

Hawes, Stephen, an English poet, who 
lived in the end of the 15th and beginning 
of the 16th century. The exact date of 
his birth and death is unknown. His prin¬ 
cipal work is The Historic of Graunde 
Amour and la Bell Pucell, or The Pastime 
of Pleasure. 

Hawfinch {Cocothraustes vulgaris), a spe¬ 
cies of grossbeak, so called from the belief 
that it subsisted principally on the fruit of 
the hawthorn. It is one of the largest of 
the finches. It resembles the chaffinch in 
colour, but is distinguished from it by its 
enormous beak, larger size, and bill-hook 
formation of some of its wing-feathers. 
Among American species of Grossbeak are 
Evening Grossbeak and Pine Grossbeak. 

Hawick (ha'ik), a parliamentary burgh of 
Scotland, in Roxburghshire, on the Teviot, 
50 miles S.w. from Edinburgh. The staple 
industries of the town are the manufacture 
of hosiery and tweeds, but tanning, skin 
dressing, oil making, dyeing, and iron-found¬ 
ing, are also carried on. Hawick is one of 
the Border Burghs which together return 
one member. Pop. 16,184. 

Hawk, a name often applied to all birds 
of prey except the eagles, vultures, and 
owls. It thus includes the falcons as well 
as the hawks proper, the latter being dis¬ 
tinguished from the former chiefly by their 
shorter wings, which do not reach the extre¬ 
mity of the tail, and have the fourth quill 
longest and the first short; their beaks also 
are less robust, and want the tooth-like 
notch of the former. None is bolder and 
more pertinacious in pursuit of its prey 
than the Sparrow-hawk (which see); see 
also Falcon. 

Hawke, Edward, Lord, a celebrated 
naval commander, born in 1705, died 1781. 
He entered the navy as a midshipman, in 
1734 received the command of the Wolf, 
and in 1747 he became commander of a 
squadron, and defeated the French fleet at 
Belleisle. Hawke was in consequence made 
a K.C.B., and vice-admiral of the blue. 
In 1759 he defeated the French at Quiberon. 
Hawke was, in 1765, appointed vice-admiral 


of Britain, and was elevated to the peerage 
in 1776. 

Hawker, Rev. Robert Stephen, English 
poet and divine, was born in 1805, and died 
in 1875. He was educated at Oxford and 
became vicar of Morwenstow, Cornwall. 
His works comprise Ecclesia, Cornish Bal¬ 
lads; Echoes from Old Cornwall; The Quest 
of the Sangreal; Footprints of Former Men 
in Cornwall, &c. 

Hawkers. See Pedlars and Hawkers. 

Hawke’s Bay, a district of New Zealand, 
on the east coast of North Island; area, 
3,050,000 acres, containing much fertile soil, 
well adapted for agricultural and pastoral 
purposes. The capital is Napier. Pop. 
24,668. 

Hawkesbury, a river in New South Wales, 
flowing into the Pacific near Sydney, and 
remarkable for its inundations. 

Hawking. See Falconry. 

Hawkins, Anthony Hope, born 1864 
at Clapton, London, Eng., author. Edu¬ 
cated at St. John’s school, Leatherhead, 
of which his father was principal; at 13 
won a scholarship at MarlboroughCollege; 
graduated at Baliol Col., Oxford, 1885; 
called to the Bar 1887. Among his works 
are Man of Mark, Mr. Witt’s Widow, Dolly 
Dialogues, Prisoner of Zenda, The Indis¬ 
cretion of the Duchess, The Heart of the 
Princess Osra, Phroso, and a number of 
short stories. 

Hawkins, Sir John, English sea com¬ 
mander, born at Plymouth 1520, died 1595. 
He made several voyages in his vouth; was 
appointed Vice-Admiral and knighted for 
his services against ^ 
the Spanish Armadal^ 

Hawk-moth,one 
of the sphinx 
moths, so called 
from its hovering 
motion, which re¬ 
sembles that of a 
hawk looking for 
its prey. The death’s-head hawk-moth ia 
the Acherontia atropos; the privet hawk- 
moth, the Sphinx ligustri; the humming¬ 
bird hawk-moth, the Macroglossa steUata- 
rum. 

Hawkweed {Hieracium), a genus of com¬ 
posite plants, sub-order Cichoracese, consist¬ 
ing of nuna.Tous species with yellow flowers, 
common weeds in Britain and other parts 
of Europe. The pappus is brown and brittle, 
and in many species the leaves, involucres, 
and stems are hairy. They are perennial, 

366 



Privet Hawk-moth {Sphinx 
ligustri). 


HAWLEY-HAY. 


S. Canadense, H. venosum, and H, pani- 
culatum are American species. 

Hawley, Joseph Roswell, American 
statesman, was born atStewartsville, N. C., 
in 1826. He studied law, and became 
prominent as a Republican writer and 
speaker. He served during the civil war, 
and was mustered out as brevet major-gen¬ 
eral. In 1866 he was chosen governor of 
Connecticut, and in 1868 president of the 
Republican National Convention meeting 
at Chicago; member of Congress in 1872- 
76; in 1873-76 president of the United 
States centennial commission, in which 
he was largely instrumental in further¬ 
ing the international exhibition at Phila¬ 
delphia ; and in 1881-93 he was U. States 
senator. 

Hawser, in ships, a small cable or a large 
rope, in size between a cable and a tow-line, 
used in warping, &c. 

Hawthorn, or Whitethorn {Cratcegus 
Oxyacantha), a small spiny European tree, 
belonging to the sub-order Pomeae of the 
order Rosaceae, rising sometimes to the 
height of 20 to 25 feet. The leaves are 
alternate, obovate, 3 to 5 lobed; the flowers 
are white, sometimes with a reddish tinge, 
disposed in corymbs, and possess an agreeable 
perfume; the fruit is a drupe of a red colour, 
and is edible. The species are about fifty 
in number, all shrubs or small trees, A 
number of them belong to the United States. 
When young the hawthorn springs up rap¬ 
idly, and if pruned grows into a thick hedge. 
When it arrives at the height of a tree, 
however, it makes wood very slowly. The 
timber is hard and durable, and fit for many 
purposes of utility. The double-flower kind 
is one of the most ornamental for shrubberies. 
Hawthorn blossom is often called May, from 
the time of its flowering in England. 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, American author 
of remarkable originality/ born at Salem, 
Massachusetts, 1804, died 1864, He studied 
at Bowdoin College, where he took his degree 
In 1825 along with the poet Longfellow, 
For a number of years after this he led a 
retired and studious life in Salem, writing 
tales, some of which appeared in newspapers 
and magazines. In 1837 appeared his i\vice- 
told Tales, a collection of stories which he 
had contributed to various American peri¬ 
odicals. In 1838 he was appointed a weigher 
in the Boston custom-house, a post which 
he held for a few years. In 1846 he pub¬ 
lished his Mosses from an Old Manse; in 
J850 The Scarlet Letter; in 1851 The 

367 


House of the Seven Gables; and in 1852 
The Life of President Pierce, and the 
Blithedale Romance, In 1853 he became 
American consul at Liverpool, a post which 
he held until 1857, He died at Plymouth, 



Nathaniel Hawthorne. 


New Hampshire. Other works are his 
Transformation ( 1860), Our Old Home 
(1863), &c.—J ulian, son of the above, born 
1846, also a novelist. In addition to a 
biography of his father, he has written 
the novels of Bressant, Idolatry, Fortune’s 
Fool, &c. 

Hay, the stems and leaves of grasses and 
other plants cut for fodder, dried in the sun, 
and stored usually in stacks. The time 
most suitable for mowing grass intended 
for hay is that in which the saccharine 



Hay-tedder. 


matter is most abundant in the plants, viz. 
when the grass is in full flower. For the 
operation of mowing, dry weather, and, if 
possible, that in which sunshine prevails, is 
chosen. The making of the grass into hay 
generally takes three or four days to get it 
ready for stacking. This period is princi¬ 
pally occupied in alternately tedding {i.e. 
shaking out the grass loosely) and gathering 








HAYDN — 

it up into cocks or small heaps, previous to 
stacking. Care must be taken to avoid hay¬ 
making either under a scorching sun or dur¬ 
ing the prevalence of rain, and the cocks 
should never be opened in the morning until 
the disappearance of the dew. In stacking 
the great object is to preserve the freshness 
of the herbage, and to induce a slight degree 
of fermentation. If the weather has been 
wet a few layers of straw may be inserted at 
intervals. Salting is also recommended. 
On large farms the tedding is performed by 
a tedding or haymaking machine. 

Hay, John, author and diplomat, born 
at Salem, Ind., Oct. 8, 1838; grad. Brown 
Univ., 1858; admitted to the bar, 1861. In 
Washington, whither he went with Pres. 
Lincoln, he acted as assistant secretary to 
the President. He was subsequently ad¬ 
jutant and aide-de-camp. He attained rank 
as Colonel and Assistant Adj.-Genl. during 
the Civil War Was Secretary of Legation 
at Paris, 1865 to '67, when he became 
chargt d’affaires at Vienna. In 1869 to '70 
was Secretary of Legation at Madrid. He 
returned to the U. S. and joined the edi¬ 
torial staff of N. Y. Tribune. His poems 
of Little Breeches, Jim Bludsoe, Banty 
Tim, etc., and Castilian Days, sketches of 
Spanish life, became very popular. By 
Pres. McKinley he was appointed Ambassa¬ 
dor to Gr. Britain, whence, Sep. 1898, he 
returned to the United States under ap¬ 
pointment as Secretary of State. 

Haydn (hi'dh), Joseph, a celebrated Ger¬ 
man musical composer, born at Hohrau, on 
the borders of Hungary and Austria, 1732, 
died 1809. At the age of six he was sent 
to school at Haimburg, where he learned, 
among other things, singing and playing by 
rote. On account of the excellence of his 
voice he was appointed a choir-boy at St. 
Stephen’s Church, Vienna. At the age of 
sixteen his voice began to break, and he 
lost his situation as a chorister. Having 
made the acquaintance of Metastasio, Por- 
jx)ra, and Gluck, Havdn gradually attracted 
attention by the brilliancy of his compo¬ 
sitions ; the Creation being his masterpiece. 

Hay'don, Benjamin Egbert, an English 
historical painter, born in 1786, died by his 
own hand in 1846. In 1804 he became a 
student of the Eoyal Academy, and in 1807 
exhibited his first work, Joseph and Mary 
Keposing_(in Egypt), and his Dentatus in 
1809. His Judgment of Solomon appeared 
in 1814. In 1815 he established a school in 
opposition to the Academy, an undertaking 


-HAYNAU. 

which ended in pecuniary failure in 1823. 
He was several times in prison for debt, 
was always complaining of injustice and 
neglect, and finally became deranged when 
he failed to be employed in decorating the 
new houses of parliament. He was the chief 
English historical painter of his time, and a 
man of great intellectual ability generally. 

Hayes, Eutherford B., nineteenth 
President of the U. S., was born in Ohio in 
1822. He was a successful practitioner of 
the law until in 1861, at the outbreak of the 
civil war, he was made major of volunteers. 
His conduct on the field was marked by 
conspicuous gallantry, and he attained by 
meritorious service the rank of brevet 
major-general. In 1865 he was elected a 
member of Congress, where he won the 
reputation of a working member. In 1867, 
1869, and 1875 he was elected Governor of 
Ohio. In 1876 he was nominated for the 
Presidency. An Electoral Commission, 
appointed by Congress, was required to de¬ 
cide the result of the election, which de¬ 
clared in favor of Mr. Hayes. His admin¬ 
istration was conciliatory towards the 
South, and earnest in its efforts for the 
reform of the civil service. After his re¬ 
tirement from the Presidency his life was 
one of good works. Died Jau. 17, 1893. 

Hayes, Isaac Israel, American Arctic 
explorer, born 1832, died 1881. He was 
a member of the expedition of 1853-55 
under Dr. Kane, and himself commanded 
an expedition in 1860-61. He served as an 
army doctor during the war, and in 1869 he 
visited Greenland. He wrote The Open 
Polar Sea, and The Land of Desolation. 

Hay-fever, or Hay-asthma, a complaint 
caused by the odours of flowering grasses, 
of a stable, or of certain drugs, such as 
ipecacuanha. Kemoval from the cause of 
the disease is beneficial, so are the smoking ^ 
of tobacco, the inhalation of vapour of 
creosote, &c. 

Haymarket Theatre, one of the principal 
theatres of London, It was built in 1702, 
opened in 1720, made a theatre royal, and 
rebuilt in 1767, when it was under the 
management of Foote. In 1821 it was 
again rebuilt under Nash. 

Haynau (hi'nou), Jdlius Jakob, an Aus¬ 
trian general, born in 1786, died 1853. He 
took part in the battles of Austerlitz and 
, Wagram, and was wounded in both. He 
also distinguished himself in the campaigns 
of 1813-15. In 1848 and 1849 he rendered 
valuable services to Austria against the 

368 



HAZEBROUCK. 


HAYNE 

Italians, took Brescia by storm, and visited 
it with unrelenting severity. He rendered 
important services in the revolt in Hun¬ 
gary, but incurred extreme odium by his 
arbitrary measures. 

Hayne, Isaac, Revolutionary martyr, 
was born in South Carolina in 1745. 
Taken prisoner at the capture of Charleston 
he was paroled to visit his sick family. 
Afterwards required to join the British, 
he fled to the American camp, and made 
colonel, but was soon captured, and hung 
by Lord Rawdon. 

Hayti, Haiti, or San Domingo (originally 
Espanola; Latin, Hispaniola), one of the 
West Indies, after Cuba the largest and 
one of the most fertile of these islands. It 
lies south-east from Cuba, and is separated 
from it by the Windward Passage, 50 miles 
broad. Its length is 400, and breadth 150 
miles; area, about 28,000 sq. miles, or nearly 
as large as Scotland. It is of irregular 
form, and is intei’sected west to east by 
three chains of mountains, connected by 
offsets, with extensive plains and savannahs 
between. The central chain contains the 
highest peak, Loma Tina, 10,200 feet. The 
principal plain is the fertile Vega Real, 
between the northern and central ranges. 
The rivers are numerous, but of small size. 
The minerals include gold, silver, quick¬ 
silver, &c., but are greatly neglected. 
Hayti as a whole is one of the healthiest 
of the West Indian Islands. The seasons 
are: a wet, during which heavy rains are 
most frequent in May and June; and a dry, 
during which little or no rain falls. The 
flora includes pines, mahogany-trees, fustic, 
satin-wood, lignum-vitse, and other cabinet 
and dye woods, plantains, bananas, yams, 
batatas, oranges, pine-apples, &c. The 
staple cultivated products are: coffee, sugar, 
indigo, cotton, tobacco, and cacao. The 
fauna includes the agouti, European cattle 
and pigs run wild, snakes, caymans, turtles, 
&c. Among the principal towns in Hayti 
are Port-au-Prince, San Domingo, Jacmel, 
and Cape Haytien. 

Hayti was discovered by Columbus in 
1492. It was then inhabited by perhaps 
2,000,000 natives, but so ruthlessly did the 
Spaniards deal with the aborigines that 
within a century they practically exter¬ 
minated them, having introduced negro 
slaves in their place. In 1030 the French 
settled in the western part of the island, 
and in 1697 the western portion was ceded 
to them, while the eastern remained Spanish. 

VOL IV. 369 


In 1791 the negroes revolted against France, 
and latterly the whole island came under 
the negro leader Toussaiut L’Ouverture, 
who established an independent republic. 
He was captured, but in 1803 Dessalines 
headed a new insurrection, drove out the 
French, and was crowned emperor of Hayti. 
He was assassinated in 1806, and the Span¬ 
iards regained the eastern portion of the 
island. In 1821 the Spanish portion de¬ 
clared itself independent of the mother 
country, and assumed the name of Spanish 
Hayti; but it was subjugated by Boyer, 
the president of the Haytian Republic, or 
French Hayti. In 1844 the inhabitants of 
the Spanish portion rose, and formed them¬ 
selves into a republic under the name of 
San Domingo (Republica Dominica). In 
1861 Santana negotiated a reunion of the 
state with Spain, but Spain evacuated the 
island in 1865. From that period its history 
has presented an almost uninterrupted scene 
of revolution and bloodshed. It now com¬ 
prises the Republic of Hayti on the west 
side of the island, and the Dominican Re- 
])ublic on the east. Port-au-Prince is the 
capital of Hayti, and the population of the 
republic is roughly estimated at 780,000, 
consisting of negroes and mulattoes. San 
Domingo is the capital of the Dominican 
Republic, and the population of the latter 
state is estimated at 500,000, consisting also 
of negroes and mulattoes, with a consider¬ 
able admixture of whites. In Hayti French 
is the prevailing dialect; in the Dominican 
Republic, Spanish. The area of the former 
comprises 10,204 sq. miles; that of the 
latter, 18,045 sq. miles. Reciprocity of 
trade between Hayti and the United States 
was declared August 1.1891. 

Hazard, a game at dice played for money. 
The player is called the caster, and his oppo¬ 
nent, who bets with him, is called the setter. 
The former calls a main, i.e. any number 
from 5 to 9 inclusive. He then throws with 
two dice, and wins if he ‘ nicks.’ Five is a 
nick to 5; 6 and 12 are nicks to 6; 7 and 11 
to 7, &c. The caster loses or ‘ throws out ’ if 
he throws aces, or deuce ace (called crafts). 
Hazard is a game involving nice calcula¬ 
tions. 

Hazaribagh (ha-zar-i-bag'), chief town of 
the district of the same name, in Chota 
Nagpur, Bengal. Pop. 15,306. The district 
contains 7021 sq. miles. Pop. 1,104,742. 

Hazebrouck (iiz'bruk), a towm of France, 
dep. Nord, having a fine church with an open 
spire 240 feet high. It has linen manufac- 




HAZEL - 

tures, breweries, tanneries, dye-works, &c. 
Pop. 7121. 

Hazel {Corylus), a genus of shrubs or 
small trees of the order Corylacese or Cupu- 
liferae. It belongs to Europe, North Africa, 
Asia, and North America. The leaves are 
roundish - cordate, alternate, and shortly 
petiolate. The European hazel {C. Avel- 
Idna) produces the nuts called filberts, and 
grows best in a tolerably dry soil. It 
bears male and female flowers, the former 
composing cylindrical catkins. The hazel¬ 
nut oil is little inferior in flavour to that of 
almonds. Hazel branches form excellent 
walking-sticks, fishing-rods, &c., and the 
wood produces good charcoal, often employed 
by painters. The American hazel (C. ameri- 
cdna) very much resembles the European. 
The roots are used by cabinet-makers for 
veneering; and in Italy the chips are some¬ 
times put into turbid wine for the purpose 
of fining it. 

Hazel-grouse (Bondsa betullna), a species 
of grouse inhabiting the continent of Europe 
and great part of Asia, allied to the ruffed 
grouse of America. 

Ha'zeline, an alcoholic liquid distilled 
from the fresh leaves of the Hamamdis vir- 
ginica, the witch-hazel, native to the United 
States. It is exceedingly useful as an appli¬ 
cation to wounds, stanching the bleeding and 
promoting healing. It is equally useful for 
bruises, inflammatory swellings, sprains, and 
the like. It is applied on a pledget of lint 
to bleeding piles. In internal bleeding, 
whether from the lungs, stomach, or bowels, 
it gives very satisfactory results. There are 
several officinal preparations of the witch- 
hazel, a fluid extract and a tincture, the 
dose of the former being 15 to 60 drops, and 
of the latter 2 to 5. Hazeline is the name 
given to a clear colourless liquid prepared 
by certain chemists, but not officinal, of 
which a tea-spoonful may be given. 

Hazleton, Luzerne co.. Pa. Coal-mining 
is the chief industry. Pop. 1890, 11,872. 

Hazlitt, William, English critic and es¬ 
sayist, son of a Unitarian minister, was born 
1778; died 1830. In 1793 he became a 
student in the Unitarian College, Hackney, 
but on leaving it devoted his time to por¬ 
trait painting. This was in its turn re¬ 
nounced for literature, his first publication 
being an essay On the Principles of Human 
Action, 1805. He delivered various series 
of lectures, and contributed to the Edinburgh 
Review, &c. Among his chief works are: 
Characters of Shakspere’a Plays, AYicw of 


- HEAD. 

the English Stage, Lectures on the English 
Poets, Lectures on the English Comic 
Writers, Table Talk, Lectures on the Eliza¬ 
bethan Age, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, 
and essays, written' in conjunction with 
Leigh Hunt, published under the title of 
the Round Table. —William Carew, grand¬ 
son of the above, is an industrious author 
and editor, among his publications being 
History of the Venetian Republic; Remains 
of the Early Popular Party of England; 
Memoirs of William Hazlitt; Bibliography 
of Old English Literature; New Edition of 
Warton’s History of English Poetry; &c. 

Head, the term applied to the anterior 
part of the body of an animal when marked 
off by a difference in size, or by a constric¬ 
tion (neck). A gradual increase of com¬ 
plexity in the structure of the head is ob¬ 
servable as we ascend from the lowest to 
the highest forms of life. In the Protozoa, 
Infusoria, and Coelenterates nothing that 
can be regarded as a head is found, and it 
is not till we ascend to the worms proper, 
the articulated animals (crustaceans, myria¬ 
pods, spiders, and insects), the land and 
fresh-water gasteropods (snails and whelks), 
and the cuttle-fishes, that a head proper is 
found. The cuttle-fishes have a remarkable 
cartilaginous box, which, like a skull, pro¬ 
tects their anterior nervous ganglia and gives 
support to the muscles. The head of the ver- 
tebrated animals presents a regular series 
of increasing complexity from the lancelet 
upwards, and as the anterior nervous mass 
enlarges, and its ganglia increase in com¬ 
plexity, so do the anterior vertebrm change 
their character; as the brain becomes special¬ 
ized, so does the brain-case or skull, attaining 
its highest development in man. In man, and 
in the higher vertebrates, the head consists 
of an upper chamber, lodging the brain, the 
eyes, and other sense organs, and a lower, 
lodging the first portion of the alimentary 
canal. In proportion as the vertebrates 
become developed, the brain increases in size, 
and its position advances anteriorly, until, 
in man, it comes to overhang the face. The 
head is the seat of intelligence and of con¬ 
sciousness, as it contains the brain and the 
organs of sense, touch being the only sense 
not limited to it. See SkuLl. 

Head, Sir Francis Bond, miscellaneous 
writer, brother of the following, born 1793, 
died 1875. He was present at the battle of 
Waterloo, being in the royal engineers; in 
1825 undertook the working of gold and 
silver paines in Rio de la Plata j in 181)5 be,. 



head-HEART. 


came governor of Upper Canada, and in 
1838 suppressed the Canadian insurrection, 
and was made a baronet. He was the author 
of Bubbles from the Brunnen of Nassau, 
Bough Notes of Rapid Journeys across the 
Pampas, A Faggot of French Sticks, The 
Horse and his Rider, &c. 

Head, Sie George, a writer of travels, 
&c., born 1782, died 1855. He held various 
posts in the army, and was present at most 
of the great battles of the Peninsula. In 
18] 4 he proceeded to Canada to be chief of 
the commissariat of a proposed navy on the 
Canadian lakes, and subsequently published 
his experiences in Forest Scenes and In¬ 
cidents in the Wilds of North America. He 
was knighted in 1831. He also wrote Rome, 
A Tour of Many Days, ti’anslations of Pac- 
ca’s Memoirs, and of Apuleius, with other 
works. 

Headache {Cephalalfjia) arises from a 
variety of causes. The principal forms it 
assumes are:—(1) Congestive Headache, aris¬ 
ing from over-fulness of blood. It may be 
cural by purgatives, while reduction of the 
diet and saline medicines are beneficial. 

(2) A ncemic Headache, which arises from a 
deficiency of blood, and occurs in persons 
badly fed or in weak girls. Good food and 
iron tonic, with application of cold to the 
head, are often of service in such cases. 

(3) Nervous Headache, which often attacks 
the studious, and which is relieved by nerve 
tonics, and especially by phosphorus pills. 

(4) Neuralgic Headache, which is often due 
to exposure to cold. What is called Hemi- 
crania or Megrim, which is the limitation of 
the headache to one-half or less of the head, 
is often treated with bromide of potassium. 
In cases in which headache arises from 
disease of the liver, nausea results, and this 
characterizes bilious headache. Impurity of 
blood and gouty affections, as well as disease 

' of the kidneys, are frequent sources of 
headache. 

Healds. See Heddles. 

Health is that condition of the living 
body in which all the bodily functions are 
performed easily and perfectly, and unat¬ 
tended with pain. The most perfect state 
of health is generally connected with a cer¬ 
tain condition of the bodily organs, and well 
marked by certain external signs. See Sani- 
targ Science. 

Health, Bill of. See Bill. 

Health, Municipal Boards of, in the 
U. States, are institutions organized under 
city government, and deriving powers from 

371 


state laws for the purpose of protecting the 
health of the citizens. Every city of im¬ 
portance has a municipal board of health. 
—State Boards of, institutions estab¬ 
lished by state legislative enactments, in¬ 
tended to have a central advisory relation 
with local sanitary organizations, and to 
superintend a state system of vital statistics. 
They have been created in thirty-five states, 
Lud in the District of Columbia. 

Hearing. See Bar and Acoustics. 

Heame (hern), Thomas, an English anti¬ 
quary, born 1678, died 1735. Hearne studied 
at Oxford, and was in 1701 appointed assis¬ 
tant-keeper of the Bodleian Library, and he 
held the post of second librarian from 1712 
to 1715, but had to resign as his Jacobite 
principles precluded him from taking the 
oaths to the government. Among his works 
n)ay be mentioned Ductor Historicus, Re¬ 
liquiae Bodleianae, History and Antiquities 
of Glastonbury, editions of Leland, of Spel- 
man’s Life of Alfred, Fordun’s Scotichro- 
nicon, &c. 

Hearsay Evidence. See Evidence. 

Heart, a hollow muscular organ, the func¬ 
tion of which is to maintain the circulation 
of the blood, the organs of circulation being 
the heart, the arteries, the veins, and the 
capillary vessels. The heart in men, quadru¬ 
peds, birds, and some reptiles is composed of 
four cavities, two auricles and two ventricles. 
It is enveloped in a membrane called the 
pericardium, and is situated toward the left 
of the cavity of the chest, between the lungs. 
With each beat the apex of the heart strikes 
against the wall of the chest in the space 
between the 5th and 6th ribs, a little below 
and to the right of the left nipple. The 
right auricle communicates with the right 
ventricle, besides which there are in it three 
openings, that of the vena cava inferior, 
that of the vena cava superior, and that of 
the coronary vein. The communication be¬ 
tween this auricle and ventricle is closed 
by a valve when the ventricle contracts. 
The right ventricle communicates with the 
pulmonary artery, the opening into the ar¬ 
tery being guarded by a valve formed of 
three flaps. When these are brought to¬ 
gether they interrupt the communication 
between the ventricle and the artery. The 
left auricle communicates through a valved 
opening with the left ventricle, and contains 
the orifices of the four pulmonary veins. 
The left ventricle, besides the communica¬ 
tion with the left auricle, contains the ori¬ 
fice of the aorta, also provided with a valve 



HEART. 


similar to that of the pulmonary artery. 
The auricles and ventricle of one side are 
separated from those of the other by a com¬ 
plete muscular partition, the septum cordis. 
The valves at the openings of the arteries are 
called semilunar, that at the orifice of the 
right auricle tricuspid, that at the orifice of 



Human Heart. 


Fig. 1, Exterior, a, Right auricle, b, Left auricle, 
c, Right veutricle. n, Left ventricle, e, Vena cava su- 
Ijerior. f, Aorta, g, Pulmonarj' artery, h, Brachio¬ 
cephalic trunk. I, Left primitive carotid artery, k., Left 
subclavian artery, l, Left coronary artery. 

Fig. 2, Section, right side, c, n, e, f, o as in fig. 1. a. Ca¬ 
vity of right auricle, b. Inferior vena cava, c. Coronary 
valve, d. Entrance of the auriculo-ventricular opening, 
e, Valve of the pulmonary artery. /, Fossa ovalis. 

the left auricle mitral, and that at the ori¬ 
fice of the vena cava inferior the L'ustachian 
valve. The heart is formed of a firm thick 
muscular tissue, composed of fibres inter¬ 
lacing so as to form a figure of eight. It 
also contains nerves and vessels. The ar¬ 
teries carry the blood from the heart to all 
parts of the body. They terminate in the 
capillary vessels, a series of extremely 
minute tubes which pass over into the 
veins. I'he veins are the channels by which 
the blood passes back from the body to the 
rig-ht auricle of the heart. The blood which 
is returned from the veins is purplish red, 
from excess of carbonic acid gas and defi¬ 
ciency in oxygen, and is called venous; that 
which leaves the heart is bright red, being 
oxygenated, and is called arterial. The 
venous blood parts with its excess of car¬ 
bonic acid and receives new supplies of 
oxygen in the capillary system of the lungs, 
flows into the pulmonary veins, thence into 
the left cavities of the heart, thence it passes 
into the aorta, and is transmitted to all parts 
of the body, returning to the veins by the 
capillary system. It is now become venous, 
passes through the veins from the extremi¬ 
ties towards the heart, receiving the chyle 
and the lymph, and is emptied into the right 
cavities of that organ, which returns it 
through the pulmonary artery to the capil¬ 
lary vegsels of th^ lungs, where it is sub¬ 


jected to the influence of the air, resumes 
the qualities of red or arterial blood, and is 
ready for a new course. 

The mechanism of the circulation is as 
follows:—The blood contained in the two 
venae cavae is poured into the right auricle, 
which contracts, and thus forces the fluid 
to escape; but the venae cavae oppose to 
its backward passage the column of blood 
which they contain, and it must therefore 
pass into the right ventricle. The ventricle 
then contracts, and the tricuspid valve clos¬ 
ing the passage through which the liquid 
entered, it is forced into the pulmonary 
artery, along which it must flow (return to 
the ventricle being prevented by the semi¬ 
lunar valve) into the capillary system of the 
lungs, whence it passes into the pulmonary 
veins, which pour it into the left auricle by 
four orifices. The contraction of the auricle 
impels it into the left ventricle, by which it 
is driven forward into the aorta (the mitral 
valve preventing its return into the auricle), 
and thence into the general circulation. 
The two auricles contract and relax simul¬ 
taneously with each other, as do also the 
two ventricles. The relaxation is called dia¬ 
stole; the contraction systole. The quantity 
of blood projected at each systole is gen¬ 
erally estimated at six ounces. The causes 
of the alternate contraction and relaxation 
are entirely involuntary and dependent on 
the nervous system to a large extent. The 
systole of the ventricles is the cause of the 
motion of the blood in the arteries, which 
dilate with each wave driven into them. 

The heart is the seat of various and gen¬ 
erally dangerous diseases. One of these is 
pericarditis or inflammation of the pericar¬ 
dium, the double lining membrane or bag 
enveloping the heart. The cause of this 
disease may be exposure to cold, or an injury, 
or it may be complicated with other diseases. 
Inflammation of the inner lining is termed 
endocarditis. Valvxdar disease is a common 
affection of the heart, the valves becoming 
thickened, contracted, rigid, or otherwise 
affected, so that they cannot properly per¬ 
form their duty. The mitral valve, for in¬ 
stance, may become too narrow and con¬ 
tracted, and the result is that all the blood 
does not pass into the aorta. In other cases 
of valvular disease, the same result follows, 
viz. imperfect depletion of the ventricles 
I and auricles, the return of blood being 
termed regurgitation. The heart conse¬ 
quently becomes weakened, while the entire 
system suffers. Overgrowth oc hypertrophy 


HEAT. 


HEART’S-EASE 


and dilatation are frequent results of val¬ 
vular disease. In such cases the avoidance 
of violent exercises and emotions is neces¬ 
sary. The use of difjitalis is often success¬ 
ful in strengthening and soothing the heart. 
Certain diseases produce atrophy, in which 
the heart becomes feeble in action, while 
fatty deyeneration occurs, when the mus¬ 
cular fibres are replaced by oleaginous par¬ 
ticles. This renders the heart peculiarly 
liable to rupture under any strain or violent 
emotion, hence such should be carefully 
avoided by patients. Among other organic 
diseases of the heart are angina pectoris 
(the cause of which is uncertain), distin¬ 
guished by a sense of strangling or suffoca¬ 
tion in the breast. Neuralgia of the heart 
is similar in symptoms to angina. A very 
common heart ailment is palpitation, often 
caused by indigestion, and the excessive use 
of tea and tobacco. Syncope ov fainting re¬ 
sults from the sudden cessation of the heart’s 
action, and may be caused by excitement, 
emotion or shock of some kind. Some of 
the above forms of heart disease can be dis¬ 
covered only by auscultation or percussion; 
others are very evident to non-professional 
observers. 

Heart’s-ease. See Violet. 

Heart-urchin, the name applied to cer¬ 
tain genera of sea-urchins on account of 
their cordate or heart shape. 

Heat, the name given to a peculiar sen¬ 
sation, and also to the agent which produces 
it, this being now believed to be a certain 
motion in the minute molecules of which 
all bodies are composed. 

One of the most obvious effects of heat is 
to alter the temperature of bodies. In almost 
all cases when heat is supplied to a body, 
the temperature of the body rises, and when 
heat is removed the temperature of the body 
falls. If the increase of temperature is evi¬ 
dent, and such as may be noted by the ther¬ 
mometer, the heat is then termed sensible; 
if not, as in the case of ice immediately 
melted, it is termed latent. Temperature 
is, in fact, the tendency that a bod}' has to 
impart heat to other bodies. If two bodies 
impart no heat to each other when in con¬ 
tact, they are said to have the same tem¬ 
perature. When the one possesses more 
heat than the other there is an impartation 
of heat from the former until the tempera¬ 
ture is ecjualized. Different bodies require 
very different amounts of heat in order to 
raise their temperature through the same 
number of degrees. Thus it requires about 

373 


thirty times as much heat to raise the tem¬ 
perature of 1 lb. of water 1° as to raise the 
temperature of 1 lb. of mercury by the same 
amount. The tei'ms capacity for heat and 
specific heat are used in relation to this pro¬ 
perty of bodies. The capacity for heat of 
a body is the quantity of heat required to 
raise its temperature 1° from some fixed 
point, as from 0° C., or from 32° Fah. The 
specific heat of a substance is the ratio be¬ 
tween the quantity of heat required to raise 
the temperature of the substance 1° from 
some fixed point and the quantity of heat 
required to raise the temperature of an equal 
mass of distilled water 1° from 0° C. 

Heat changes the dimensions of bodies. 
Increase of volume is the normal effect, 
although the reverse is observed in water 
between 0° C. and 4° C., and in iron and 
bismuth. Between moderate limits bodies 
expand neaidy regularly with the tempera¬ 
ture, but this does not hold good of the 
more extreme limits. (See Expansion.) 
Addition of heat liquefies solid bodies, and 
converts liquids into gases. During the con¬ 
version of a solid into a liquid, or a liquid 
into a gas, a considerable quantity of heat 
is absorbed, and in the reverse process 
heat is given out; but this is one of the 
cases in which, though heat is taken in or 
given out, the temperature is not altered. 
Hence the heat is said to be made latent. 
Heat also alters the power of bodies for 
conducting electricity. In solids the con¬ 
ductivity is diminished to a great extent by 
an increase of a few degrees in the tempera¬ 
ture. In liquids, on the other hand, increase 
of temperature increases the conductivity. 
The magnetic properties of bodies are also 
changed by heat. For example, an iron 
bar that has been magnetized suddenly loses 
the whole of its magnetism at a particular 
temperature. Heat possesses the power of 
altering the chemical properties of bodies. 
In some cases it breaks up chemical com¬ 
pounds, but in general it favours chemical 
combination. 

In measuring quantities of heat various 
units may be adopted, as, for instance, the 
quantity necessary to melt a pound of ice. 
But the unit quantity of heat now generally 
fixed on (the Centigrade thermometer and 
metrical system being employed) is the 
quantity of heat which will raise the tem¬ 
perature of 1 gramme of distilled water from 
0° O. to 1° C.; or 1 lb. of water may be 
used instead of 1 gramme, and one degree 
Fahrenheit instead of one degree Centigrade. 



HEAT. 


Calorimetry is the technical name given to 
the part of the subject that deals with the 
practical measurement of quantities of heat. 

When heat is applied to one end of a bar 
of iron it is propagated through the substance 
of the bar, producing a rise of temperature 
which is first perceptible at near, and after¬ 
wards at remote portions. This transmission 
of heat is called conductivity. The best 
conductors are metals, but all bodies conduct 
more or less. The best conductor is silver, 
next follow in order of their conductivity 
copper, gold, brass, zinc, tin, steel, iron, lead. 
With the exception of mercury and other 
melted metals, liquids are exceedingly bad 
conductors of heat. This can be shown by 
heating the upper part of a column of liquid 
and observing the variations of temperature 
below. These will be found to be scarcely 
perceptible and to be very slowly produced. 
If the heat were applied below we should 
have the process called the convection of 
heat; the lower layers of liquid would rise 
to the surface, and be replaced by others 
which would rise in their turn, thus pro¬ 
ducing a circulation and a general heating 
of the liquid. When the heat is applied 
above the expanded layers remain in their 
place, and the rest of the liquid can be 
heated by conduction and radiation only. 

Radiation of heat consists in the propa¬ 
gation of heat from a hotter body to a colder 
one through an intervening medium which 
is not heated during the process. The heat 
is transmitted by the same medium that 
transmits light from a luminous body. 
Radiant heat and light are, in fact, the same 
thing, namely, vibrations of an elastic 
medium, the luminiferous ether, supposed 
to fill all space, and they obey the same 
laws of reflection, refraction, interference, 
and polarization. They also obey the gen¬ 
eral laws of wave-motion. A luminous body 
excites in the ether waves or undulations of 
a great many different wave-lengths, some 
of them capable of affecting the eye as light, 
and others not. Heat rays need not be at 
all luminous; they may have no light-giving 
power, but may be what are known as rays 
of dark heat, capable of being detected by 
the thermometer, but not perceptible to the 
eye. Other rays are purely chemical in 
their effect (as in photography), and are 
called actinic rays. The general effect of 
radiation is to ecjualize the temperature of 
any system of bodies so ])laced as to be 
capable of radiating one to the other. Every 
body of the system is constantly sending 


forth heat-rays in all directions, and receiv¬ 
ing the heat radiated from the other bodies. 
But the hotter bodies emit more than they 
receive, while the colder bodies receive more 
than they emit, and the temperature of the 
system is thus gradually equalized. The 
rapidity or otherwise of radiation differs 
much in different bodies. The radiation 
depends on the nature of the surface of the 
body, and the power of a body to radiate 
heat is intimately connected with its power 
of absorbing heat radiated to it, and with 
its power of reflecting heat. Surfaces that 
are good radiators are good absorbers, and 
surfaces that absorb heat readily reflect it 
badly. Thus, a kettle covered with soot 
loses, when filled with hot water, heat more 
rapidly than one with a brightly polished 
surface. The best absorber of all is a surface 
covered with a thin coating of lamp-black. 
Brightly polished metals are the worst ab¬ 
sorbers among bodies that are not trans¬ 
parent to radiant heat. 

The transmission of radiant heat through 
various substances is a subject of great im¬ 
portance. In this connection the terms dia- 
thermanous and athermanous correspond to 
transparent and opaque in the case of light. 
One of the chief diathermanous bodies is 
rock-salt. Common white glass transmits 
rays of high refrangibility, stopping those 
of low refrangibility. Hence its use as a 
fire-screen. For the greater part of the 
heat of a common fire is of the dark kind, 
and is nearly all stopped by the glass; but 
glass does not screen from the heat of the 
sun, a great part of which consists of heat 
of high refrangibility. On the other hand, 
smoked rock-salt transmits very little of 
the heat of high refrangibility, though it is 
almost perfectly diathermanous to dark heat. 

The nature of heat was long a subject of 
active controversy. The common theory 
during the last century, and in the early 
part of the present, was the materialistic, or 
that by which heat was regarded as an im¬ 
ponderable fluid [caloric), which could -per¬ 
meate all matter, and which, uniting with 
the particles of bodies, produced the pheno¬ 
mena associated with heat. The material¬ 
istic theory was held by Black and Lavoisier, 
but it was exploded by the experiments of 
Rumford and Davy. Among the contribu¬ 
tions of Davy to the science was his cele¬ 
brated experiment of rubbing together two 
pieces of ice, while surrounded by an ice-cold 
atmosphere, until they melted away com¬ 
pletely. He concluded that ‘ the immediate 

374 


HEAVEK. 


liEAt-ENGINE 


cause of the phenomenon of heat is motion, 
and the laws of its communication are pre¬ 
cisely the same as the laws of the communi¬ 
cation of motion.’ Between 1840 and 1843 
Joule conclusively established the truth of 
this theory—the dynamical theory of heat— 
by measuring the amount of energy required 
to produce a definite heating effect, and by 
showing that the quantity of heat obtained 
by expending a definite amount of energy 
in friction is the same whatever is the na¬ 
ture of the body in which the friction takes 
place. The conclusions arrived at by him 
are thus given:— 

1st. The quantity of heat produced by 
the friction of bodies, whether solid or liquid, 
is always proportional to the quantity of 
work expended. 

2d. The quantity of heat capable of in¬ 
creasing the temperature of 1 lb. of water 
by 1° Fah. requires for its evolution the 
expenditure of mechanical energy repre¬ 
sented by the fall of 772 lbs. through 1 foot. 
This amount of energy or work, equal to 
772 foot-pounds, is called the dynamical 
equivalent of heat. 

That heat is a form of energy is now con¬ 
sidered by all to be be^mnd question. Every 
substance is considered to have some kind 
of molecular structure, and heat is regarded 
as consisting in the relative motions of the 
molecules or particles. The greater the 
energy of the motion the higher the tem¬ 
perature of the body, so long as it maintains 
its original state, solid, liquid, or gaseous; 
and an alteration in the nature of the mo¬ 
tion probably constitutes the change from 
one of the states of matter to another. After 
the time of Rumford and Davy, Fourier and 
Carnot were highly distinguished for their 
inquiries into the mathematical theory of 
heat. Fourier investigated the theory of 
conduction and radiation, while on the in¬ 
vestigations of Carnot has been founded the 
branch of Thermo-dynamics, which treats of 
the conversion of heat into mechanical force 
or energy, and vice versd. (See Thermo¬ 
dynamics.) The investigations of Joule and 
the discovery of the quantitative equivalence 
of energy with heat, led to the enunciation 
of the theory of the conservation of energy. 
See Energy. 

Heat-engine. See Thermo-dynamic En¬ 
gine. 

Heath, the common name of many plants 
of the nat. order Ericaceae. Those that be¬ 
long to the genus Erica have their leaves 
simple and entire; their flowers oval, cylin- 

375 


drical, or even swelled at the base; the co¬ 
rolla is four-cleft; the stamens eight, termi¬ 
nated by anthers which are usually notched 
or bi-aristate at the summit, and the fruit 
dry, four or eight-celled. From 400 to 500 
species are known, twelve or fifteen of which 
inhabit Europe, and have small flowers, 
whilst all the remainder are natives of 
South Africa (the vicinity of the Cape of 
Good Hope). Many of them bear bril¬ 
liantly coloured flowers. In Britain six 
species are enumerated, of which E. tetralix 
and E. cinerea are the most common, both 
with beautiful bell-shaped flowers. Another 
very common species is the common ling or 
heather, Callmia vulgaris {Calluna having 
been made a separate genus from Erica), a 
low shrub, which often covers tracts of 
barren land. It is unknown in America. 

Heathfield, George Augustus Elliot, 
Lord, British general, born in Roxburgh¬ 
shire in 1718, died 1790. He studied at 
the University of Leyden, and at the French 
military school at La Fere, and served for 
some time in the Prussian army. He en¬ 
tered the British army in 1735, was wounded 
at Dettingen in 1743, and in 1762 took part 
in the capture of Havannah. In 1775 he 
became commander-in-chief of the forces in 
Ireland, and soon after governor of Gibral¬ 
tar. Spain and France having sided with 
America against Britain, Gibraltar was be¬ 
sieged by the two former powers, and suc¬ 
cessfully defended by Elliot from 1779 to 
1783, the siege and defence being among 
the most memorable in history. The king 
sent Elliot the order of the Bath, and shortly 
after he returned to England, and was created 
Baron Heathfield in 1787. 

Heat Spectrum, the part of the spectrum 
from an incandescent body that contains 
invisible heat rays. To produce the heat 
spectrum properly lenses and prisms of rock- 
salt must be employed. When the spectrum 
from the sun is examined it is found that 
the maximum heat intensity is in the dark- 
heat spectrum at a considerable distance 
from the place where light ceases to be per- 
cei:)tible. 

Heaven (probably signifying that which 
is heaved up or elevated), in a physical sense, 
the azure vault which spreads above us like 
a hollow hemisphere, and appears to rest on 
the earth at the horizon. It is in reality 
merely the appearance presented to us by 
the immeasurable space in which the hea¬ 
venly bodies move. According to some its 
azure colour is due to the light of the celes- 



HEAVY SPAK-HEBREW LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 


tial bodies reflected from the earth to the 
air, and thence back again. According to 
others the reflection is not from the air, 
but from its contained vapours. A theory 
recently broached assigns the azure colour 
to the presence of particles of dust in the 
air. In theology, this word denotes a region 
of the universe where God’s presence is es¬ 
pecially manifested, in contrast with the 
earth. According to the Hebrew scriptures 
heaven consisted of three regions:—(1) That 
of the clouds, or air; (2) that of the stars; 
and (3) the abode of God. They also divide 
it into two parts, ‘The Heaven’ and the 
‘Heaven of Heavens.’ Among the Greeks 
the gods were supposed to reside on Olym¬ 
pus, and the classic poets placed the abode 
of the just in the Elysian fields. The hea¬ 
ven of Islam is a scene of sensuous enjoy¬ 
ment, while that of the Buddhist consists in 
Nirvana, regarded by some as meaning the 
absorption of individual existence in the 
great ocean of being. The ancient German 
had his Walhalla, and the American Indian 
has his happy hunting grounds. Among 
Christians tlm general opinion is that hea¬ 
ven is the residence of the Most Hi^h, the 
holy angels, and the spirits of just men 
made perfect, that this abode is eternal, 
and its joys intensely spiidtual. 

Heavy Spar. See Baryta. 

Hebg, in Greek mythology, the goddess 
of youth, and the cup¬ 
bearer to the gods, 
until replaced by 
Ganymede; a daugh¬ 
ter of Zeus and Hera, 
who gave her as a wife 
to Heracles, In the 
arts she is represented 
with the cup in which 
she presents the nec¬ 
tar, under the figure 
of a charming young 
girl, her dress adorned 
with roses, and wear¬ 
ing a wreath of flow¬ 
ers. 

Heber, Reginald, 

D.D., an English poet 
and bishop, was born 1783, died 1826. In 
1800 he entered Brasenose College, Oxford, 
and in 1803 wrote his celebrated prize poem 
of Palestine. After travelling on the Conti¬ 
nent he became, in 1807, rector of Hodnet, 
and having married Amelia, daughter of the 
dean of St. Asaph, was appointed prebend of 
the cathedral. On the death of Bishop 


Middleton, Heber was consecrated Bishop 
of Calcutta in 1823; but he had only occu¬ 
pied the position for about two years when 
he died of apoplexy at Trichinopoli, in 
1826. In addition to his hymns, the best 
known productions are Palestine; an edition 
of the works of Jeremy Taylor (with Life); 
Poems and Translations. 

Hebert (a-bar), Jacques RENi:, notorious 
during the French revolution, was born at 
Alengon in 1757, executed 1794. Hubert 
first attracted notice as editor of the violent 
Jacobin organ Le Pfere Duchesne. In 1792 
he became a member of the municipality of 
Paris, which contributed to the massacres 
of September, and he was named attorney- 
general under the commune. In 1793 the 
Girondists procured his arrest, but he was 
released by the convention. He was one of 
those who established the worship of reason, 
and he was always on the side of bloody 
measures. Having denounced Danton, the 
latter, in conjunction with Robespierre, se¬ 
cured his destruction by the guillotine in 
1794. 

Hebrew Language and Literature, the 
language and literature of the Jews, Israel¬ 
ites, or Hebrews, especially at that period 
when they formed a compact nation inhabit¬ 
ing Canaan or Palestine. (For a sketch of 
the history of the people see Jeivs.) The 
Hebrew language forms a branch of the 
Semitic family of languages, being akin to 
the Aramaic (Chaldee and Syriac), Arabic, 
Ethiopic, and Assyrian. In the antiquity 
of its extant literary remains Hebrew far 
surpasses the other Semitic idioms, and in 
richness and development is only inferior to 
the Arabic. The language is deficient in 
grammatical technicalities, especially in 
moods and tenses of the verb, in the ab¬ 
sence of the neuter gender, &c. Its roots 
are triliteral (consisting of three consonants), 
and words are derived from them by the 
reduplication of the letters of the root, and 
by the addition of formative elements be¬ 
fore and after the roots. The alphabet is 
composed of twenty-two consonants, the 
vowels being expressed by marks above or 
below these letters. The accents and marks 
of punctuation amount to about forty. The 
writing is from right to left. There are 
three kinds of Hebrew alphabet now in use 
—the square or Assyrian (properly called 
the Babylonian), the most common; the 
rabbinical, or mediaeval; and the cursive, or 
alphabet used in ordinary writing. 

The extant classical Hebrew writings em- 
376 



Hebe, statue by Caiiova. 






HEBREWS. 


HEBREW LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE 


brace a period of more than 1000 years from 
the era of Moses to the date of the com¬ 
position of the books of Chronicles, whicli 
stand last in the Hebrew Bible, During 
this period the written language under¬ 
went surprisingly little change. In passing 
from the book of Genesis to the books of 
Samuel we do not recognize any very strik¬ 
ing difference in the language. Even those 
who assert that the Pentateuch as a whole 
is of a comparatively late era, admit the 
great antiquity of some of its contents, 
which do not differ in language from the 
rest. There is indeed to be observed a very 
decided difference in style and language 
between the earliest and the very latest 
Hebrew writings; but this change was 
sudden, hence Hebrew literature is dis¬ 
tinguished into Pre-exilian and Post-exilian, 
the Babylonish captivity forming the break 
between the two. The writings which be¬ 
long to the age subsequent to the Baby¬ 
lonish captivity differ very considerably from 
those which belong to the preceding age; the 
influence of the Aramaic or Chaldee language, 
acquired by the Jews in the land of their 
exile, having greatly corrupted the tongue. 
The historical books belonging to this age are 
the books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, 
and Esther. In the prophets who pro¬ 
phesied during and after the captivity, with 
the exception of Daniel, the Aramaic im¬ 
press is by no means so strong as we might 
anticipate, they having evidently formed 
their style on that of the older prophets. 
At what time Aramaic became the domin¬ 
ant element in the national language it is 
impossible to determine, but latteidy it en¬ 
tirely took the place of the old Hebrew as 
a spoken tongue. The fragments of the 
popular language in the New Testament 
are all Aramaic; and ever since the Hebrew 
proper has been preserved and cultivated 
only as the language of the learned and of 
books and not of common life. 

After the return from the captivity, the 
Jewish literature was carefully cultivated. 
Under Ezra the Scriptures were collected, 
and arranged into a canon. The Penta¬ 
teuch was publicly read, taught in schools, 
and translated into Aramaic. The legal or 
religious traditions explanatory or comple¬ 
mentary to the law of Moses were collected 
and established as the oral law. These 
labours resulted in the Midrash, a general 
exposition of the Old Testament, divided 
into the Halacha and the Haggada, To 
the Maccabean era belong the Apocrypha (in 

377 


Greek), various Greek versions of the Bible, 
and several collections of prayers, poems, 
and proverbs. To the succeeding'epoch be¬ 
long some celebrated doctors of the law— 
Hillel, Shammai, Gamaliel, and others; 
while the age following the destruction of 
Jerusalem (a.d. 70) witnessed the comple¬ 
tion of the New Testament and the works 
of Josephus, written, however, in the Greek 
language. On being driven from their capi¬ 
tal by the Romans, numerous schools were 
established by the Jews in which their lan¬ 
guage and literature were taught. Of these 
schools the most celebrated were those of 
Babylon and Tiberias. The Mishna, which 
contains the traditions of the Jews and in¬ 
terpretations of the Sci’iptures, is supposed 
to have been compiled in the latter part of 
the 2d or in the earlier part of the 3d cen¬ 
tury; and the rabbis of Tiberias and Baby¬ 
lon wrote numerous commentaries on it. 
These commentaries were at length col¬ 
lected into two separate works, the Jerusa¬ 
lem and the Babylonian Talmuds. The 
Jerusalem Talmud seems to have been com¬ 
pleted about the end of the 4th century, 
and the Babylonian Talmud about a cen¬ 
tury later, under the care of Rabbi Ashe. 
What are called the Targums —that is Ara¬ 
maic translations of portions of the Old 
Testament—belong partly to times some¬ 
what anterior, pai’tly to times subsequent 
to this period. The Jews latterly adopted 
the languages of the various peoples among 
whom they happened to dwell, though they 
also wrote in classical Hebrew as well as in 
the less pure form of the Rahhinical He¬ 
brew. The most brilliant epoch of mediaeval 
Jewish literature is that of the domination 
of the Moors in Spain. Of modern litera¬ 
ture in the Hebrew language there is little 
that is of general interest. 

Hebrews, Epistle to the, one of the 
books of the New Testament, the canonicity 
and authorship of which have been much 
discussed. The immediate successors of 
the apostles (Clement of Rome, Justin Mar¬ 
tyr, &c.) seem to have considered it as of 
canonical authority. Its canonicity was also 
maintained by St. Jerome, by the almost 
universal consent of the Latin and Greek 
churches, and by Ambrose of Milan; while 
in 416 a decretal of Innocent III. was issued 
in favour of this view. As to the authorship, 
the early Roman church denied its Pauline 
origin. In Carthage it was (in the 2d cen¬ 
tury) ascribed to Barnabas, while at the same 
time in Alexandria it was ascribed to I’auL 




HEBRIETES — 

This view was supported by Clement of 
Alexandria, and Origen, the former believ¬ 
ing that it was written by Paul in Hebrew, 
and translated into Greek by Luke. Lat¬ 
terly the Pauline authorship became gene¬ 
rally accepted throughout Christendom, but 
in modern times the prevalent opinion is 
that Paul was not the author. The epistle 
was probably addressed to a Jewish section 
of the Roman church, although some main¬ 
tain that it was addressed to Jews of Alex¬ 
andria. If the latter view be correct Apol- 
los may be the author, although tradition 
seems to favour the claim of Barnabas. 

Heb'rides, or Westekn Islands (the Ile- 
boudai of Ptolemy, and llebudes of Pliny, 
the r being an erroneous insertion), a series 
of islands and islets off the west coast of 
Scotland, usually divided into the Outer 
Hebrides (popularly called the Long Is¬ 
land), of which the principal are Lewis and 
Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, 
and Barra; and the Inner Hebrides—Skye, 
Mull, Islay, Jura, Coll, Rum, Tiree, Colon- 
say, &c. The islands within the Firth of 
Clyde (Arrau, Bute, the Cumbraes, &c.) 
are not now considered as part of the Heb¬ 
rides. The Outer are separated from the 
Inner, and from the mainland, by a strait 
called the Minch, 12 miles broad. The 
Outer Hebrides consist of a continuous series 
of islands and islets, running south-west and 
north-east through a space of 130 miles, 
having Barra Head at the south extremity, 
and the Butt of Lewis at the north extre¬ 
mity. The Inner Hebrides are more widely 
scattered and more irregularly disposed. 
The Hebrides are divided between the shires 
of Ross, Inverness, and Argyle. They num¬ 
ber upwards of 400 in all, but only about 
90 are inhabited; area, about 2800 square 
miles; pop. (1881), 82,000. The islands are, 
on the whole, mountainous, and abound in 
moss and moor. Although humid, the cli¬ 
mate is mild. The soil is mostly poor, and 
agriculture, except in certain localities, es¬ 
pecially Islay, is very backward. Oats and 
barley, with potatoes and turnips, constitute 
almost the entire produce of the soil. Cattle 
rearing and fishing are staple industries. 
The land is mainly occupied by sheep-far¬ 
mers, and by great numbers of crofters 
occupying small pieces of arable land and 
having often the right in common with 
others to a tract of rough pasture. There 
are also many cottars or sub-tenants, and 
excess of population has arisen in various 
localities from the minute subdivision of 


■ HECATOMB. ( 

land. The condition of the inhabitants gen¬ 
erally, is very depressed; their dwellings 
miserable—the older being without chim¬ 
neys or windows—and their living poor. 
Gaelic is the universal language, although 
English is tolerably well known. The Heb¬ 
rides were early colonized by Norwegians, 
and belonged to Norway from the 9th to the 
13th century, being annexed to Scotland in 
1265. In 1346 a chief of the Macdonald 
clan assumed the title of ‘ Lord of the Isles,’ 
and he and his successors affected a sort of 
semi-independence, but the Hebrides were 
finally annexed by James V. in 1540. 

He'bron (anciently Kirjath-arba or 
Mamre, now El-Khalil), a town in Palestine, 
18 miles south by west of Jerusalem, 2835 
feet above sea-level. It lies in the narrow 
valley of Mamre, and was one of the three 
cities of refuge west of the Jordan. Its 
streets are narrow and dirty. A mosque, 
called El-Ilaram, formerly a church, con¬ 
tains the alleged tombs of Abraham, Isaac, 
Jacob, Sarah, &c. Hebron is one of the 
oldest of existing towns. It was the resi¬ 
dence of Abraham and the patriarchs, and 
at one time of David. Pop. about 10,000. 

Hecatse'us, an eminent ancient Greek 
historian and geographer, born (probably) 
about 550 b.c. ; died about 476 b.c. He 
visited Egypt, Thrace, Greece, the coasts of 
the Euxine, Italy, Spain, and Africa. His 
two great works were his Tour of the World 
and his Genealogies or Histories. Only 
fragments of his writings are extant. 

Hec'ate, an ancient Greek goddess, whose 
powers were various. She could bestow 
wealth, victory, and wisdom; good luck on 
sailors and hunters; prosperity on youth and 
on the flocks. She was latterly confounded 
with other divinities, such as Demeter, Ar- 
tSmis, and PersephSne (Proserpine), and 
finally became especially an infernal god¬ 
dess, and was invoked by magicians and 
witches. Dogs, honey, and black female 
lambs were offered to her at places where 
three roads met. She was often represented 
with three bodies or three heads, with ser¬ 
pents round her neck. 

Hec'atomb (Greek hecaton, a hundred, 
bous, an ox), in ancient Greek worship liter¬ 
ally a sacrifice of a hundred oxen, but ap¬ 
plied generally to the sacrifice of any large 
number. It was necessary that the victims 
should be without blemish. Only parts such 
as the thighs, legs, or hide were burned, the 
rest furnishing the festive meal at the close 
of the sacrifice. 


378 




flECKLES-HEDGE-MUSTARD. 


Heckles, or Hackles, an apparatus em¬ 
ployed in the preparation of animal and 
vegetable fibres for spinning. It consists 
of a series of long metallic teeth, through 
which the material is drawn so as to comb 
the fibres out straight and fit them for the 
subsequent operations. The teeth are fixed 
in a wooden or metallic base, in several 
rows, alternating with each other at short 
distances apart. 

Heckmondwike, a thriving town of Eng¬ 
land, county of York (West Riding), with 
extensive blanket, carpet, woollen cloth, 
and woollen yarn manufactories. Pop. 9326. 

Hecla, or Hekla, a volcano of Iceland, 
about 20 miles from its south-west coast, 
about 5000 feet in height, and having several 
craters. It is composed chiefly of basalt 
and lava, and is always covered with snow. 
Many eruptions are on record. One of the 
most tremendous occurred in 1783, after 
which the volcano remained quiescent till 
September 1845, when it again became 
active, and continued with little intermission 
till November 1846, to discharge ashes, 
some masses of pumice-stone, and a torrent 
of lava. The last outbreak was in 1878. 

Hector, the son of Priam and Hecuba, 
the bravest of the Trojans, whose forces he 
commanded. His wife was Andromache. 
His exploits are celebrated in the Iliad. 
Having slain Patroclus, the friend of Achilles, 
the latter sought revenge, and Hector was 
slain by him. The body of Hector was 
dragged at the chariot wheels of the con¬ 
queror; but afterwards it was delivered to 
Priam for a ransom, who gave it a solemn 
burial. Hector is the most attractive warrior 
in Homer’s Iliad, in which one of the finest 
episodes is his parting from Andromache 
before his last combat. 

Hec'uba, of Phrygia, in Greek legend 
the second wife of Priam, king of Troy, to 
whom she bore Hector, Paris, Cassandra, 
Troilus, and other children. After the fall 
of Troy she was given as a slave to Odys¬ 
seus, and, according to one form of the 
legend, in despair leaped into the Hellespont. 

Heddle, in a loom, one of the parallel 
double threads which are arranged in sets, 
and, with their mounting, compose the har¬ 
ness for raising the warp threads to form 
the shed and allow the shuttle to pass. Each 
heddle has a loop or eye in its centre, through 
which a warp thread passes. 

Hed'era, the genus to which ivy belongs. 

Hedge, a fence formed of living trees or 
shrubs. Hedges are often composed of one 

379 


or more of the following;—Hawthorn, crab, 
blackthorn, holly, privet, beech, hornbeam, 
maple, barberry, furze, broom, alder, poplar, 
willow, yew, box, arborvitae, sweet-briar, &c. 
Although superior to dry-stone walls, they 
take up much room, and exhaust the soil to 
some extent. Hedges are probably more 
common in England than in any other 
country. It has been calculated that judi- 
cioiis trimming of hedges would increase the 
cultivated land in England and Wales by 
490,000 acres, an effect similar to the addi¬ 
tion of a new county of moderate size. 
They were not very common in England till 
the close of the seventeenth century. 

Hedgehog {Erinac^us europmus), an in¬ 
sectivorous animal, covered with spines in 
lieu of hair. By means of a special muscle 
it is able to roll itself up into a ball, and in 
this form can defy most of its enemies. It 



Hedgehog (Erinacens europceus). 


has a rudimentary tail, elongated nose, short 
ears, with a cranium comparatively broad. 
The hind feet have five toes, and strong 
coarse hair covers some parts of the body. 
The teeth are numerous. Including the 
tail, it attains a length of 11 inches. It 
usually resides in small thickets, and feeds 
on fruits, roots, and insects. It is fond of 
raw or roasted flesh, and devours cock¬ 
roaches in large numbers when kept in 
houses. It hibernates in winter. The fe¬ 
male bears four to eight young at a birth, 
the young soon becoming covered with 
prickles. It is found in Britain and in 
most parts of Europe. Other species are 
found in Asia and Africa. 

Hedgehog Plant, a name bestowed on 
leguminous plants of the genus Medicdgo 
(especially M. infestata) whose pods are 
spirally twisted and rolled up into a ball 
and furnished with prickles. 

Hedge-hyssop. See Gratiola. 

Hedge-mustard {Sisymbrium officinale)^ 
a cruciferous plant, formerly in use as a 
remedy for catarrh. 








HEDGE-WARBLER-HEIDELBERG. 


Hedge-warbler, or Hedge-sparrow {Ac¬ 
centor moduldris), a bird of the family Syl- 
viadye, common in the British Islands and 
all the temperate parts of Europe. It feeds 
on insects, worms, and seeds; and its nest, 
built of green moss, roots, and wool, and 
lined with hair, is generally finished early in 
March. The eggs, four or five in number, 
are bluish green. The cuckoo often deposits 
her egg in the hedge-warbler’s nest. The 
plumage is generally of a reddish brown, 
streaked with dark brown. The song of 
the male is short and plaintive. The length 
of the bird is about 5 2 inche.s. 

Hedgley Moor, in Northumberland, was 
the scene of a battle in which the Lancas¬ 
trians were defeated by the Yorkists under 
Montacute, April 25, 1464. 

Hedjaz. See Hejaz. 

Hedjrah. See Hejra. 

Hedys'arum. See French Honeysuclde. 

Heem (ham), Jan David de, Dutch 
painter of fruit, flowers, and still life, born in 
1600, died in 1674. He studied under his 
father, and soon obtained large sums for his 
pictures, which are characterized by great 
delicacy and attention to detail and truth 
and brilliancy of colouring. His Madonnas, 
&c., bordered with garlands of fruits and 
flowers, were also famous. 

Heeren (ha'ren), Arnold Hermann Lud¬ 
wig, German historian, born 1760, died 
1842. In 1776 he entered the gymnasium 
of Bremen, and in 1784 took his degree of 
Doctor of Philosophy at Gottingen. In 
1787, after returning from his travels in 
Italy, he became professor extraordinary of 
philosophy at the same university. In 1801 
he was elected professor of history. His 
writings combine extreme accuracy of state¬ 
ment with picturesqueness of style. His 
principal productions are Geschichte der 
classischen Liter, im iVIittelalter; Handbuch 
der Geschichte der Staaten des Alterthums, 
&c. 

Hegel (ha'gl), Georg Wilhelm Fried¬ 
rich, a celebrated German metaphysician, 
born at Stuttgart 1770, died 1831. He 
studied at the theological institute of Tu¬ 
bingen from 1788-93, and was next a pri¬ 
vate tutor at Berne (1793-96), and subse¬ 
quently at Frankfort-on-the-Main (1797- 
1800). Having removed to Jena, and con¬ 
tracted an intimacy with Schelling, he de¬ 
voted himself to metaphysical study. After 
the battle of Jena, Hegel was employed on 
a newspaper at Bamberg until 1808, wdien 
he became successively rector of Nurnberg 


Gymnasium, professor of philosophy at 
Heidelberg ^816), and at Berlin from 1818 
to his decease in 1831. Among his works 
the most important are his Phanomenologie 
des Geistes (1807), Wissenschaft der Logik 
(1812-16), Encyclopiidie der philosophis- 
cheu Wissenschaften (1817), and Grund- 
linien der Philosophie des Rechts oder Na- 
turrecht und Staatswissenschaft (1821). 
The philosophy of Hegel followed that of 
Schelling, in adopting as a presupposition 
the identity of Knowing and Being, of 
Thought and Reality, of Subjective and Ob¬ 
jective. But he differs from Schelling, who 
contemplates this identity with its inner 
opposites through the medium of a purely 
intellectual intuition, for Hegel seems rather 
to revert to Kant’s Transcendental Logic. 
He thus asserts that if the order and con¬ 
nection of our thoughts is involved in the 
order and connection of things, the universal 
foi'm in the course of objective action must 
exactly agree with the form of the develop¬ 
ment of our thoughts, and vice versa. As 
there are, according to him, three stages in 
the process of thought and existence, his 
system has necessarily a threefold division; 
logic; the philosophy of nature; and mental 
philosophy. Hegelianism has been more in¬ 
fluential in the direction of the philosophy 
of religion than in any other department; 
but it is divided into three camps, repre¬ 
senting respectively the supernatural, the 
rational, and the mystical. 

Hegira (hej'i-ra). See Hejra. 

Heide (hi'de), a town of Prussia, in Hol¬ 
stein, with manufactures of paper, «&c. Pop. 
7354. 

Heidelberg (hl'dl-berA), a town of Baden, 
beautifully situated on the left bank of the 
Neckar, here crossed by two bridges, in one 
of the loveliest districts of Germany. It 
stands on a narrow strip between the river 
and the castle-rock and Geisberg, spurs of 
the Konigstuhl (1850 ft.); and chiefly con¬ 
sists of one main street and less important 
cross and parallel streets. The principal 
buildings are: the church of St, Peter; the 
church of the Holy Ghost; the castle, an¬ 
ciently the residence of the Electors Pala¬ 
tine; the university, founded in 1386, and 
now possessed of a library of 500,000 vol¬ 
umes and attended by about 1000 students; 
the town-house, &c. The castle, begun in 
the end of the 13th century, and exhibiting 
elaborate examples of early and late renais¬ 
sance architecture, is the most remarkable 
edifice in Heidelberg. It is now an ivy-clad 

380 



HEIDENHEIM 


HEIGHTS. 



Castle and Town of Heidelberg. 


treats of the measurements of the absolute 
or relative heights of various points on the 
earth’s surface. In all cases in which 
great accuracy is essential, trigonometrical 
methods must be employed, but in other 
cases sufficiently accurate results may be 
obtained by levelling, by the use of the 
barometer, or by the boiling-point of water 
as given by the thermometer. The trigo¬ 
nometrical method is often the only one 
available, as the heiglit to be measured 
may be quite inaccessible. The barometric 
method is based on the fact that as the 
mercurial column is supported by the atmos¬ 
pheric pressure, it must fall when conveyed 
from a lower to a higher level, as in the 
latter case the pressure is diminished. Were 
the atmo.sphere uniform in density through¬ 
out, nothing could be simpler than the mea¬ 
surement of heights by the barometer, but 
gases being very compressible, the lower 
strata of the atmosphere are denser than 

381 


the upper strata, being exposed to greater 
pressure. Thus a column of air 100 feet 
high, has far greater weight at the sea-level 
than a similar column at the top of a moun¬ 
tain 4000 feet high; and the effect on the 
barometric column of rising 100 feet from 
sea-level is correspondingly greater than 
the effect of rising 100 feet from a height 
of 4000 feet above the level of the sea. 
Moreover, increase of temperature affects 
the density of the mercury in the barometer, 
and also that of the air^ and further com¬ 
plicates the problem. Hence for the greatest 
accuracy in determining the difference of 
levels two mercurial barometers and four 
thermometers are required. Two of the 
thermometers are used for determining the 
temperature of the air at the stations, and 
two are attached to the barometers for de¬ 
termining the temperature of the mercury. 
The observations are made simultaneously. 
The aneroid barometer is in some respects 


ruin, but is carefully preserved from further 
decay. The principal industry is brewing. 
One of the greatest curiosities of the place 
is (the Heidelberg tun, kept in a cellar under 
the castle. It is 36 feet in length, 26 in 
diameter, and capable of holding 800 hogs¬ 
heads. Heidelberg is rich in public walks 
and fine views, that from the Konigstuhl 
being of surpassing beauty. It was long 
the capital of the Palatinate, but was super¬ 


seded by Mannheim in 1720. In 1622 Tilly 
captured and sacked the city. A similar fate 
overtook it in 1689 and 1693 at the hands 
of the French. Pop. 1890, 31,739. 

Heidenheim (hi'den-him), a town of Wiir- 
temberg, 46 miles e.s.e. Stuttgart. It has 
manufactures of woollen and linen cloth, &c. 
Pop. 6709. 

Heights, Measueement of, or Hypsom- 
ETRY, is that department of geodesy which 


























HEILBRONN 


HEJRA. 


more suitable than the mercurial, being 
much more portable, and requiring two ther¬ 
mometers only. After the necessary obser¬ 
vations are made the required height may 
be calculated by the use of certain logarith¬ 
mic formulae, or by the rough method stated 
under Barometer. Tables obviating the 
use of logarithms are often supplied by in¬ 
strument makers along with aneroid barom¬ 
eters. The method in which use is made of 
the principle that water boils at the tem¬ 
perature of 212° under the full pressure of 
the atmosphere but at a lower temperature 
with a smaller atmospTieric pressure, such 
as is given by an elevated position, is simple 
and sufficiently accurate for many purposes. 
It has been found that if water at the sea- 
level boils at 212° on rising 510 feet it will 
boil at 211°, and so on. 

Heilbronn, a town of Wiirteraberg, beauti¬ 
fully situated on the Neckar, quite a medi¬ 
aeval place in the older parts, but having 
modern suburbs. Its finest edifice is the 
old Gothic church of St. Kilian. It has 
flourishing industries. Heilbronn was long 
an imperial free town. Pop. 1890, 29,941. 

Heiligenstadt (hi'li-gen-stat), a town of 
Prussia, prov. Saxony, on the Leine. Pop. 
5861. 

Heimdall, a divinity in the Scandinavian 
mythology, who keeps watch on the bridge 
Bifrost, which connects the domain of the 
H^sir or Gods with that of men. His sight 
and hearing are acuter than those of mor¬ 
tals, and nothing can evade his vigilance. 

Heine (hi'ne), Heinrich, a German poet 
and author, was born of Jewish parents at 
Dlisseldorf, 13th December, 1799, and died 
at Paris 17th Feb. 1856. He studied law 
at Bonn, Berlin, and Gottingen; took his 
degree at the last-mentioned place, and in 
1825 embraced Christianity. He after¬ 
wards lived at Hamburg, Berlin, and Mu¬ 
nich, but in 1830 he settled in Paris, sup¬ 
ported himself by his literary labours, and 
dwelt there until his death. From 1837 to 
the overthrow of Louis Philippe in 1848 he 
enjoyed a pension of 4800 francs from the 
French government. Of the numerous lite¬ 
rary works of Heine may be mentioned in 
particular—Gedichte (Poems); Reisebilder 
(Pictures of Travel); Buch der Lieder 
(Book of Songs); Deutschland Ein Winter- 
marchen (Germany, a Winter Tale); Shak- 
spere’s Miidchen und Frauen (Maidens and 
Wives); Die Romantische Schule; Letzte 
Gedichte und G edanken (Last Poems and 
Thoughts)} AttaTroll} Komanzeroj &c, As 


a poet Heine is remarkable for the simplicity 
and pathos of many of his lyric pieces. 
His powers of wit and raillery were also 
great, but he often transgressed the bounds 
of propriety and decorum. Scepticism and 
over-sensuousness are prominent character¬ 
istics. During the latter years of his life 
he suffered great agony from a spinal com¬ 
plaint, which confined him almost constantly 
to bed. 

Heinec'cius, J ohann Gottlieb, a German 
writer on logic, jurisprudence, and ethics; 
born 1681, died 1741. His works on Ro¬ 
man law were highly valued. 

Heinrich (hIn'riA), the German form of 
Henry. 

Heinsius, Daniel, Dutch scholar, poet, 
and critic, born 1580, died 1655. He 
studied at Franeker and Leyden, at the 
latter under Joseph Scaliger; became pro- 
fe.ssor of history and politics at Leyden in 
1605, and librarian and secretary in 1607. 
He published editions of Hesiod, Horace, 
Virgil, and other classical writings, and 
wrote Latin and Greek poems. 

Heir. See Descent. 

Heir-apparent, the person who neces¬ 
sarily succeeds to the ancestor if he survives 
him, because no other person can ever gain 
precedence over him, as an eldest sou. 
Compare Heir-presumptive. 

Heirloom, in law, means some per¬ 
sonal chattel which goes by special custom 
to the heir-at-law, together with the inheri¬ 
tance. The term is often applied to the 
case where certain chattels, such as pict¬ 
ures, &c., are directed by will to follow 
along with the estate. 

Heir-presumptive is one who, if the an¬ 
cestor should die immediately, would, under 
existing circumstances, be his heir, but 
whose right of inhei'itance may be defeated 
by some nearer heir being born, as an only 
daughter, who is displaced by the birth of 
a son. Compare Heir-apparent. 

Hejaz', or Hijaz', a division of Arabia, 
extending along the north half of the east 
coast of the Red Sea, comprehending a low¬ 
land (Tehama) and a tract of highlands, east 
of a range of mountains attaining a height 
of perhaps 8000 feet. Mecca, Medina, 
Jiddah, and Yambo are the chief towns, 
the two first being annually resorted to by 
' vast numbers of pilgrims. Hejaz forms a 
part of the Turkish dominions. 

Hejra, He.tira, or Hegira, an Arabic 
word signifying emigration. The Moham¬ 
medans designate by it the flight of Mo- 

882 





HEL-HELENA. 


hammed their prophet from Mecca to Me¬ 
dina. From this flight, which happened on 
the 13th of September, 622 a.d., but which 
they flx on the 16th of July of the same 
year, they begin their computation of time. 

Hel, the Norse goddess of the dead, who 
dwells beneath one of the three roots of the 
ash Yggdrasil; daughter of Loki. Dark 
rivers surround her abode; a dog watches 
without; the horse she rides has three feet; 
she herself is half black and half of fair 
complexion. 

Hel'amys, the jumping-hare or jumping- 
rat, a genus of ro¬ 
dent animals allied 
to the jerboas. 

Helbeh, the seed 
of a plant of the 
leguminous genus 
Trifjonella (fenu¬ 
greek), with a some¬ 
what bitter taste, 
whose flour, mixed 
with dhurra, is used 
as food by the la¬ 
bourers of Egypt. 

Helder, The, a 
fortified seaport of 
Holland, in the 
most northern part 
of the province of 
North Holland, op¬ 
posite the island of Texel, and commanding 
the entrance to the Zuider-Zee. From a 
fishing town Napoleon converted it to a 
fortress and naval station of the first rank, 
and called it his Northern Gibraltar. Being 
much exposed, the port and coasts are pro¬ 
tected by gigantic dikes, one 6 miles long 
and built entirely of Norwegian granite. 
Pop. 21,545. 

Hel en, or Hel'ena, in ancient Greek 
legend, the most beautiful woman of her 
age, daughter of Zeus by Leda. By advice 
of Ulysses her numerous suitors w'ere bound 
by oath to respect her choice of a husband, 
and to maintain it even by arms. She chose 
Menelaus, but w'as afterwards cari’ied off to 
Troy by Paris, the ITojan war arising from 
the claim made by Menelaus for the fulfil¬ 
ment of the oath. After the death of Paris 
she married his brother Deiphobus. On the 
fall of Troy she returned to Sparta with 
Menelaus, but was murdered at Ehodes. 

Helena, Phillips co., Ark. An important 
commercial point. Pop. 1890,5185. 

Hel'ena, the name of several saints, of 
whora the chief was the mother of the Em* 


peror Constantine the Great, a woman of 
humble origin, and a native either of Bi- 
thynia or of Britain. She became the wife 
of Constantins Chlorus, who, however, was 
compelled to repudiate her when made 
Caesar by Diocletian in 292 A.D. At the 
same time he made her son his sole heir, 
and Constantine, on his accession, took her 
to reside with him at the palace, and gave 
her the title of Augusta. She did much 
for the advancement of religion, and is said 
to have discovered the true cross, in honour 
of which she founded the church of the holy 


sepulchre at Jerusalem. She died shortly 
after at the age of eighty, in 328 or 326 a.d. 

Helena, the capital of Montana, U.S., on 
the w. side of the valley of Prickly Pear and 
Ten Mile Creeks, at the foot of the Rocky 
Mountains, 15 miles w. of Missouri River, 
and 110 miles n. of Virginia City. It is 
chiefly supported by the rich quartz and 
placer gold mines in the vicinity. In the 
vicinity are hot medicinal springs. Pop. 
1890,13,834. 

Hele'na, St., an island in the South At¬ 
lantic, belonging to Britain, about 850 miles 
south-east of the Island of Ascension, 1150 
miles west from the west coast of S. Africa, 
and 2000 miles from the east coast of Brazil; 
greatest length, 10^^ miles; greatest breadth, 
7 miles; area, about 47 sq. miles. Its posi¬ 
tion, in the ocean thoroughfare from Europe 
to the East, has made it a place of call for 
vessels, while it has acquired special celeb¬ 
rity as the place of Napoleon’s banishment, 
and where he residedirom 1816 till his death 
in 1821. It has precipitous and almost in¬ 
accessible coasts, particularly on the north, 
wh^TQ filmost perpendicular cliffs rise tq 



The Island of St. Helena. 














HELENSBURGH- 

from 600 to 1200 feet. The only town on 
the island is James’ Town, which has a 
fine natural harbour, and affords excellent 
anchorage in 12 fathoms. The island, which 
is of volcanic formation, derives its name 
from having been discovered by Juan de 
Nova Castilla on St. Helena’s day. It 
was afterwards possessed by the Dutch, and 
finally was ceded to the English about 1651. 
Properly speaking there are neither manu¬ 
factures nor trade. About one-fifth of the 
entire surface is available for cultivation, 
while the uplands feed large numbers of 
goats. Pop. 1891, 4116. 

Helensburgh, a town of Scotland, in 
Dumbartonshire, prettily situated at the 
entrance of the Gare Loch, on the north 
shore of the Firth of Clyde, opposite Green¬ 
ock, from which it is distant about 4 miles. 
It is chiefly a residential town and summer 
resort for Glasgow and neighbouring towns. 
It takes its name from Helen, wife of Sir 
James Colquhoun, by whom it was founded 
in 1777. Pop. 7693. 

Hel'enus, a Trojan soothsayer, son of 
Priam and Hecuba, twin-brother of Cas¬ 
sandra, and husband of Andromache after 
Hector’s death. He foretold the destiny of 
^neas. 

Heli'acal, in astronomy, rising or setting 
at the same time, or nearly the same time, 
as the sun. The heliacal rising of a star is 
when, after being in conjunction with the 
sun and invisible, it emerges from the light 
so as to be visible in the morning before 
sunrising. On the contrary, the heliacal 
setting of a star is when the sun approaches 
so near as to render it invisible by its 
superior splendour. 

Heiian'themum, a genus of herbaceous 
undershrubs and shrubby or creeping plants; 
the rock-rose genus. 

Helian'thus, a genus of Compositse, chiefly 
North American annual or perennial herbs, 
with rough leaves and large yellow flowers, 
of which the common sunflower [H. annuun) 
and the 11. tuberosus (the Jerusalem arti¬ 
choke) are examples. 

Helic'idse, the general name by which the 
1 and shell - snails are distinguish ed. See Helix. 

Helicon (now Sagara), a mountain range 
of Greece, in the west of Boeotia, in some 
sense a continuation of the range of Par¬ 
nassus. It was the favourite seat of the 
Muses, who, with Apollo, had temples here. 
In it also were the fountains of Aganippe 
and Hippocrene. The highest summit, now 
called Paleovuni, is barely 5000 feet high. 


-HELIOGABALUS. 

Helic'tis, a genus of carnivorous quadru¬ 
peds, allied to the skunks, of which there 
are at least two species, one (//. moschdta) 
found in China, the other (//. orientdlis) in 
Nepal. 

Helier, St., the capital of the island of 
Jersey, on the south coast, on the east side, 
of St. Aubin’s Bay. It is protected by two 
fortresses, Elizabeth Castle on a rock in the 
bay, opposite the town; and Fort Regent, 
overlooking the inner harbour. The chief 
public building is the Hou.se of Assembly, 
which, however, has little architectural 
merit. The harbour, docks, and quays are 
commodious, and there is a considerable 
shipping trade. The mild climate and 
cheapness of living make it a favourite 
place of residence and summer resort. It 
is the seat of the states, or representative 
parliament of Jersey, and the terminus of 
two small railways. Pop. 27,990. 

Heligoland (Danish, Helgoland —Holy 
Land), an island belonging to Germany, in 
the North Sea, about 40 miles from the 
mouth of the Elbe; mile long and ^ mile 
broad; highest point, 200 feet. Its rocks, 
of reddish sandstone, present a perpendicular 
face to the sea, but are being rapidly eaten 
away by the waves. The island produces 
potatoes, barley, and oats, but oysters and 
lobsters are the chief products. The town 
consists of about 400 houses, and is much re¬ 
sorted to for sea-bathing. The inhabitants, 
of Frisian descent, are mainly fishers, pilots, 
and lodging-house keepers. Heligoland'was 
captured by Britain from Denmark in 1807, 
conceded to Germany in 1890. Pop. 2003. 

Heliodo'nis, a Greek romance writer, 
born at Emesa, in Syria, in the 4th century. 
Though of the family of priests of the 
Syrian god of the Sun, he became a Chris¬ 
tian, and Bishop of Tricca in Thessaly. 
His youthful work, Hilthiopica, or the Loves 
of Theagenes and Charicleia, is a tale of 
adventure in poetical prose, with an almost 
epic tone. It is, however, sometimes as¬ 
serted that Heliodorus, the romance-writer, 
was a Neo-Pythagorean sophist of the 3d 
century, erroneously confounded with the 
bishop. 

Heliogab'alus, or Elagabalus, a Roman 
emperor, son of Sextus Varius Marcellus; 
born about a.d. 205, and originally called 
Varius Avitus Bassianus. He received his 
name from having been, w'hile still a child, 
priest of Elagabalus, the Syro-Phoenician 
Sun-god. After the death of Macrinus he 
was invested, at the age of fourteen, with 

384 



HELIOGRAPH-HELIOTROPE. 


the imperial purple, but his licentiousness 
soon displeased the populace, and he was 
slain in an insurrection of the praetorians, 
A.D. 222, after a reign of less than four years. 

Heliograph, or Heliostat, a name given 
to various contrivances for reflecting the 
sun’s light either temporarily or continu¬ 
ously to an observer at a distance. The 
simplest heliostat is a mirror hung up at a 
distant station so as to reflect a flash to the 
observer whose station may be many miles 
from it. This mirror is generally so adjusted 
that the flash occurs exactly at some pre¬ 
arranged hour, and by being in readiness 
the observer can get an observation with 
precision as regards time. Some heliostats 
are visible for 80 miles. By being fitted 
with an adjustment of clock-work, the 
mirror can be made to revolve with the 
sun, and so to reflect a beam of sunlight 
steadily in one direction, being then called 
also hdiotrope. The heliostat has been used 
for signalling in war. 

Heliogravure, or Photogravure, is a 
photo-mechanical printing process. A photo¬ 
graph of any object, as a painting, &c., is 
taken, and from the negative so obtained a 
positive print is made on gelatinized paper. 
This print is transferred upon a highly 
polished copper plate, and a solution of ter- 
chloride of iron is poured upon it. The iron 
penetrates through the gelatine and etches 
the picture upon the copper. The final 
result is the production of a photo-etched 
copper-plate, from which a large number of 
imf)i’essions can be taken. 

He'liolite, a synonym of sunstone or avan- 
turine felspar. 

Heliom'eter, an instrument for measuring 
small distances on the sky, particularly the 
apparent diameters of the sun and of the 
moon. It was invented by Bouguer in 
1747, and improved by Dollond and Fraun¬ 
hofer. In the common modern form the 
object-glass of the telescope is cut into two 
halves, relatively movable by a screw. Each 
half forms a perfect image in the focus of 
the eye-piece, and by varying the distance 
between the half-lenses the images may be 
made to diverge from, or approach, each 
other. If, in contemplating a celestial body, 
the object-glasses are placed so as to bring 
the images to touch each other, the distance 
of the centres of the object-glasses, measured 
in seconds, gives the diameter of the image. 

Heliop'olis (City of the Sun), the On, 
Rameses, or Beth-shemesh of the Hebrew 
Scriptures; now called Matarich; situated 
VOL. IV. 385 


a little north of Memphis, and one of the 
most ancient and extensive cities of Egypt 
under the Pharaohs. It had a magnificent 
temple dedicated to Re; and communicated 
with the Nile by lakes and canals. During 
the flourishing ages of the Egyptian mon¬ 
archy the priests taught within the pre¬ 
cincts of its temples, and both Eudoxus and 
Plato visited its famous schools. Here 
Joseph and Mary are said to have rested 
with the infant Christ. Near the village 
stands the Pillar of On, supposed to be the 
oldest Egyptian obelisk, 67^ feet high, and 
6 feet broad at base. The Turks were de¬ 
feated here by the French in 1800. 

Heliopolis, in Coelosyria. See Baalbek. 

Helios, the god of the sun (Latin, Sol) in 
the Greek mythology; son of Hyperion and 
Theia, and brother of Eos (Aurora, the 
dawn) and Selene (Luna, the moon). He 
dwells with Eos in the ocean behind Colchis, 
from which he issues in the morning, and 
to which he returns at night. His worship 
was extensively diffused, and he had temples 
in Corinth, Argos, Troezene, Elis, but par¬ 
ticularly in Rhodes, the Colossus of which 
was a representation of Helios. 

Helioscope, a telescope fitted for viewing 
the sun without distressing the eyes, as when 
the image of the sun is received upon mir¬ 
rors formed simply of surfaces of transparent 
glass which reflect only a small portion of 
the light. 



Heliostat. See Heliograph. 

Heliotrope, a genus of plants {Ileliotro- 
plum), natural order Bo- 
raginaceae. The species 
are herbs or undershrubs, 
mostly natives of the 
warmer parts of the 
world, and have alter¬ 
nate leaves and small 
flowers usually disposed 
in scorpioid cymes. 11. 
europceum, the common 
heliotrope, is indigenous 
in the south and west of 
Europe, and has small 
white or pale red flowers 
with a fruit of four 
drupes under a thin fleshy 
covering. The H. per- 
uvianum is a very fragrant garden plant, 
growing to about 2 feet in height and bear¬ 
ing small lilac-blue flowers. 

Heliotrope, the bloodstone, a variety of 
quartz, partaking of the character of jasper 
or of chalcedony. It is of a deep green colour, 

121 


Heliotrope (Jenny Lind 
variety). 




HELIOTYPE-HELLEBORE. 


and covered with red spots. It is hard, and 
is used for burnishers; the more finely- 
marked stones are prized for seals, signet- 
rings, &c. It is found in Tartary, Persia, 
Siberia; in the island of Rum, Scotland, and 
elsewhere. It received the name heliotro{)e, 
or elitropia, because it was said that if the 
mineral were put into water in a basin 
rubbed with the juice of the plant heliotrope, 
and were exposed to the sun, the water 
would appear red and the sun blood-like, as 
if it was eclipsed. The stone rubbed with 
the juice of the plant was said to render its 
wearer invisible. 

He'liotype, a photographic process by 
which pictures can be printed in the same 
manner as lithographs, depending on the 
fact that a dried film of gelatine and bi¬ 
chromate of potash, when exposed to light, 
is afterwards insoluble in water, while the 
portion not so exposed swells when steeped. 
A mixture of gelatine, bichromate of potash, 
chrome alum, and water is poured on a plate 
of glass, where it shortly settles into a film. 
When dried the film contracts and separates 
from the glass. A picture is then printed 
on it from a negative, after which it is at- 
taclied to a plate of zinc, and copies are 
taken from it by inking it with lithographic 
ink exactly as in the ordinary lithographic 
process. The films are technically called 
‘skins,’ Sometimes a gutta-percha mould 
is prepared from the film, and copper de¬ 
posited on it by the electrotype process, the 
plate thus produced being printed from in 
the ordinary way. 

Helix, (1) a spiral line as of Avire in a coil, 
or such a curve 
as is described 
by every point of 
a screw that is 
turned round in 
a fixed mit. (2) 

In arch, a small 
volute or twist 
under the aba¬ 
cus of the Corin¬ 
thian capital, of 
which in every perfect capital there are six¬ 
teen, two at each angle, and two meeting 
under the middle of each face of the abacus. 

Helix, a genus of gasteropodous molluscs, 
comprising the land shell-snails. The com¬ 
mon garden snail {H. hortensis) and the 
edible snail of France {H. pomatia) are ex¬ 
amples. 

Hell (A. Saxon, hel, from helan, to cover), 
signifies originally the covered or invisible 



Uelices of Corinthiau Capital. 


place. In the English Bible the word is 
used to translate the Hebrew sJieol (grave 
or pit) and Gehenna (properly the valley of 
Hinnom), as well as the Greek Hades (the 
unseen). In the Revised Version of the New 
Testament, hoAvever, hell is used only to 
translate Gehenna, Hades being left where 
it stands in the Greek. In common usage 
hell signifies the place of punishment of the 
wicked after death, its earlier meaning being 
lost. The distinctive Scripture term for the 
place of future punishment of the wicked is 
Gehenna, which, unlike Sheol and Hades, 
never has an intermediate signification; and 
Christ adopting on this point the current 
language of the time gave the sanction of 
his authority to the leading ideas involved 
in it. Gehenna, or hell, is with him the place 
of final torment. The Eastern and Western 
churches are at one as to the punishment of 
hell being partly ‘ a pain of loss,’ that is, the 
consciousness of being debarred the presence 
of God, and partly a ‘ pain of sense,’ that is, 
I'eal phy.sical suffering. The prevailing idea 
among modern theologians is that the ‘fire’ 
and the ‘worm’ are significant emblems to 
give us the most correct and living concep¬ 
tions of the reality that we can possibly 
attain in our present circumstances. 

Helladothe'rium, an extinct genus of un¬ 
gulate quadrupeds allied to the existing 
giraffe. Fossil remains occur in the upper 
Miocene rocks of Attica. 

Hellas, Hellenes, See Greece. 

Hell-bender, a popular name for the 
Menopome (which see). 

HelTebore (HeUebOrus), a genus of plants, 
nat. order Ran- 
unculaceae, con¬ 
sisting of peren¬ 
nial low-growing 
plants with pal¬ 
mate or pedate 
leathery 
yellowish, 
ish, or 
flowers. 


leaves, 
green- 
white 
having 



five conspicuous 
persistent sepals, 
eight to ten small 
tubular petals, 
and several many- 
seeded carpels. H. 
oriented,is is the 
species which pro¬ 
duced the black hellebore of the ancients. //. 
nir/er,the Christmas-rose common in gardens, 
is a native of South and East Europe, and is 

386 


Black Hellebore or Christmas- 
rose {Hellehdrm niger ). 













HELLEN-HELMHOLTZ. 


the source of the black hellebore of modern 
pharmacopeias. II. viridis and II. foetidus 
are herbaceous plants with green flowers, 
and grow in Britain; their leaves are emetic 
and purgative. The whole of these plants 
are accounted purgative, and in large doses 
act as a narcotic acrid poison; but they are 
now little used in medicine. Veratrum al¬ 
bum, order Melanthaceae, a very different 
plant, is known as white hellebore. It is 
extremely acrid, and in the form of powder 
is used to destroy caterpillars. 

Hellen, in Greek myth, son of Deucalion 
and Pyrrha, and founder by his three sons 
Dorus, H^olus, and Xuthus of the four great 
branches of the Greek people or Hellenes. 

Hellenists, a name for those Jews who, 
especially in Egypt after the time of Alex¬ 
ander the Great, became imbued with Greek 
culture and civilization, and spoke and wrote 
in Greek. To them was due the formation 
of the peculiar dialect termed the Hellen¬ 
istic dialect of Greek, the special feature of 
which was its use of foreign, and more par¬ 
ticularly of Hebrew and Aramaic words and 
idioms. The most noted of the Jewish Hel¬ 
lenistic philosophers was Philo of Alex¬ 
andria, and the chief of the learned labours 
of the Alexandrian Jews was the Septuagint 
version of the Old Testament. 

Hellespont. See Dardanelles. 

Hellevoetsluis (hervut-slois), a fortified 
seaport of the Netherlands, pr(;v. of South 
Holland, 18 miles south-west of Rotterdam, 
on the Haringvliet, the largest mouth of the 
Rhine. William III. embarked here for 
England in 1688. Pop. 4504. 

Hell Gate, a formerly dangerous pass in 
East River, the strait which connects New 
York Bay with Long Island Sound. Rocks 
here used to form an obstruction much 
dreaded by mariners, but by extensive sub¬ 
marine milling operations and the use of 
the most powerful explosives, the passage 
has been practically cleared. 

Helm, the contrivance by which a vessel 
is steered, usually composed of three parts, 
viz. the rudder, the tiller, and the .wheel, 
except in small ve.ssels, where the wheel is 
unnecessary. See Steerincf. 

Helmet, an article of armour for the pro¬ 
tection of the head, composed of leather or 
of metals. Some of Homer’s heroes are re¬ 
presented as wearing brazen helmets, with 
towering crests. Among the Romans the 
cassis was a metallic helmet; the rjalea, a 
leathern one. 1 he earlier Greek and Roman 
helmets did not protect the face. During 

387 


the middle ages helmets were made of steel, 
frequently inlaid with gold, and provided 
with bars and flaps to cover the face in 
battle and to allow of being opened at other 
times. The full-barred helmet entirely 
covered the head, face, and neck, having in 


Full-baiTed Helmet. Open Helmet. 

front perforations for the admission of air, 
and slits through which the wearer might 
see the objects around him. The open 
helmet covered only the head, ears, and 
neck, leaving the face unguarded. Some 
open helmets had a bar or bars from the 
forehead to the chin, to guard against the 
transverse cut of a broadsword. The mo¬ 
dern military helmets afford no protection 
for the face. Firemen wear a heavy head- 
piece of leather and brass, or other mate¬ 
rials, to protect them as far as possible from 
falling ruins at conflagrations. Helmets of 
white felt, with folds of linen wrapped round 
them, are worn in India and other hot cli¬ 
mates as a protection against the sun. The 
name helmet is also given to a kind of hat 
worn by policemen. In heraldry the helmet 
is borne over a coat of arms, and the form 
and position of it vary according to the 
quality or dignity of the bearer. See Her¬ 
aldry. 

Helmet-shell, the common name of mol¬ 
luscous shells of the genus Cassis, gastero¬ 
poda of the family Buccinidse. Most of the 
species are inhabitants of tropical shore.s, 
but a few are found on the coast of the 
Mediterranean. Some of the shells attain 
a large size. Those of C. rufa, C. cornuta, 
C. txiherosa, and other species, are the mate¬ 
rial on which shell cameos are usually sculp¬ 
tured. 

Helmholtz, Hermann-Ludwig Ferdi¬ 
nand, German physiologist and physicist, 
born 1821 at Potsdam, and educated at Ber¬ 
lin. In 1848 he became professor of ana¬ 
tomy at the Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin, 
and in 1849 he obtained the chair of physi¬ 
ology at Konigsberg, from which he was* 
successively transferred to the same post at 
Bonn (1855) and at Heidelberg (1858). In 
1871 he was appointed professor of physics 





HELMONT 


HELPS. 


at Berlin. His work has been chiefly in 
those departments of physics which are in 
closest relation with physiology, notably in 
acoustics and optics. Of his many publica¬ 
tions the best known are: The Conservation 
of Force (1847), Manual of Optics (1856- 
66), Popular Lectures on Scientific Subjects 
(London, 1873 and 1881), and Sensations of 
Tone as a Physiological Basis for the His¬ 
tory of Music (1862, London 1875). He 
was ennobled by the German emperor in 
1883. He died Sept. 8, 1894. 

Helmont, John Baptist van, born in 
1577 at Brussels; in his seventeenth year 
gave public lectures on surgery at Louvain. 
Perceiving the defects of the system of 
Galen, he announced his intention of re¬ 
forming medicine, but finally renounced its 
practice, and travelled for ten years. He 
was then induced by an empirical chemist 
to take up the study of chemistry, and his 
medical tastes reviving, he retired to Vil- 
vorde, near Brussels, where he occupied 
himself till his death with medical labours. 
He boasted of having found the means of 
prolonging life, composed visionary theories 
on the constitution of man, and on diseases, 
and made some genuine discoveries in chem¬ 
istry. He was probably the first to intro¬ 
duce the term (jas into science, and was 
also first to observe the acid reaction of the 
gastric juice. The system of Van Helmont 
resembles that of Paracelsus, but is more 
clear and scientific. The emperors Rodolph 
II., Matthias, and Ferdinand IL, invited 
him to Vienna, but he preferred the inde¬ 
pendence of his laboratory. He died in 
1644, and his manuscripts were printed by 
Elzevir. 

Helmstedt, or Helmstadt (helm'stet), a 
town in Brunswick, 20 miles e.s.e. of Bruns¬ 
wick; formerly a member of the Hanseatic 
liCague. There are a fine church of the 12th 
century, and buildings in the Romanesque 
style, formerly accommodating a university 
abolished in 1809. Pop. 9800. 

Helmund, a river in Afghanistan, which 
it traverses diagonally north-east to south¬ 
west, and ultimately falls into the extensive 
Lake Hamoon, after a course of about 550 
miles. Its source is 11,500 feet above sea- 
level, 

Heloder'ma, a Mexican genus of lizards, 
^f which one species at least, //. horridum, 
has been proved to be venomous, all its 
teeth being furnished with poison glands. 
It is about 3 ft. in length, has a thick and 
squat body covered with rou^di scales, forms 


burrows under the roots of trees, is nocturnal 
in habit, and is said to feed on insects, 
worms, millepeds, &c. 

Heloise, Eloise (el-o-ez), celebrated for 
her beauty and wit, but still more on ac¬ 
count of her love for Abelard; was born in 
Paris in 1101. After the mutilation of her 
lover she was persuaded by him to take the 
veil at Argenteuil, and ultimately became 
prioress of the convent there until 1129, 
when she entered, with some of her nuns, 
the oratory of the Paraclete, built by Abe¬ 
lard at Nogent-on-the-Seine, where she 
lived in exemplary piety. She died in 1164. 
Contemporary writers speak in high terms 
of her genius. She understood Latin, Greek, 
Hebrew, was familiar with the ancients, and 
well read in philosophy and theology. 

HeTots, slaves in ancient Sparta. They 
were the property of the state, which alone 
had the disposal of their life and freedom, 
and which assigned them to certain citizens, 
by whom they were empl(»yed in private 
labours. Agriculture and all mechanical 
arts at Sparta were in their hands, and they 
were also obliged to bear arms for the state 
in case of necessity. They behaved with 
great bravery in the Peloponnesian war, 
and were rewarded with liberty (431 B.C.), 
but 2000 appear to have been subsequently 
secretly massacred. They several times rose 
against their masters, but were always and 
finally reduced. 

Helps, Arthur, English essayist and his¬ 
torian, born 1817. He graduated at Cam¬ 
bridge in 1835, and from 1859 until his 
death in 1875 was clerk of the privy-coun¬ 
cil. His works, which are for the most 
part of a pleasant moralizing type with 
many indications of a fine, if not of a robust 
personality, comprise an early volume of 
essays; Thoughts in the Cloister and the 
Crowd (1835); Catherine Dougkis, a Tra¬ 
gedy (1839); Essays written during the In¬ 
tervals of Business (1841); Claims of Labour 
(1844)', the series entitled Friends in Coun¬ 
cil (1847-59); Companions of my Solitude 
(1851); Brevia (1871); Conversations on 
War (1871); Thoughts on Government 
(1872); Animals and Their Masters (1873); 
Social Pressure (1875); the Spanish Con¬ 
quest of America (1855-61); Lives of Pizarro 
(1869) and Cortes (1871); Realmah, a Ro¬ 
mance (1868); and Ivan de Brion, a Russian 
story (1874). He also edited the Prince 
Consort’s Speeches (1862), and the Queen’s 
Leaves from a Journal (1868), receiving 
knighthood shortly before his death. 

3S8 



HEMANS. 


HELSINGBORG 


Helsingborg, a seaport in Sweden, at the 
narrowest part of the Sound, opposite Elsi¬ 
nore. It has manufactures of leather, dye- 
works, tile-works, salt-works, and a spacious 
harbour. Pop. 1891, 20,897. 

Helsingfors, a seaport of Russia, capital 
of Finland, on a peninsula in the gulf of 
that name, 180 miles w.N.w. St. Petersburg. 
Helsingfors is the residence of the gover¬ 
nor, the seat of important courts and public 
offices,^and contains a university, removed 
from Abo in 1827. It has manufactures of 
linen, sail-cloth, and tobacco, an important 
trade in timber, corn, and fish, and one of 
the best harbours in the Baltic. Pop. 
1889, 61,583. 

Helsingor. See Elsinore. 

Heist, Bartholomew van der, a most 
distinguished Dutch portrait-painter, born 
at Haarlem in 1611 or 1612. His picture 
of a banquet of a company of the civic 
guard in the Stadthouse at Amsterdam was 
called by Sir Joshua Reynolds ‘perhaps the 
first picture of portraits in the world.’ He 
died at Amsterdam (where he had long re¬ 
resided) in 1670. 

Helston, a municipal, and until 1885 pari, 
borough of England, county of Cornwall, 
on an acclivity on the left bank of the 
Cober, 9 miles s.w. Falmouth. Principal 
industries, mining and shoemaking, and 
there is some shipping trade from Port 
Leven, 3 miles distant. Pop. mun. bor. 
3432; pari. bor. 7935. 

Helvellyn, one of the highest mountains 
of England, county of Cumberland, between 
Keswick and Ambleside; height, 3313 
feet. 

Helvetian Republic, the name given to 
the republic established in Switzerland by 
the French in 1798. See Switzerland. 

Helvetic Confession, the name of a docu¬ 
ment drawn up by Martin Bucer in 1536 
to settle the controversy between the Luth¬ 
erans and the Zwinglians; and also of one 
drawn up by Bullinger (15G6) at the request 
of Friedrich III., elector of the Palatinate, 
and adopted in Switzerland, the Palatinate, 
France, Hungary, Poland, and Scotland. 

' Helve'tii, anciently a Gallic or Celtic na¬ 
tion, dwelling in the country now nearly 
corresponding with Switzerland. They were 
not much known to the Romans until the 
time of Julius Caesar, who, as governor of 
Gaul, prevented their intended emigration, 
and after many bloody battles pressed them 
back within their frontiers. After their sub- 
iection bv Caesar several Roman colonies 

389 


were established amongst them. On the 
death of Nero the Helvetii, for refusing to 
acknowledge Vitellius as emperor, were 
mercilessly punished by Caecina, one of his 
generals, and thenceforth almost disappear 
as a people. 

Helvetius (el-va-si-us), Claude Adrien, 
French philosophical writer, born in 1715. 
Having made a fortune as a farmer-general, 
he devoted himself to philosophic work. In 
1758 he published his one important book, 
De I’Esprit (On the Mind), the materialism 
of which drew upon him many attacks. It 
was condemned by the Sorbonne, and pub¬ 
licly burned by decree of the Parliament of 
Paris. In 1764 he went to England, and 
the year afterwards to Germany, where Fre¬ 
derick the Great and other German princes 
received him with many proofs of esteem. 
He died in 1771 in Paris. He also wrote a 
work, De 1’Homme, and an allegorical poem, 
Le Bonheur. 

Helvoetsluis (hel'vut-slois). See llelle- 
voetsluis. 

He'mans, Felicia Dorothea, English 
poetess, born at Liverpool in 1794; maiden 
name Brown. She first appeared as an 
authoress in 1808, with a volume entitled 
Early Blossoms, which was followed in 
1812 by her more successful volume. The 
Domestic Affections. In the same year she 
married Captain Hemans, who, however, 
left her six years later, shortly before the 
birth of her fifth son. She then devoted 
herself to literature, winning public notice 
by her poems entitled The Restoration of 
the Works of Art to Italy, The Sceptic, 
Modern Greece, and Dartmoor, the last, in 
1821, gaining the prize of the Royal Society 
of Literature. In 1825 she took up her 
residence at Rhyllon, near St. Asaph, where 
she wrote her Lays of Many Lands, Forest 
Sanctuary, and Records of Woman. In 
1828 she changed her residence to Waver- 
tree, near Liverpool, where, in 1830, she 
published one of her most popular volumes, 
entitled The Songs of the Affections. In 
1831 she removed to Dublin, where she 
published her Hymns for Childhood, Na¬ 
tional Lyrics and Songs for Music, and 
Scenes and Hymns of Life. Her death 
took place in 1835. Her poetry is essen¬ 
tially lyrical and descriptive, and is always 
sweet, natural, and pleasing. In her earlier 
pieces she was imitative, but she ultimately 
asserted her independence, and produced 
many short poems of great beauty and 
pathos, and evidently destined to live. 



HEMATINE- 

Hem'atine, or H^ematine, the red colour¬ 
ing matter of the blood occurring in solution 
in the interior of the blood corpuscles or 
cells. It is the only structure of the body, 
except hair, which contains iron. 

Hem'atite, a name applied to two ores 
of iron, red hematite and brown hematite. 
They are both of a fibrous structure, and 
the fibres, though sometimes nearly parallel, 
usually diverge or even radiate from a centre. 
They rarely occur amorphous, but almost 
always in concretions, reniform, globular, 
botryoidal, stalactitic, &c. The red hema¬ 
tite is a variety of the red oxide, and is one 
of the most important iron-ores. The brown 
hematite is a variety of the brown oxide or 
hydrate; its streak and powder are always 
of a brownish yellow. See Iron. 

Hematoxylin. See Iliematoxylin. 

Hemeralo'pia, a defect in the sight in 
consequence of which a person can see only 
by artificial light; day blindness. It is also 
used, however, for exactly the opposite de¬ 
fect of vision. See Nyctalopia. 

Hemerobi'idae, the lace-wing flies, a fa¬ 
mily of neuropterous insects. 

Hemerocal'lis, a genus of Liliaceae. See 
Day-lily. 

Hemides'mus, a genus of twining plants, 
nat. order Asclepiadacese, having opposite 
leaves, and cymes of small greenish flowers. 
U. indicus yields the Indian sarsaparilla, a 
reputed alterative, diuretic, and tonic, which 
is rarely employed in England. 

Hemimetab'ola, the section of the class 
Insecta which undergo an incomplete meta¬ 
morphosis, the larva differing from the per¬ 
fect insect chiefly in the absence of wings 
and in size. 

Hemio'pia, a defect of vision in which the 
patient sees only a part of the object he 
looks at, the middle of it, its circumference, 
or its upper or lower part, or more commonly 
one lateral half being completely obscured. 

Hemiple'gia, Hemiplkgy, a paralysis af¬ 
fecting one-half of the body. 

Hemipo'dius, a genus of rasorial birds 
allied to the quails. The swift-flying hemi- 
podius is the little quail of New South 
Wales. 

Hemip'tera, an order of four-winged in¬ 
sects, having a suctorial proboscis, the outer 
wings, or wing-covers, either entirely formed 
of a substance intermediate between the 
elytra of beetles and the ordinary membra¬ 
nous wings of most insects, or leathery at 
the base and transparent towards the tips 
(Jiemdytra). _ In one group (Aphides) all 


- HEMLOCK. 

the wings when present are membranous. 
The true wings are straight and un plaited. 
Some feed on vegetable and some on animal 
juices. Those having the upper wings of a 
uniform substance throughout (whether lea¬ 
thery or transparent) have been constituted 
into a section, and by some naturalists into 
an order named Homoptera; those having 
them partly leathery and partly transparent 
constitute the section or order Heteroptera. 
To the Hemiptera belong the plant-lice, 
boat-fly, cochineal insect, locust, bug, lan¬ 
tern-fly, &c. 

Hemisphere, half a sphere, especially one 
of the halves into which the earth may be 
supposed to be divided. It is common to 
speak of the Eastern Hemisphere and the 
Western Hemisphere, the former, also called 
the Old World, comprising Europe, Asia, 
Africa, Australia, &c.; the latter. North and 
South America, &c. The boundary between 
the two is quite arbitrary, and a more natural 
division of the earth is into the northern 
and the southern hemisphere, the equator 
forming the dividing line. 

Hemlock, a poisonous plant, Conium 
maculdtum, nat. 
order Umbellif- 
erae, supposed to 
be identical with 
the plant koneion 
of the Greeks. It 
is a tall, erect, 
branching bien¬ 
nial, with asmooth, 
shining, hollow 
stem, usually 
marked with pur¬ 
plish spots, ele¬ 
gant, much - di 

videdleaves,which Hemlock (Conium maeulMum). 
when bruised emit 

a nauseous odour, and white flowers in 
compound umbels of ten or more rays, sur¬ 
rounded by a general involucre of three 
to seven leaflets. It is found in Bri¬ 
tain and throughout Europe and temper¬ 
ate Asia in waste places, banks, and under 
walls. It is said to be fatal to cows when 
they eat it, but that horses, goats, and 
sheep may feed upon it without danger. 
In the human subject it causes paralysis, 
convulsions, and death. The poison ad¬ 
ministered to Socrates is supposed to have 
been a decoction of it, though others are of 
opinion that the potion was obtained from 
water-hemlock {Cicuta virosa). Hemlock is 
a powerful sedative, and is used medicinally. 

390 





HEMLOCK 


HEMP. 


The extract is considered the best prepara¬ 
tion. It is often serviceable as a substitute 
for, or an accompaniment to, opium. The 
hemlock {Conium maculatam) is a com¬ 
mon plant in the United States. 

Hemlock, or Hemlock Spruce, a name 
given to an American fir (AWes canadensis) 
from its branches resembling in tenuity 
and position the common hemlock. The 
bark contains tannin and is largely used 
as a substitute for oak-bark in tanning 
leather. 

Hem'orrhage, a flux of blood from the ves¬ 
sels containing it, whether from a rupture or 
any other cause. A hemorrhage from the 
lungs is called hemoptysis; from the urinary 
organs, hematuria; from the stomach, hevut,- 
temesis; from the nose, epistaxis; the treat¬ 
ment of course varying with the cause and 
seat of the mischief. 

Hem'orrhoids, signifying an affection of 
the rectum, otherwise called piles. In gen¬ 
eral, hemorrhoids manifest themselves be¬ 
tween the period of puberty and old age, 
although infants and aged people are not 
entirely* exempt from attacks. In some 
cases they appear to be the effect of a cer¬ 
tain hereditary disposition, but any circum¬ 
stance which produces a tendency or stag¬ 
nation of the blood at the extremity of the 
rectum is to be reckoned among the local 
causes. The accumulation of fecal matter 
in the intestines, efforts to expel urine, the 
obstruction of any of the viscera, especially 
of the liver, the frequent use of hot bathing, 
of drastic purges, long continuance in a sit¬ 
ting posture, riding on horseback, pregnancy 
—such are some of I .j ordinary causes of 
hemorrhoids. They are distinguished into 
several sorts, as external, when apparent at 
the anus; internal, when concealed within 
the orifice; blind or open, regular or irregu¬ 
lar, active or passive, periodical or anoma¬ 
lous, &c. The best mode of treatment is to 
recur to hygienic rather than medicinal in¬ 
fluences. The subject should avoid violent 
exercise; the food should not be too stimu¬ 
lating or nutritious. Travelling, or an 
active life, should succeed to sedentary 
habits. Constipation should be remedied 
by laxatives or gentle purgatives. Any¬ 
thing which may be productive of a local 
heat should be avoided; as warm seats, soft 
beds, too much sleep. If the pain is con¬ 
siderable recourse should be had to seda¬ 
tives, gentle bleeding, leeches. The use of 
suppositories containing drugs, such as tan¬ 
nic acid or extract of witch-hazel (hazeline), 

391 



will be found very useful; in mild cases iodo¬ 
form suppositories may be curative. If the 
disease appears under a more severe form a 
surgical operation may become necessary. 

Hemp {Cannabis satlra), a plant, the 
only known species of the genus Cannabis, 
nat. order Caunabinacete. It is an annual 
herbaceous plant; the leaves are divided 
into five lanceolate and 
coarsely serrate leaflets; 
the male flowers, which 
are on separate stems, 
are green, resembling 
those of the hop; the 
female flowers are in¬ 
conspicuous, and the 
fruit is a little hard cap¬ 
sule containing a single 
seed. It is a native of 
W estern and Central 
Asia, but has long been 
naturalized in Brazil 
and tro[)ical Africa, and nem-p(Cannabissativa). 
is extensively cultivated 
in Italy and many other European coun¬ 
tries, particularly Russia and Poland. The 
Indian variety, often known as Cannabis 
indica, is the source of the narcotic drug 
variously known as hashish, bhang, or gun- 
jah. The hemp fibre is tough and strong, 
and peculiarly adapted for weaving into 
coarse fabrics such as sail - cloth, and for 
twisting into ropes and cables. Immense 
quantities are exported from Russia. The 
finer sorts are used for shirtings, sheetings, 
&c., which, though coarser than that made 
from flax, are very much stronger and equally 
susceptible of being bleached. The hemp of 
England is very superior, but the plant does 
not pay the farmer, and very little of it is 
grown. In some of the United States it is 
a crop of considerable importance. The seed 
must be sown thin, not more than 1 to 2 
bushels to an acre. Small paths are often 
left open along the field lengthwise, at about 
7 feet distant from each other, to allow the 
plucking of the male plants first, as the 
female require to remain standing a month 
longer to admit of the seed becoming ripe. 
But in some parts the whole crop is cut 
at once, plants for seed being separately 
cultivated. The plant being stripped of 
its leaves, and dried in the open air, may 
be stored, but when steeped green it turns 
out of a better colour. The steeping takes 
from four to eleven days, and the operation 
is known to be completed by the inner reed 
or woody fibre separating easily from the 




HEMP-HENNA. 


fibres of the outer bark. When thoroughly 
steeped it is taken out of the water and 
spread out in rows on the grass to bleach. 
This takes three weeks or more, during 
which period it requires constant turning 
with a light, long pole. After drying it is 
scutched or broken by breaks and scutching- 
stocks, resembling those employed for flax. 
Beating is the next operation, which sepa¬ 
rates the ‘boon’ from the fibre. The hemp 
is now ready for being heckled, after which 
it may be spun. Hemp-seed is much used 
as food for cage-birds, and also yields an 
oil. Sisal hemp or (henequen) and Manilla 
hemp are not true hemps. 

Hemp, African. See Bowstring Hemp. 

Hemp-agrimony. See Enpatorium. 

Hemp-nettle, the English name for Ga- 
leopsis (which see). 

Hemp-palm, a Chinese and Japanese 
species of palm {Chamcerops excelsa), of the 
fibres of whose leaves cordage is made, 
while hats and even cloaks are made from 
the leaves themselves. 

Hems, or Homs (Roman, Emesa), a town 
of Syria, 85 to 90 miles north-east of Da¬ 
mascus. It is fortified, and has an active 
trade. The plains of Hems were the scene 
of the defeat of Zenobia by Aurelian in 
272 A.D.; and of the defeat of the forces of 
the sultan of Turkey by Ibrahim Pasha in 
1832. Pop. 30,000. 

Henbane, a plant of the genus Hyoscya- 
mus, nat. order Solanaceae. The only Brit¬ 
ish species is H. niger, a native of Europe 
and Northern 
Asia. It is a 
coarse erect 
biennial herb, 
found in waste 
ground and 
loose dry soil, 
having soft, 
clammy, hairy 
foliage of dis¬ 
agreeable odour, 
pale yellowish- 
brown flowers 
streaked with 
purple veins, 
and a five-tooth¬ 
ed calyx. The 
expressed juice of the leaves and seeds is 
often used as a sedative, antispasmodic, and 
narcotic, having in many cases the great 
advantage over laudanum of not producing 
constipation. When taken in considerable 
quantity it proves quickly fatal to man and 



Henbane {Hyoscyamus niger). 


most animals, particularly to domestic fowls, 
whence the name. 

Henderson, Ky. Pop. 1890, 8835. 

Hendricks, Thomas A., Vice-President 
of the United States, was born in Ohio in 
1819. He served in the Indiana Legisla¬ 
ture and in both Houses of Congress. As 
U. S. Senator be was pronounced in favor 
of the Union. In 1872 was elected Gov¬ 
ernor of Indiana. In 1876 and 1884 was 
candidate for the Vice-Presidency, being 
elected in the latter year. He died in 1885. 

Hengist, a prince of the Jutes, founder 
*of the Kingdom of Kent in Great Britain, 
in conjunction with his brother Horsa. In 
449 the Britons sued for aid from the 
Saxons against the inroads of the Scots and 
Piets. The Saxons under Hengist and 
Horsa accordingly landed at the mouth of 
the Thames, and defeated the northern 
tribes near Stamford in 450 a.d. Being 
reinforced from home they afterwards united 
with the Scots and Piets against the Bri¬ 
tons, whom they ultimately dispossessed. 
Hengist, who had lost his brother in the 
battle near Eglesford (now Ailsford) in 445 
A.D., founded the Kingdom of Kent, estab¬ 
lished his residence in Canterbury, and 
died about the year 488. By some recent 
writers the brothers are, with insufficient 
reason, regarded as mythical personages. 

Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm, German 
divine and commentator, born in 1802, and 
long professor of Old Testament exegesis 
at the University of Berlin. He died in 
1869. His influence as leader of the oi'tho- 
dox party was established by the publication 
of the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung (1827), 
of which he was editor, and which had for 
contributors Otto and Ludwig von Gerlach, 
Neander, Tholuck, Lange, Huber, Stahl, 
Vilmar, and Leo. His works include a 
translation of Aristotle’s Metaphysics; a 
Christology of the Old Testament, and In¬ 
troduction to the Old Testament; a Com¬ 
mentary on the Psalms, the Revelation of 
St. John; a History of the Kingdom of 
God in the Old Testament, &c. 

Hen-harrier, a species of hawk of the 
genus Circus, C. cyaneus. Seq Harrier. 

Henley-on-Thames, a municipal borough 
of England, in Oxfordshire, on the left bank 
of the Thames, here crossed by a handsome 
bridge, 35 miles west of London. Pop. 
4603. 

Henna, a shrub {Lawsonia inermis), nat. 
order Lythraceae, bearing opposite entire 
leaves and numerous small white frasrrant 

392 



HENNESSY - 

flowers disposed in terminal panicles. Ex ¬ 
ternally it bears considerable resemblance 
to the European privet. It grows in moist 



Henna Plant {Laiosonia inermis). 


situations throughout North Africa, Ara¬ 
bia, Persia, and the East Indies, and has 
acquired celebrity from being used by the 
inhabitants of those countries to dye yellow 
the nails of their fingers and the manes, 
hoofs, &c., of their horses. 

Hennessy, Right Rev. John, D. D., 
R. C. Archbishop of Dubuque, was born, 
August 20, 1825, in the county Limerick, 
Ireland. He left Ireland in 1847, and pur¬ 
sued his theological studies in Carondelet 
seminary, near St. Louis. After arduous 
labours as missionary in Missouri he was 
professor in Carondelet seminary in 1854, 
president in 1857 ; afterwards pastor in St. 
Joseph, Mo.; elected Bishop of Dubuque 
in 1866; and was made Archbishop in 1893. 

Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. of 
England; youngest child of Henry IV. of 
France, by his second wife, Maria de’ Me¬ 
dici; born in Paris 1609. The proposed 
marriage between Charles, Prince of Wales, 
and the Infanta of Spain having failed, a 
matrimonial negotiation was opened with 
Henrietta, whom he had first met at a ball 
in Paris while on his way to Spain. The 
marriage was celebrated by proxy at Paris 
in 1625, but her first popularity in England 
was soon destroyed by her bigotry, hauteur, 
and despotic ideas as to divine right. Much 
of the subsequent procedure which brought 
Charles to the block may be traced indi¬ 
rectly to her influence. On the breaking 

393 


-HENRY n. 

out of civil war she proceeded to Holland, 
procured money and troops, and afterwards 
joined Charles at Oxford. She again went 
to the Continent in 1644, and resided in 
France till the Restoration. On that occa¬ 
sion she visited England, but soon returned 
to France, and died near Paris in 1669. 

Henry I. of Germany, sumamed The Fowl¬ 
er, according to tradition because his elec¬ 
tion to the German empire was announced 
to him while fowling; born in 876; the son 
of Otho the Illustrious, duke of Saxony. 
Henry, on the death of his father, became 
Duke of Saxony and Thuringia. He was 
elected emperor of Germany in 919, and 
was the true founder of the empire. By 
his prudence and activity Suabia and Ba¬ 
varia were forced to tender allegiance, and 
Lorraine was reunited to the German Em¬ 
pire in 925. He was defeated, however, by 
the Hungarians, and forced to pay a yearly 
tribute to obtain a truce for nine years. He 
spent this period in developing a sound mili¬ 
tary organization, and turning his arms 
against various Slavonic tribes in the south, 
was everywhere victorious. At the end of 
the truce with the Hungarians he refused 
the tribute, and completely routed them in 
933. Besides his military reforms he dimi¬ 
nished the feudal privileges, and granted to 



Henrietta Maria. 


the cities of the empire their first municipal 
charters. He died in 936. 

Henry II., the Saint, Emperor of Ger¬ 
many, born 972, was a son of Henry the 
Quarreller of Bavaria, and great-grandson 
of the Emperor Henry I. He inherited 



HENRY III.-HENRY V. 


Bavaria in 995, and on the death of Otho 

III. in 1002 laid claim and was elected to 
the empire. He had to proceed to Italy to 
assert his sovereignty there, the Lombard 
cities having chosen Harduin of Ivrea as 
their king. During his absence Boleslas of 
Poland extended his sway over the whole 
of Bohemia, but after repeated campaigns 
Henry succeeded in recovering Bohemia, 
and in 1018, in the Peace of Budissin (Baut¬ 
zen), reduced him to complete subjection. 
In the midst of these campaigns against 
Boleslas he made another expedition into 
Italy (1013) against Harduin. On this occa¬ 
sion Henry was crowned emperor by Pope 
Benedict VIIL He made a third expedi¬ 
tion into Italy in 1022 to aid Benedict 
against the Greeks. He died in 1024. 

Henry III., Emperor of Germany, the 
second belonging to the house of the Salian 
Franks, son of the Emperor Conrad II.; 
born in 1017; chosen king in 1026; suc¬ 
ceeded his father in the imperial dignity 
1039. He weakened the power of the great 
feudal lords; and forced the Duke of Bo¬ 
hemia in 1042, and the king of Hungary 
in 1044, and again in 1047, to accept their 
dominions as imperial fiefs. His influence 
was also paramount in Italy, especially in 
Milan, and in the south, where the Nor¬ 
mans in Apulia and Calabria paid him hom¬ 
age. In 1046 he deposed the rival popes 
Benedict IX., Sylvester III., and Gregory 

IV. , and caused Suitger, bishop of Bamberg, 
to be elected in their stead as Clement II. 
His efforts to secure the permanence of the 
influence of the empire over the see of 
Home were thwarted by Cardinal Hilde¬ 
brand (Gregory VII.). He died in 1055. 
His first wife was a daughter of Canute the 
Great of England. 

Henry IV., German emperor, son of Henry 
III., w'as born in 1050, and at the death of 
his father was only five years old. His whole 
life was a series of troubles, partly of his 
own causing. His severe treatment of the 
Saxons led to a rising which was cruelly 
punished. His treatment of the concjuered 
people was such that they complained to 
the pope, and Gregory VII. (Hildebrand), 
accordingly summoned Henry, in 1076, to 
appear before him at Rome and answer 
the charges, at the same time forbidding 
the sale of ecclesiastical dignities. Henry 
not only disregarded the threat, but insti¬ 
gated the bishops, assembled by his order 
at Worms, to renounce their obedience to 
the pope. Gregory, however, pronounced 


sentence of excommunication against him, 
and Henry, finding himself deserted, was 
obliged to go to Italy and make his submis¬ 
sion to the pope (1077). The insolence 
with which the pope used his victory pro¬ 
duced a reaction; the Italian princes, who 
had long been dissatisfied with Gregory, 
offered Henry their assistance. The Ger¬ 
man princes, however, at the instigation of 
the pope, elected Rudolph, duke of Suabia, 
king. Henry hastened back to Germany 
and overcame his rival, who lost his life 
in 1080. Gregory again excommunicated 
Henry; but at the Council of Brixen, in 
1080, he was deposed by the German and 
Italian bishops as a heretic and a sorcerer, 
and Guibert, archbishop of Ravenna (Cle¬ 
ment III.) set up in his place. In 1084 
Henry succeeded in establishing Clement 
at Rome, but was obliged to return to Ger¬ 
many to maintain his ground against two 
rivals who successively arose. In 1085 
Henry was again obliged to cross the Alps 
in aid of his proteg^ Clement III. But 
the dissatisfaction against him in Germany 
had not subsided, and though he succeeded 
in crushing the rebellion of his eldest son, 
Conrad, who died deserted at Florence in 
1101, his second son Henry made himself 
master of his father’s person in 1105 by 
stratagem, and compelled him to abdicate 
the throne at Ingelheim. Henry I V. ended 
his life and his sorrows in neglect at Liege 
in 1106. 

Henry V., Emperor of Germany, the son 
and successor of Henry IV. (see above), was 
born in 1081. On his ascension the ques¬ 
tion of investiture distracted the empire 
anew. Pope Pascal would onl}’^ confer the 
imperial crown upon condition that the 
rights claimed by Gregory should be for¬ 
mally conceded. Henry therefore seized 
the pope at the altar, and imprisoned him 
until he yielded two months later, and 
crowned Henry in April 1811. Disturb¬ 
ances, however, arose in Germany, especially 
with Lothaire of Saxony, and the })ope, de¬ 
claring that his peace with the empex'or had 
been compulsory, fomented the strife. The 
war continued two years, and devastated 
Germany, and after a second expedition to 
Italy and excommunication by successive 
popes, Henry was compelled to yield in the 
matter of investiture, and in 1122 subscribed 
the Concordat of Worms. He died at Ut¬ 
recht in 1125, and was the last of the Salic 
or Frankish family of emperors, which was 
succeeded by the Suabian house. He married 

394 


HENRY VI.- 

MjitilJa, a daughter of Henry I. of Eng¬ 
land. 

Henry VI. , German emperor, son of Frede¬ 
rick I. and Beatrice of Burgundy, the third 
emperor of the house of Hohenstaufen, born 
in 1165, crowned king in 1169, succeeded 
his father as emperor in 1190. He kept 
Richard Coeur du Lion in prison, and ob¬ 
tained a large ransom for him. He died in 
1197. 

Henry VII., Emperor of Germany, born 
in 1262, was chosen emperor in 1308. Among 
the first acts of his reign were recognition of 
the independence of the Swiss cantons of 
Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden, and the 
granting of the Kingdom of Bohemia to his 
son John. He compelled the Milanese to 
give him the iron crown of Lombardy, sup¬ 
pressed by force the revolt which then 
broke out in Upper Italy, captured part of 
Rome, which was in the hands of Neapoli¬ 
tan troops, and was crowned Roman Em¬ 
peror by two cardinals. He died suddenly 
in 1313. 

Henry II., King of France, born in 1519, 
succeeded his father, Francis I., in 1547. 
Throughout his reign his mistress, Diana of 
Poitiers, exercised an important influence 
over king and court. After a brief war 
with England for the recovery of Boulogne, 
a war of longer duration and more serious 
results originated in 1551 in disputes be¬ 
tween Henry and the pope as to the duchies 
of Parma and Placentia, and continued to 
devastate Europe till the general peace of 
Cflteau-Cambresis, 1559. To confirm the 
peace Philip IL, become a widower by the 
death of Mary of England, was to marry 
Elizabeth, Henry’seldest daughter by Catha¬ 
rine de’ Medici. In the course of a tourney 
held to celebrate the event, Henry was 
naortally wounded by a splinter from the 
lance of Lord Montgomery, captain of the 
Scottish guard. He was succeeded in 1559 
by his eldest son, Francis II. 

Henry III., King of France, third son of 
Henry II. and Catharine de Medici, born 
in 1551^ succeeded his brother, Charles 
IX., in 1574. In the previous year he had 
been chosen king of Poland, w'hich he was 
obliged to quit secretly when called to the 
throne of France. In 1576, after a civil 
war, he granted to the Protestants the 
favourable edict of Beaulieu, but the con¬ 
cession led to the formation of the League, 
and Henry, to re-establish his authority, 
declared himself its head. Civil war, how¬ 
ever, again broke out, and though hostili* 


-HENRY IV. 

ties were again put an end to by the Peace 
of Bergerac in 1577, they were renewed 
in 1580 until the Peace of Fleix (Nov. 
1580). The death of his brother the Due 
d’Anjou in 1584, which left Henry of 
Navarre, a Calvinist, heir-apparent to the 
throne, brought on another war, called the 
war of the Three Henries, the leading persons 
engaged in it besides the king being Henry 
of Guise, the real head of the League, and 
Henry of Navarre. In 1588 Henry of 
Guise expelled the king from his capital. 
An apparent reconciliation at Blois was fol¬ 
lowed by the assassination of the Guises, 
and Henry, finding himself everywhere op¬ 
posed by the Catholic party, was compelled 
to ally himself with Henry of Navarre. 
The two princes advanced on Paris, but in 
1589 Henry III. was stabbed by Jacques 
Clement, a Dominican, and died next day. 
He was the last of the branch of Orleans- 
Angouleme of the stock of the Valois, and 
was succeeded by Henry of Navarre, the 
first of the house of Bourbon. 

Henry IV. of France was son of Anthony 
of Bourbon, duke of Vendome, and of Jeanne 
d’Albret, daughter of Henry, king of Na¬ 
varre, and herself afterwards queen of Na¬ 
varre. He was born in Dec. 1553, at Pau. 
Educated by his mother in the Calvinistic 
faith, he early joined, at her wish, the Pro¬ 
testant army of France, and served under 
Admiral Coligny. In 1572 he mai'ried 
Margaret of Valois, sister of Charles IX., 
and after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, 
which took place during the marriage fes¬ 
tivities, was forced to adopt the Catholic 
creed. In 1576 he escaped from Paris, re¬ 
tracted at Tours his enforced abjuration of 
Calvinism, put himself at the head of the 
Huguenots, and took a leading part in all 
the subsequent religious wars. On becom¬ 
ing presumptive heir to the crown in 1584 
he was obliged to resox’t to arms to assert 
his claims. In 1587 he defeated the army 
of the League at Coutras, and after the 
death of Henry III. gained the battles of 
Anpxes (1589) and Ivri (1590). He was 
obliged, however, to raise the siege of Paris; 
and convinced that a peaceful occupation of 
the throne was impossible without his pro¬ 
fessing the Catholic faith, he became nomi¬ 
nally a Catholic in 1593. After his formal 
coronation in 1594 only three provinces held 
out against him—Burgundy, reduced by the 
victory of Fontaine-Fran 9 aise in 1595; 
Picardy, reduced by the capture of Amiens 
in 1596; and Brittany, which came into his 



HENRY 1.-HENRY II. 


hands by the submission of the Duke of 
Mercoeur in the spring of 1598. The war 
against Spain was concluded in 1598 by 
the Peace of Vervins to the advantage of 
France. The same year was signalized by 
the granting of the edict of Nantes, which 
secured to the Protestants entire religious 
liberty. He made use of the tranquillity 
which followed to restore the internal pros¬ 
perity of his kingdom, and particularly the 
wasted finances, in which he was successful 
with the aid of his prime-minister Sully. 
At the instance of Sully Henry divorced 
Margaret of Valois, and in 1600 married 
Maria de’ Medici, niece of the Grand-duke 
of Tuscany, mother of Louis XIII. She was 
crowned at St. Denis in 1610, but on the 
following day Henry was stabbed by a 
fanatic named Ravaillac, while examining 
the preparations for the queen’s entry into 
Paris. The great benefits which Henry IV. 
bestowed upon France entitle him to the 
designation which he himself assumed at an 
assembly of the Notables at Rouen in 1596, 
the Regenerator of France {Restaurateur de 
la France). 

Henry I., King of England, surnamed 
Beauclerc (‘fine scholar’), youngest son of 
William the Conqueror, was born at Selby 
in Yorlcshire, in 1068. He was hunting 
with William Rufus when that prince was 
killed, in 1100, and instantly riding to Lon¬ 
don, caused himself to be proclaimed king, 
to the prejudice of his elder brother Robert, 
then absent as a Crusader. He re-estab¬ 
lished by charter the laws of Edward the 
Confessor, recalled Anselm to the primacy, 
and married Matilda, daughter of Malcolm 
III. of Scotland, thus conciliating in turn 
the people, the church, and the Scots. 
Robert landed an army, but was pacified 
with a pension, and the promise of succes¬ 
sion in event of his brother’s decease. Soon 
after, however, Henry invaded Normandy, 
took Robert prisoner in 1106, and reduced 
the duchy. He was successful also in the 
struggle with France. The last years of 
his reign were very troubled. In 1120 his 
only son William was drowned in returning 
from Normandy, where, three years later, 
a revolt occurred in favour of Robert’s son. 
The Welsh also were a source of disturbance. 
Henry appointed as his heir his daughter 
Matilda or Maud, whom he had married 
first to the Emperor Henry V., and then to 
Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou. Henry 
died at Rouen in 1135, and was succeeded 
by Stephen. 


Henry II., King of England, first of the 
Plantagenet line, born in Normandy in 1133, 
was son of Geoffrey, count of Anjou, and Ma¬ 
tilda, daughter of Henry I. He was invested 
with the Duchy of Nor¬ 


mandy, by the consent 
of his mother, in 1150; 
in 1151 he succeeded 
to Anjou and Maine, 
and by a marriage with 
Eleanor of Guienne 
gained Guienne and 
Poitou. In 1152 he 
invaded England, but 
a compromise was ef¬ 
fected, by which Ste¬ 
phen was to retain the 
crown, and Henry to 
succeed at his death, 
which took place in 
1154. The commence¬ 
ment of his reign was 
marked by the dismis¬ 
sal of the foreign mer¬ 
cenaries; and although 
involved with his 
brother Geoffrey, who 
attempted to seize 
Anjou and Maine, and 
in a temporary dispute 
withFrance,he reigned 
prosperously till the 
contest with Thomas 
Becket regarding the 



Constitutions of Clar¬ 
endon. Although sufficiently submissive 
after Becket’s death in the way of penance 
and expiation, Henry only gave up the article 
in the Constitutions of Clarendon which for¬ 
bade appeals to the court of Rome in eccle¬ 
siastical cases. Before this matter was 
terminated, Henry, in 1171, completed the 
conquest of Ireland, a great part of which 
had been reduced by Richard de Clare, earl of 
Pembroke, commonly known as Strongbow. 
Henry’s last years were embittered by his 
sons, to whom he had assigned various terri¬ 
tories. The eldest son, Henry, who had 
been not only declared heir to England, 
Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and Touraine, 
but actually crowned in his father’s lifetime, 
was induced by the French monarch to de¬ 
mand of his father the immediate resignation 


either of the kingdom of England or of the 
dukedom of Normandy.' Queen Eleanor ex¬ 
cited her other sons, Richard and Geoffrey, 
to make similar claims; Louis and William 
of Scotland gave them support; and a gen- 


396 







































HENRY HI.-HENRY V. 


eral invasion of Henry’s dominions was be¬ 
gun in 1173 by an attack on the frontiers of 
Normandy, and an invasion of England by 
the Scots, attended by considerable disturb¬ 
ance in England. Conciliating the church by 
his penance, Henry took prompt action; Wil¬ 
liam of Scotland was captured, and an ac¬ 
commodation arrived at with Henry’s sons. 
These, however, once more became turbu¬ 
lent, and though the deaths of Henry and 
Ceotfrey reduced the number of centres of 
disturbance, the king was forced to accept 
humiliating terms from Richard and Philip 
of France. He died shortly after at Chinon 
in 1189. He ranks among the greatest 
English kings both in soldiership and state¬ 
craft. He partitioned England into four 
judiciary districts, and appointed itinerant 
justices to make regular excursions through 
them; revived trial by jury, discouraged 
that by combat, and demolished all the newly 
erected castles as ‘dens of thieves.’ 

Henry III., King of England, son of John 
by Isabel of Angouleme; born at Win¬ 
chester in 1207; succee ded his father in 
1216. At the time of his accession the 
dauphin of France, Louis, at the head of a 
foreign army, supported by a faction of 
English nobles, had assumed the reins of 
government; but was compelled to quit the 
country by the Earl of Pembroke, who was 
guardian of the young king until 1219. As 
Henry approached to manhood he displayed 
a character wholly unfit for his station. 
He discarded his most able minister Hubert 
de Burgh, and after 1230, when he received 
homage in Poitou and Gascony, began to 
bestow his chief favours upon foreigners. 
His marriage in 1236 with Eleanor of Pro¬ 
vence, increased the dislike to him felt by his 
subjects, and although he received frequent 
grants of money from parliament, on con¬ 
dition of confirming the Great Charter, yet 
his conduct after each ratification was as 
arbitrary as before. At length the nobles 
rose in rebellion under Simon de Montfort, 
earl of Leicester and husband of the king’s 
sister; and in 1258, at a parliament held at 
Oxford, known in history as the Mad Par¬ 
liament, obliged the king to sign the body 
of resolutions known as the Provisions of 
Oxford. A feud aro.se, however, between 
Montfort and Gloucester, and Henry re¬ 
covered some of his power. War again broke 
out, and Louis was called in as arbitrator, 
but his award being favourable to the king, 
L'-«; ster refused to submit to it. A battle 
fought near Lewes, in which Henry 

397 


was taken prisoner. A convention, called 
the Mise of Lewes, provided for the future 
settlement of the kingdom; and in 1265 the 
first genuine House of Commons was sum¬ 
moned. Leicester, however, was defeated 
and slain in the battle of Evesham (1265), 
and Henry was replaced upon the throne. 
He died in 1272. His son Edward I. suc¬ 
ceeded him. 

Henry IV., King of England, first king of 
the house of Lancaster; born in 1366; was 
eldest son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lan¬ 
caster, third son of Henry III. by the heiress 
of Edmund, earl of Lancaster, second son 
of Henry III. In the reign of Richard II. 
he was made Earl of Derby and Duke of 
Hereford, but having in 1398 preferred a 
charge of treason against Mowbray, duke 
of Norfolk, he was banished with his adver¬ 
sary. On the death of John of Gaunt in 
1399 Richard withheld Henry’s inheritance, 
and Henry, landing in England, gained 
possession of Richard’s person. The deposi¬ 
tion of Richard by parliament, and the 
election of Henry, was followed by the 
murder of the late king. A plot against the 
king in 1400 was discovered in time to pre¬ 
vent its success, and many executions of 
men of rank followed; but an insurrection in 
Wales under Owen Glendower proved more 
formidable. The Scots were decisively de¬ 
feated by the Percies at Homildon, and 
their leader, the Earl of Douglas, was cap¬ 
tured (1402). An order from Henry not 
to permit the ransom of that nobleman and 
other Scottish prisoners was regarded as an 
indignity by the Percies, who set Douglas 
free, made an alliance with him, and joined 
Glendower. The king met the insurgents 
at Shrewsbury (1403), the battle ending in 
the defeat and death of Percy. The Earl 
of Northumberland was pardoned, and but 
few victims were executed. A new insur¬ 
rection, headed by the Earl of Nottingham 
and Scrope or Scroop, archbishop of York, 
broke out in 1405, but was suppressed by 
the king’s third son. Prince John. The rest 
of this king’s reign was comparatively un¬ 
troubled. In 1405 James, son and heir to 
King Robert of Scotland, was captured at 
sea on his way to France, and was detained 
a prisoner in England. Henry died in 1413, 
and was succeeded by Henry V. 

Henry V., King of England, born at 
Monmouth in 1388, On succecling his 
father, Henry IV., in 1413, he showed a 
wisdom in marked contrast to a somewhat 
reckless youth, He restored their estates 


was 



HENRY VI.-HENRY VII. 


to the Percies, and liberated the Earl of 
March, but in other respects based his in¬ 
ternal administration upon that of his father. 
The persecution of the Lollards is the chief 
blot upon the early part of his reign. The 
strugijle in France between the factions of 
the Dukes of Orleans and Burgundy afforded 
Henry a tempting opportunity for reviving 
the claims of his predecessors to the French 
crown. He accordingly landed near Har- 
fleur in August, 1415, and though its cap¬ 
ture cost him more than half his army he 
decided to return to England by way of 
Calais. A large French army endeavoured 
to intercept him at the plain of Agincourt, 
but was completely routed (October, 1415). 
A year later the French were defeated at 
sea by the Duke of Bedford. In 1417 the 
liberal grants of the Commons enabled 
Henry once more to invade Normandy with 
25,000 men. The assassination of the Duke 
of Burgundy, which induced his son and 
successor to join Henry, greatly added to 
his power, and the alliance was soon fol¬ 
lowed by the famous Treaty of Troyes 
(May 21, 1420), by which Henry engaged 
to marry the Princess Catharine, and to 
leave Charles VI. in possession of the crown, 
on condition that it should go to Henry and 
his heirs at his decease. He returned in 
triumph to England, but on the defeat of 
his brother, the Duke of Clarence, in Nor¬ 
mandy by the Earl of Buchan, he again set 
out for France, drove back the army of the 
dauphin, and entered Paris. A son was at 
this time born to him, and all his great pro¬ 
jects seemed about to be realized, when he 
died of fever at Vincennes in August, 1422, 
at the age of thirt^'^-four, and in the tenth 
year of his reign. He was succeeded by his 
son Henry VI. 

Henry VI., King of England, born at 
Windsor in 1421, was crowned at Westmin¬ 
ster in 1429, at Paris in 1430. As he was an 
infant not nine months old at the death of 
his father Henry V., his uncle John, duke of 
Bedford, was appointed regent of France; 
and his uncle Humphrey, duke of Glouces¬ 
ter, made protector of the realm of England. 
A few weeks after Henry’s succession 
Charles VI. of France died, when, in accor¬ 
dance with the Treaty of Troyes, Henry was 
proclaimed king of France. The war which 
followed at first proved favourable to the 
English, but in the end, by the heroism of 
Joan of Arc, the death of the Duke of Bed- 
ford, and the defection of the Duke of Bur¬ 
gundy, resulted in the loss to the English of 


all their possessions in France except Ca¬ 
lais. In April, 1445, Henry married Mar¬ 
garet of Anjou, daughter of Rene of Pro¬ 
vence. Two years later Humphi’ey of 
Gloucester died, when the Earl of Suffolk 
acquired the chief power in the kingdom, 
but his government was very unpopidar. 
The insurrection of Cade followed, and the 
Duke of York returning from Ireland, a 
great party was formed in his favour, and 
he was declared by parliament protector of 
the kingdom, the imbecile Henry being by 
this time unable even to personate majesty. 
The appointment was annulled in the fol¬ 
lowing year, the king having recovered his 
faculties. York retired to the north, and 
being joined by his adherents, marched upon 
London. He encountered and defeated the 
king's army at St. Albans (1455), the first 
battle of the thirty years’ wars of the Roses. 
The king again becoming deranged, York 
was once more made protector. Four years 
of peace followed, but the struggle was soon 
renewed. The king’s forces were beaten at 
Blore Heath and Northampton, and though 
they gained the Battle of AVaketield, at 
which York was killed, they were again 
defeated by his son Edward at To\yton and 
Hexham. Henry was restored for a few 
months in 1471 by Warwick, ‘the king¬ 
maker,’ but the battles of Barnet and 
Tewkesbury proved the hopelessness of his 
cause, and he died, some say was murdered, 
a few days after the last battle, in May, 
1471. He was a gentle, pious, well-inten¬ 
tioned, hopelessly incompetent king, whose 
best reputation is that of founder of Eton 
College and King’s College, Cambridge. 

Henry VII., King of England, first sove¬ 
reign of the race of Tudor, born in 1456. 
He was the son of Edmund, earl of Rich¬ 
mond, son of Owen Tudor and Catharine 
of France,‘widow of Henry V. His mother, 
Margaret, was the only child of John, duke 
of Somerset, grandson of John of Gaunt. 
After the battle of Tewkesbury he was car¬ 
ried by bis uncle, the Eaid of Pembroke, 
to Brittany, and on the usurpation of 
Richard III. was naturally turned to as the 
representative of the house of Lancaster. 
In 1485 he assembled a small body of trooj)s 
in Brittany, and having landed at Milford 
Haven, defeated Richard at Bosworth, and 
was proclaimed king on the field of battle, 
his right being subsequently recognized by 
parliament. In 1486 he married Elizabeth, 
daughter of Edward IV. and heiress of the 
house of York, and thus united the claims 

398 


HENRY VIIL 


of the rival houses of York and Lancaster. 
The reign of Henry VII. was troubled by 
repeated insurrections, of vvliich the chief 
were that headed by Lord Lovel and the 
Staffords {I486), and the impostures of 
Lambert Simnel (1487) and Perkin War- 
beck (1496-99). He brought about a match 
between the Infanta Catharine, daughter 
of Ferdinand of Aragon and of Isabella 
of Castile, and his eldest son Arthur; and 
on the death of the latter, in order to retain 
the dowry of this princess, he caused his 
remaining son Henry to marry the widow 
by papal dispensation, an event which, in 
the sequel, led to a separation from the see 
of Rome. He married his eldest daughter 
to James IV., king of Scotland, from which 
marriage there ultimately resulted the union 
of the two crowns. In his latter years his 
avarice became increasingly marked, two 
exchequer judges, Empson and Dudley, 
being employed in all sorts of extortion and 
chicanery in order to gratify this passion. 
His reign, however, was in the main bene¬ 
ficent. Its freedom from wars permitted 
the development of the internal resources of 
the country. His policy of depressing the 
feudal nobility, which proportion ably exalted 
the middle ranks, was highly salutary. For a 
time, however, the power lost by the aristo¬ 
cracy gave an undue preponderance to that 
of the crown. Henry died at Richmond in 
1509. 

Henry VIII., King of England, son of 
the preceding, born in 1491, succeeded his 
father in 1509. He was soon prevailed 
upon to join in a league formed against 
Louis XII. of France. Some campaigns in 
France followed, but the success of the 
English at the Battle of the Spurs (1513) 
was succeeded by no adequate result, the 
taking of Tournay being the only fruit of 
this expensive expedition. Meantime, more 
splendid success attended the English arms 
at home, Jatnes IV. of Scotland being com¬ 
pletely defeated and slain at Flodden Field 
(1513 h Henry, however, granted peace to the 
Queen of Scotland, his sister, and established 
an influence which rendered his kingdom 
long secure on that side. Finding himself 
deluded by his allies, he soon after made peace 
with France, retaining Tournay and receiv¬ 
ing a large sum of money. From 1515 until 
1529 the government was practically in the 
hands of Wolsey, no parliament being sum¬ 
moned in that period until 1523. After the 
election of Charles V. to the German Em¬ 
pire, both Charles and the French king, 

■ 399 


Francis I., sought the alliance of England. 
A friendly meeting took place between 
Henry and Francis at the Field of the Cloth 
of Gold (1520), but the interest of Charles 
preponderated, and Henry declared war 
against France, though with no important 
results. Now came the determination of 
the king to divorce his wufe Catharine, 
who was older than he, had borne him no 
male heir, and had, moreover, been in the 
first place the wife of his elder brother. The 
last of these points was the alleged ground 
for seeking divorce, though Henry was pro¬ 
bably influenced largely by his attachment 
to Anne Boleyn, one of the queen’s maids of 
honour, Wolsey, for his own ends, had at first 
been active in promoting the divorce, but 
drew back and proci'astinatedwhenit became 
apparent that Anne Boleyn would be Ca¬ 
tharine’s successor. This delay cost Wolsey 
his power and the papacy its authority in 
England. Henry in disgust eagerly caught 
at the advice of Thomas Cranmer, afterwards 
Archbishop of Canterbury, to refer the case 
to the universities, from which he soon got 
the decision that he desired. In 1533 his 
marriage with Catharine was declared null 
and an anticipatory private marriage with 
Anne Boleyn declared lawful; and as these 
decisions were not recognized by the pope, 
two acts of parliament were obtained, one 
in' 1534 setting aside the authority of the 
chief pontiff in England, the other in 1535 
declaring Henry the supreme head of the 
church. But although Henry discarded the 
authority of the Roman Church, he adhered 
to its theological tenets; and while, on the 
one hand, he executed Bishop Fisher and 
Sir Thomas More for refusing the oath of 
supremacy, he brought many of the reformers 
to the stake. Finding that the monks and 
friars in England were the most direct advo¬ 
cates of the papal authority, and a constant 
source of disaffection, he suppressed the mo¬ 
nasteries by act of parliament, and thereby 
inflicted an incurable wound upon the Ca¬ 
tholic religion in England. The fall of Anne 
Boleyn was, however, unfavourable for a time 
to the reformers. Henry then married Jane 
Seymour, and the birth of Prince Edward in 
1537 fulfilled his wish for a male heir. The 
death of the queen was followed in 1540 by 
Henry’s marriage with Anne of Cleves, the 
negotiations of which were conducted by 
Cromwell. The king’s dislike to his wife, 
which resulted in another divorce, became 
extended to the minister who had proposed 
the union, and Cromwell’s disgrace and 


HENRY 


HENRY THE NAVIGATOR. 


death soon followed. A marriage with 
Catharine Howard in 1541 proved no hap¬ 
pier, and in 1542 she was executed on a 
charge of infidelity. In 1543 he married 
his sixth wife, Catharine Parr, a lady secretly 
inclined to the Reformation, who survived 
the king. In the meantime Scotland and 
France had renewed their alliance, and 
England became again involved in war. 
•James V. ravaged the borders, but was de¬ 
feated at Solway Moss in 1542, and in 1544 
Boulogne was captured, Henry having again 
allied himself with Charles V. Charles, how¬ 
ever, soon withdrew, and Henry maintained 
the war alone until 1546. Disease now so 
much aggravated the natural violence of 
Henry that his oldest friends fell victims to 
his tyranny. The Duke of N orfolk was com¬ 
mitted to the Tower, and his son the Earl 
of Surrey was executed. Henry died on Jan. 
28, 1547, and was succeeded by his son, 
Edward VI. 

Henry, Joseph, physicist, was born in 
New York in 1799. In 1826 he began 
a series of brilliant experiments in elec¬ 
tricity. In 1830 he constructed the first 
electro-magnetic telegraph, which as a 
sounding telegraph has never been im¬ 
proved. In 1832 he was called to fill the 
chair of natural philosophy at Princeton. 
In 1846 he was elected secretary and di¬ 
rector of the Smithsonian Institution. His 
published papers include over 150 titles. 
He died in 1878. 

Henry, Matthew, a celebrated English 
divine, was born in 1662. Died in 1714. 

Henry of Huntingdon, an English his¬ 
torian, born about 1090, died about 1154. 

Henry, Patrick, Revolutionary states¬ 
man, born in Virginia in 1736. He received 
a classical education, and became a lawyer 
in 1760. His powers as an orator have 
never been surpassed. Through his influ¬ 
ence resistance was made to the Stamp 
Act ])assed by the British Parliament in 
1765, and its enforcement became imprac¬ 
ticable. He was a delegate to the First 
Continental Congress; and first Governor 
of Virginia in 1776. He died in 1799. 

Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, the most 
remarkable prince of Germany in the 12th 
century, was born in 1129. He succeeded his 
father, Henry the Proud, in 1139, assuming 
the government of Saxony himself in 1146. 
At the diet of luinces in Frankfort (1147) 
he demanded restitution of Bavaria, taken 
from his father by Conrad VII.; but was 
worsted in the war v hich followed. It was 


restored to him, however, in 1154, after the 
death of Conrad, by the Emperor Frederick, 
Henry’s cousin. His possessions then ex¬ 
tended from the Baltic and the North Sea 
to the Adriatic, and he was successful in 
opposing the league formed against him at 
Merseburg in 1166. About two years after¬ 
wards he separated trom his wife and mar¬ 
ried Matilda, daughter of Henry II. of 
England. He then went on an expedition 
to the Holy Land, and during his absence 
his enemies, and even the emperor, made 
encroachments on his dominions. In 1174 
he followed Frederick I. on his fifth expe¬ 
dition to Italy, but left him at the siege of 
Alessandria. He was then put under the 
ban of the empire, and his dominions were 
given to other princes. Henry defended 
himself for a time successfully, but was at 
last obliged to take refuge in England. In 
1182 he asked pardon of the emperor on 
his knees, and Frederick promised him his 
hereditary possessions, Brunswickand Liine- 
burg, on condition of his undergoing exile 
for three years. He, therefore, again went 
to England, but returned to Brunswick in 
1184. In 1188 he was once more compelled 
to leave the country, and it was only in 
1190, at the close of a year’s fighting, that 
a reconciliation was finally effected. Henry 
died at Brunswick 1195. He was much 
in advance of his age in fostering industry, 
science, commerce, and the arts. 

Henry the Navigator {Don Ilenrique cl 
Navegador), fourth son of King John I. of 
Portugal, born in 1394. In his youth he 
gave brilliant proofs of courage. When 
the Portuguese conquered Ceuta in 1415 
Henry distinguished himself by his bravery, 
and was knighted by his father, after whose 
death he chose for his residence the city of 
Sagres, in Algarve, near Cape St. Vincent, 
and vigorou.sly prosecuted the war against 
the Moors in Africa. He erected at Sagres 
an observatory and a school of navigation. 
From time to time he sent vessels on voy¬ 
ages to the coasts of Barbary and Guinea; 
resulting in the discovery of the islands of 
Puerto Santo and Madeira, and some years 
later of the Azores. In 1433 Gilianez, one 
of his navigators, safely doubled Cape Boja- 
dor, and other adventurers, pushing still fur¬ 
ther south, discovered Cape Blanco in 1441 
and Cape Verd in 1445. A profitable com¬ 
merce with the natives of West Africa was 
soon developed, and the Senegal and Gam¬ 
bia partially explored. After acting as 
general against the Moors in 1458 Henry 

400 



HENRYSON-HERACLES. 


died at Sagres on the 13th of November, 
1458. His efforts not only laid the founda¬ 
tions of the commerce and colonial posses¬ 
sions of Portugal, but gave a new direc¬ 
tion to navigation and commercial enter¬ 
prise. 

Henryson, Robeet, a Scottish poet of the 
15th century, born about 1425, died about 
1506. He spent most of his life at Dun¬ 
fermline, where he was schoolmaster. The 
Testament of Cresseid, his most important 
work, is a continuation of Chaucer’s Troilus 
and Creseide, though with individual merit; 
and he was probably the author of the 
early Scottish pastoral, Robin and Makyne. 
Amongst his other works were a Tale of 
Orpheus, The Moral Fables of Hilsop in 
Scottish metre, and an allegorical ballad, 
The Bludy Serk. 

Hepar Sulphuris (lit. ‘liver of sulphur,’ 
so called from its brownish-green and liver¬ 
like appearance), a mixture of polysul¬ 
phides of potassium with sulphate or thio¬ 
sulphate of potash. It is a common homoeo- 
' pathic medicine. 

Hepat'icse. See Liverworts. 

HepatFtis, a disease consisting in inflam¬ 
mation of some part of the liver. 

Hephses'tion, a noble Macedonian of 
Pella, the friend of Alexander the Great. 
He accompanied the king in his Asiatic 
campaigns, and died at Ecbatana (b.c. 325 
or 324). Alexander had his body conveyed 
to Babylon, and erected a monument to 
him costing 10,000 talents. 

Hephses'tus, a god of the ancient Greeks, 
identified by the Romans with their Vul- 
canus. He presided over fire, and was the 
patron of all artists who worked in iron and 
metals. Pie fixed his residence in Lemnos, 
where he built himself a palace, and raised 
forges to work metals. The Cyclopes of 
Sicily were his workmen and attendants; 
and with him they fabricated not only the 
thunderbolts of Zeus, but also arms for the 
gods and the most celebrated heroes. His 
forges were supposed to be under Mount 
JEtna. Aphrodite (Venus) was the wife of 
Hephaestus. 

Heppenheim, an interesting old walled 
town of Germany in Hesse-Darmstadt, 16 
miles south of Darmstadt. Pop. 5250. 

Hep'tarchy, the seven principal kingdoms 
into which England was divided in Anglo- 
Saxon times. The kingdoms were founded 
at different times, and at no one time were 
they all independent monarchies together. 
In 827 King Egbert of Wessex united the 
VOL IV. 401 


other kingdoms into one, and assumed the 
title of king of England. See England. 

Hep'tateuch, a name sometimes given to 
the five books of Moses or Pentateuch, to¬ 
gether with the books of Joshua and Judges. 

Hera, an ancient Greek goddess, identi¬ 
fied by the Romans 
sister and wife of 
Zeus (Jupiter), and 
daughter of Kronos 
(Saturn) and Rhea. 

The poets represent 
Zeus as an unfaithful 
husband, and Hera as 
an obstinate and jea¬ 
lous wife, the result 
of which is frequent 
strife between them. 

She was worshipped 
in all Greece, but her 
principal seats were 
at Argos and at Sa¬ 
mos. The companions 
of Hera were the 
Nymphs, Graces, and 
Hours. Iris was her 
particular servant. 

Among animals, the 
peacock, the goose, 
and the cuckoo were 
sacred to her. Her 
usual attribute is a 
royal diadem on her head. The festivals in 
her honour were called Heraea. The prin¬ 
cipal were those celebrated every fifth year 
at Argos, which city was considered to be 
especially under her protection. 

Her'acles, called by the Romans Hercules^ 
the most celebrated hero or semi-divine per¬ 
sonage of Greek mythology, was the son of 
Zeus (Jupiter) by Alcmena, the wife of Am¬ 
phitryon. He was brought up at Thebes, 
and before he had completed his eighth 
month strangled two snakes sent by the 
jealous Hera (Juno) to devour him. In 
youth he had several distinguished instruc¬ 
tors, among them the Centaur Cheiron. 
Early in life he had, at the command of 
Zeus, to subject himself for twelve years to 
the will of Eurystheus, on the understand¬ 
ing that after he had acquitted himself of 
this duty he should be reckoned in the num¬ 
ber of the gods. He, therefore, went to 
Mycenae, and performed at the bidding of 
Eurystheus the tasks known as the ticelve 
labours of Heracles. ' These were: (1) to 
kill a lion which ravaged the country near 
Mycenae; (2) to destroy the Lernaean hydra; 


with their Juno, the 



Hera.—Antique statue. 













HERACLES-HERACLITUS. 


(3) to capture, alive and unhurt, a stag 
famous for its incredible swiftness, its golden 
horns, and brazen feet; (4) to capture alive 
a wild boar which ravaged the neighbour¬ 
hood of Erymanthus; (5) to clean the stables 
of Augeas, where 3000 oxen had been con¬ 
fined for many years ; (6) to kill the birds 
which ravaged the country near the lake 



Hercules slaying the Hydra.—From sculpture at 
Florence. 


Stymphalus, in Arcadia, and ate human 
flesh; (7) to bring alive into Peloponnesus 
a prodigious wild bull, which laid waste the 
Island of Crete; (8) to obtain the mares of 
Diomedes, which fed upon human flesh ; (9) 
to obtain from the queen of the Amazons 
a girdle which she had received from Ares 
(Mars); (10) to kill the monster Geryon, 
king of Gades, and bring to Argos his 
numerous flocks, which fed upon human 
flesh; (11) to obtain apples from the garden 
of the Hesperides; (12) the last and most 
dangerous of all, to bring from the infer¬ 
nal regions the three-headed dog Cerberus. 
Besides these labours, he also achieved of 
his own accord others equally celebrated. 
Thus, he assisted the gods in their wars 
against the giants, and it was through him 
alone that Zeus obtained the victory. Hav¬ 
ing attempted to plunder the temple at 
Delphi, he became engaged in conflict with 
Apollo, and was punished by being sold to 
Omphale, queen of Lydia, as a slave, who 
restored him to liberty and married him. 
Having latterly returned to Greece, he be¬ 
came the husband of Dejanira, who unwit¬ 
tingly brought about his death by giving 
him a tunic poisoned with the blood of the 
Centaur Ne.ssus, which she innocently be¬ 
lieved would retain for her Heracles’s love. 
The poison took effect whenever the gar¬ 


ment was put on, and as the distemper "svas 
incurable, Heracles placed himself on a 
burning pile on the top of Mount CEta, was 
received up into heaven, and being there 
reconciled to Hera, received her daughter 
Hebe in marriage. In ancient works of art 
Heracles is generally represented naked, 
with strong and well-proportioned limbs; 
he is sometimes covered with the skin of 
the Nemaean lion, and holds a knotted club 
in his hand, on which he often leans. The 
principal ancient statue of him which re¬ 
mains is the Farnese Hercules at Borne, a 
work of the Athenian Glycon. The myth 
of Heracles is believed by many writers to 
represent the course of the sun through the 
twelve signs of the zodiac. His marriage 
with Hebe was explained even by the an¬ 
cients as symbolic of the renewing of the 
sun’s course after its completion. 

Heracle'um, a genus of large umbelliferous 
herbs, the cow-parsnips, of which B. Spkon- 
dylium (common cow-parsnip or hog-w^eed) 
is very common in Britain in damp meadow 
ground and pastures. H. yiyantcum (the 
Siberian cow-parsnip) is often grown in 
shrubberies, reaching the height of 10 feet. 

Heracli'dse, the descendants of Heracles, 
but more particularly those who, assisted by 
the Dorians, successfully asserted by arms 
their claim to the Peloponnesus, whence 
their ancestors had been driven by usurpers. 
See Greece {History). 

Heracli'tus, a Greek philosopher, born at 
Ephesus, who flourished about 513 B.c. He 
travelled in different countries, particularly 
in Africa. On his return to Ephesus he 
was offered the chief magistracy, but re¬ 
fused it. He is said to have latterly repaired 
to solitary mountains to live on roots and 
herbs; but, being attacked by a fatal disease, 
was obliged to return to the city, where he 
died soon afterwards, it is said in his sixtieth 
year. He left a work on Nature, in which 
he treats also of religion and politics. Some 
fragments only of this work remain. He is 
considered as belonging generally to the 
Ionic school of philosophers, though he dif¬ 
fered from it in important particulars. He 
considered fire as the first principle of all 
things, describing it as an ethereal substance, 
‘ self - kindled and self-extinguished,’ from 
which the world is evolved (not made) by a 
natural operation. It is also a rational prin¬ 
ciple, and the source of the human soul. 
Phenomena exist in a constant state of flux, 
always tending to assume new forms, and 
finally returning again to their source 

403 












HERACLIUS-HERALDRY. 


Heracli'us, Roman emperor of the East, 
born in Cappadocia about 575 a.d. ; the son 
of Heraclius, exarch of Africa. At the head 
of a fleet from Carthage, in 610, he assisted 
in dethroning Phocas, the murderer and 
successor of the Emperor Mauritius, and 
himself ascended the throne. In a succes¬ 
sion of splendid victories he crushed the 
Persians under Chosroes; but the energy of 
his earlier years seems to have worn itself 
out, and he made no etfort to check the vic¬ 
torious progress of Mohammed. Before his 
death Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and 
Egypt had fallen under the dominion of the 
caliphs. He died in 641, and was succeeded 
by his son, Constantine HI. 

Herald, an officer whose functions origi¬ 
nally were to carry messages of courtesy or 
defiance between sovereigns or persons of 
knightly rank, to superintend and register 
the results of trial by battle, tournaments, 
and other chivalric exercises, to record the 
valiant deeds of combatants, proclaim war or 
peace, marshal processions and public cere¬ 
monials, and especially, in later times, to re¬ 
gulate and determine all matters connected 
with the use of armorial bearings. Heralds 
began to appear about the 12th century, 
and assumed the functions which ultimately 
belonged to their office gradually. The her¬ 
ald, after the office was fully constituted, 
was created with many ceremonies, and had 
to pass through various grades of protracted 
service before reaching the full dignity of a 
herald. The office is now shorn of much of 
its importance. Heralds are appointed in 
England by the earl marshal, whose office 
is hereditary. The Heralds’ College, or 
College of Arms, founded by charter of 
Richard III. in 1483, consists of the three 
chief heralds (see Garter Kin{i-of-Arms), 
the six subordinate or provincial heralds of 
Y"ork, Lancaster, Chester, Windsor, Rich¬ 
mond, and Somerset; two heralds appointed 
on the accession of George I., called Hanover 
herald and Gloucester king-of-arms, together 
with the earl marshal and secretary, in all 
thirteen persons. There are four marshals or 
pursuivants, called blue-mantle, rouge-croix, 
rouge-dragon, and portcullis, who usually 
succeed to vacancies in the Heralds’ C()l- 
lege. Among the duties of the Heralds’ 
College are the recording of pedigrees and 
the granting of coats of arms to persons 
who wish to assume them. The Heralds’ 
College, or Lyon Court, in Scotland, con¬ 
sists of Lyon king-of-arms, and six heralds, 
with six pursuivants. 

403 


Herald-crab, a species of crab {Huenia 
heraldica) the carapace of which presents 
a fanciful resemblance to the shield and 
mantle figured by heraldic painters in de¬ 
picting coat-armour, 

Her'aldry, the whole science of a herald’s 
duties, or more commonly the knowledge of 
the forms, terms, and laws which pertain to 
the use of armorial bearings or coats of 
arms. Badges and emblems on shields, 
helms, banners, &c,, naturallj'^ occurred in 
the earliest times, and the symbols were 
sometimes hereditary. The origin of her¬ 
aldic arms, properly so called, is, however, 
to be attributed to the necessity which arose 
during the Crusades of distinguishing the 
leaders of the numerous and motley bands 
of warriors which constituted the Christian 
armies. One of the oldest specimens of 
heraldic bearings extant is the shield at 
Mans of Geoffrey Plantagenet, who died in 
1150. Rolls of arms in England are extant 
from the reignsof Henry III., Edward I., and 
Edward II. The use of arms on the Great 
Seal of England was introduced by Richard 
I. The bearing of coat-armour by private 
persons was prohibited by proclamation in 
the reign of Henry V. The chief courts of 
jurisdiction in questions of heraldry are 
the Heralds’ College in England, and the 
Lyon Court in Scotland. (See Herald.) 
The rules of heraldry now practised at the 
Heralds’ College are comparatively modern, 
and differ in some respects from those of 
other European courts. A coat of arms con¬ 
sists of the figure of a shield marked and 
coloured in a vast variety of ways, so as 
to be distinctive of an individual, a family, 
or a community. The shield or escutcheon 
represents the original shield used in war, 
and on which arms were anciently borne. 
The surface of the escutcheon is termed the 
field, and the several parts or points of it 
have particular names, so that the figures 
which the field contains may be precisely 
located. In the accompanying illustration 
ABC marks the part of the shield called the 
chief, which is the highest and most honour¬ 
able part of the shield, a is the dexter 
chief or upper right-hand side of the shield; 
B, the middle chief; and C, the sinister chief, 
or upper left-hand side of the shield; e, 
the centre or fesse point; G H i, the base, 
that is, G, the dexter or right-hand base; ii, 
the middle base; and I, the sinister or left- 
hand base. Colour is given in the coat of 
arms by means of tinctures, two of which 
are metal$—or and argent, that is, gold 




HERALDRY. 


aixd silver—the rest colours proper. These 
colours are, in heraldic terminology: azure, 
blue; gules, red; sable, black; vert, green; 
purpure, purple; tenney, orange; sanguine, 
blood-colour. The two last are compara¬ 
tively uncommon. An object represented 
in its natural colours is said to be proper. 
When not given in colours or by actual 
gilding the tinctures are represented by 
points and lines in black and white. Or is 
distinguished by small dots covering the 
part; argent is represented by leaving the 
space blank; azure is shown by horizontal 
lines; gules, by perpendicular lines; sable, by 
perpendicular and horizontal lines crossing 
each other; vert, by diagonal lines running 
from the dexter chief to the sinister base; 
purpure, by diagonal lines running from the 
sinister chief to the dexter base. Another 
class of tinctures are the furs, of which the 
two principal are ermine and vair, and 
which have also their special method of 
representation. The figures borne on the 
shield may be either purely artificial and 
conventional, or may represent real objects, 
animals, plants, &c. Of the former the 
most common are known as ordinaries, and 
have the following names: Chief, Pale, 
Bend, Fesse, Bar, Chevron, Cross, and Sal¬ 
tire. The chief a portion of the shield at 
the top marked off by a horizontal line, and 
covers the upper third part of the field. 
The pale occupies the middle third part of 
the field perpendicularly. The bend is drawn 
diagonally from the dexter chief to the sinis¬ 
ter base in the form of a belt, and also occu¬ 
pies the third of the field. A diminutive of 
the bend is the bendlet. The fesse occupies 
the middle third of the field horizontally. 
The bar is formed after the manner of a 
fesse, but occupies only a fifth of the field, 
and is not confined to any particular part of 
it, except when there is only one bar, when 
it is put in the place of a fesse. Bars are 
mostly two in a field, sometimes three or 
more. A diminutive is the barrulet. The 
chevron may be regarded as made of a 
bend dexter and sinister issuing from the 
right and left base points of the escutcheon 
and meeting like two rafters. The cross is 
the ordinary cross of St. George. The sal¬ 
tire is the equally well-known cross of St. 
Andrew. The shield is often divided by 
lines running similarly to the ordinaries; 
hence when divided by a perpendicular line 
it is said to be party per pale, when by a 
horizontal line party per fesse, when by a 
diagonal line party per bend. Similarly, 


when it seems to bear several pales or 
bends or bars, it is said to be paly, bendy, 
or bay'ry of so many pieces, ‘paly of six 
argent and gules’ for instance, as in illus¬ 
tration. Charges are the figures of natural 
and artificial things, and include animals 
and plants, implements and objects of all 
sorts, and various imaginary monsters, being 
drawn either on the field or on one of 
the ordinaries. It is a rule in heraldry that 
metal must not be put on metal nor colour 
on colour; hence, if the field say is argent, 
it cannot have a charge or an ordinary 
tinctured or directly upon it. Various techni¬ 
cal terms describe the position of animals; 
thus, a lion is rampant when he is erect 
standing on one of his hind legs; sejant, 
when sitting; couchant, when lying at rest, 
with the head erect; passant, in a walking 
position; gardant, looking full-faced; ram¬ 
pant gardant, erect and looking full-faced; 
salient, in a leaping posture. So trippant is 
said of the stag when trotting; lodged, of 
the stag when at rest on the ground; volant, 
of birds in general in a flying posture; rising, 
of a bird that is preparing to fly; displayed, 
of birds seen frontwise with outspread wings; 
naiant, of fishes when swimming; and so on. 
The teeth and claws of lions and other ra¬ 
venous beasts are called their arms; and 
when these have a special tincture the ani¬ 
mal is said to be armed of such a tincture; 
similarly if their tongue be of a special 
tincture, they are said to be langued of this 
tincture. Often tw’o or more coats of arms 
are united together on one shield, so that 
the whole may be a very complicated affair. 
The art of arranging arms in this way is 
known as marshalling, and when the shield 
is divided up into squares for the reception 
of different coats, it is said to be quartered. 
There are also certain exterior ornaments 
of the shield or escutcheon, namely, the hel¬ 
met, mantling, crest, wreath, motto, and sup¬ 
porters. The helmet, which is placed on the 
top of the escutcheon, varies both in form 
and materials. Those of sovereign princes 
are of gold, those of the nobility of silver, 
and those of gentlemen of polished steel. 
The full-faced helmet, with six bars, is for 
the king and princes of the blood; the side¬ 
long helmet, with five bars, is for dukes and 
marquises, &c.; t\xe full-faced helmet of steel, 
with its beaver or vizor open, is for knights; 
and the sidelovig helmet, with the vizor shut, 
for the esquire. The mantling or mantle 
was anciently fixed to the helniet, to which 
it served as a covering. Mantlings are now 

404 


HERALDRY. 





Chief. 






■ 

> 


Pale. 



Bend. 



Fesse. 



Bar. 




Cross. 



Saltire. 





King. Noble. Knight. Esquire. 


405 











































































































































































































































HERALDS’ COLLEGE-HERBERT. 


used like cloaks, to cover the whole achieve¬ 
ment. The crest is placed above the hel¬ 
met, with the wreath serving as a kind of 
support; the latter is composed of two col¬ 
ours wreathed or twisted together. The 
motto consists of the word or phrase carried 
in a scroll under or above the arms. Sup¬ 
porters were originally only ancient devices 
or badges, which by custom came to embel¬ 
lish armorial ensigns. They are called sup¬ 
porters because they hold the shield, as the 
lion and the unicorn in the well-known 
royal arms of England. The present royal 
arms of Britain exhibit the arms of England, 
Scotland, and Ireland in the four quarters of 
the shield; that is; Quarterly, 1 and 4, 
England; 2, Scotland; 3, Ireland. The 
arms of England are: Gules, three lions pas¬ 
sant gardant in pale or; Scotland, Or, a lion 
rampant within a double tressure flory 
counter-flory gules; Ireland, Azure, a harp 
or, stringed argent. 

Heralds’ College. See Herald. 

Herat', a city in the north-west of Afgha¬ 
nistan, in a beautiful and fertile plain, 
about 370 miles west of Cabul. It is inclosed 
by a broad deep moat, and an earthen 
mound surmounted by a lofty wall of un¬ 
burned brick, and defended by a strong 
citadel. From each of four of the five 
gates a long street of bazaars (one vaulted 
throughout its entire length) leads towards 
a square in the centre of the town. The 
remaining streets are narrow and dirty. The 
most important manufactures are cai'pets, 
sword-blades, shoes, cloaks, and sheepskin 
caps. The trade, almost entirely in the 
hands of Hindus, is greatly favoured by the 
situation of the town on the great thorough¬ 
fare from India westward. Herat was long 
the capital of the empire founded by Tamer¬ 
lane. Pop. about 45,000. 

Herault (a-rO), a department of France, 
on the Mediterranean coast; area, 2393 
sqxiare miles. In the north-west it is covered 
by the Cevennes, but it descends rapidly 
towards the coast, which is lined by lagoons. 
The chief rivers, the Herault, Orb, and Lez, 
are partly navigable; but the most important 
water communication is the Canal du Midi, 
The arable land, about one-sixth of the 
whole, is generally fertile. The vine and 
mulberry are extensively, the olive more 
partially cultivated; fruit is abundant; and 
aromatic, medicinal, and dye plants are 
largely grown. Salt is obtained in large 
quantities. Capital Montpellier. Pop. 
1891, 461,651. 


Herba'ceous Plants, perennial plants of 
which the stem perishes annually, while the 
roots remain permanent and send forth a 
new stem in the following season, 

Herba'rium, or Hortus Siccus, a collec¬ 
tion of dried plants systematically arranged. 
The specimens should be collected in dry 
weather, and carried home in a japanned 
tin-box or vasculum, a small pocket-box 
being desirable, however, for mosses and 
small plants, Very delicate specimens should 
be at once placed in a small field-book of un¬ 
sized blotting-paper carried tightly strapped 
between suitable boards. At home they are 
carefully arranged upon bibulous paper, and 
pressed between smoothly planed deal boards 
either by putting weights upon the boards 
or by using a screw-press. The paper is 
changed every day or two, as they are found 
to part with their moisture more or less 
freely. Succulent plants (such as stone- 
crops) should be killed by immersion in boil¬ 
ing water, and left for some time to drain, 
before pressing. If the stem be thick and 
woody, or if the flower be thick and globular, 
as in the thistle, one half may be cut away 
without depriving it of its character. When 
the process of desiccation has been com¬ 
pleted specimens are fastened upon stiff 
paper (17 inches by lOg) with a mixture of 
gum-tragacanth and gum-arabic, or thin 
glue, or with slips of gummed paper, or a 
needle and thread. To preserve the speci¬ 
mens from the ravages of insects, camphor 
should be placed in the cabinet and fre¬ 
quently renewed. 

Herb-bennet (that is. Saint Bennet or Be¬ 
nedict’s herb), a plant, Geum.urhdnum,\iuo\VTi 
also as Avens. It is aromatic, tonic, and as¬ 
tringent, and has been used in medicine, and 
as an ingredient in some ales. 

Herb-Christopher, the bane-berry, A ctoea 
spicata. 

Herbert, Edward, Lord Herbert of Cher- 
bury, in Shropshire, an English writer, born 
1581, and educated at University College, 
Oxford. In 1609 he distinguished himself 
at the siege of Juliers under the Prince of 
Orange, and in 1614 served again in the Low 
Countries under the same leader. In 1618 
he was sent ambassador to the court of 
France, but was recalled in consequence of 
a quarrel wdth Constable Luynes, the fa¬ 
vourite of Louis XIII. On the death of 
Luynes, however, he was sent back to France 
as resident ambassador. At Paris, in 1624, 
he printed his famous book, De Veritate, 
with the object of asserting the sufficiency, 

406 



HERBERT-HERDER. 


universality, and perfection of natural reli¬ 
gion. In 1625 he returned from France and 
was created an Irish peer, and in 1631 an 
English baron. He joined the parliamen¬ 
tary party, but subsequently quitted it, and 
suffered in fortune in consequence. He died 
in London 1648. The character of Lord 
Herbert, as shown in his memoirs, was vain, 
punctilious, and quixotic, but open, generous, 
and brave. Another work of his was De 
Eeligione Gentiliurn. Soon after his death 
was published his Life and Reign of Henry 
VIII., and a collection of his poems was 
published in 1665. 

Herbert, George, poet and divine, bro¬ 
ther of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, born 
1593; was educated at Westminster and 
at Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he 
became a fellow in 1615. From 1619 till 
1627 he was university orator. The death 
of James I. in 1625 put an end to his pros¬ 
pects of civil promotion, and in the same 
year he took orders, and became a preben¬ 
dary in the diocese of Lincoln. In 1630 he 
took priest’s orders, and was presented to 
the rectory of Bemerton, near Salisbury, in 
Wiltshire. He died in 1633. His collection 
of religious poems. The Temple, was pub¬ 
lished in 1631, and the Jacula Prudentum, 
a collection of proverbs, in 1640. His poems 
bear the marks of an exceptionally fine na¬ 
ture, if not of genius, but they are marred 
by conceits and mannerisms. His chief 
prose work was The Country Parson (1652). 

Herbert, Sidney, Lord Herbert of Lea, 
English statesman, son of the eleventh Earl 
of Pembroke, was born in 1810. He was 
educated at Harrow and Oxford, and was 
Conservative member for South Wilts from 
1832 till shortly before his death. He was 
secretary to the admiralty under Peel in 
1841, and in 1845 was made secretary for 
war, but became a convert to free-trade, and 
quitted office with Peel in 1846. In 1852 
he became war secretary in the Aberdeen 
cabinet, and retained it till the dissolution 
of the ministry in 1855. For a short time 
he was colonial secretary under Palmerston, 
and in 1859 became once more secretary for 
war. Early in 1861 he was transferred to 
the House of Lords,but died in the same year. 

Herb-gerard. See Bishop-weed. 

Herb-robert, the Geranium Rohertianum, 
called also Stinking Crane's-hill, common 
in dry places. It is astringent and aroma¬ 
tic, and has been used in nephritic disorders. 

Hercinite, a variety of the mineral called 
sninel. 

^07 


Hercula'neum, an ancient city about $ 
miles s.E. from Naples, completely buried 
with Pompeii, Stabiae, &c., by lava and 
ashes during an eruption of Vesuvius in the 
reign of 4''itus, a.d. 79. The site had been 
long sought in vain, when in 1713 three 
statues were found in digging a well at the 
village of Portici. In 1738 the well was 
dug deeper, and traces of buildings were 
found. The theatre was then discovered, 
but though the excavations were continued 
for many years it is now the only building 
to be seen underground, as the successive 
excavations were immediately filled up with 
rubbish from a new digging. A number of 
public buildings and private dwellings were 
laid bare, and many objects of great value 
discovered, such as statues, busts, beautiful 
mosaics, wall paintings, charred papyrus ma¬ 
nuscripts, &c. One of the houses discov¬ 
ered contained a quantity of provisions, 
consisting of fruits, corn, oil, pease, lentils, 
pies, and hams. Few skeletons have been 
found either in Pompeii or Herculaneum, 
so that it is probable most of the inhabi¬ 
tants had time to save themselves by flight. 
Among the most interesting objects dis¬ 
covered here were the papyri, over 1750 of 
which are now in the Naples Museum, but 
hardly a third have yet been unrolled, the 
process presenting great difficulties from the 
tendency of the MSS. to crumble. The 
knowledge of ancient art has, however, 
gained more by the discoveries made here 
than literature. 

Hercules. See Heracles. 

Hercules, one of Ptolemy’s northern 
constellations, including 113 stars. The 
point to which the sun, with its accompany¬ 
ing system of planets, is travelling at pre¬ 
sent is situated in this constellation, which 
includes some remarkable star groups and 
nebula3. 

Hercules, Pillars of, the ancient name 
of the two promontories, Calpe (Gibraltar) 
and Abyla (Ceuta), at the entrance to the 
Mediterranean. 

Hercules-beetle, a very large Brazilian 
lamellicorn beetle, Scarabceus or Hynastes 
Hercules. An enormous horn projects from 
the head, and a smaller one from the thorax, 
and the beetle attains a length of 5 inches. 

Hercynian Forest, the general name given 
by the ancients to the forest-clad mountains 
in Central Germany, extending from the 
Rhine to the Carpathians. 

Herder, Johann Gottfried von, German 
author, born in poor circumstances in 1744. 


HEREDITAMENTS 


HEREFORD. 


He went in 1762 to Konigsberg, procured 
an appointment in Frederick’s College, and 
was permitted by Kant to hear all his lec¬ 
tures gratis. From 1764 to 1769 he was an 
assistant teacher at the cathedral school of 
Riga, with which office that of a preacher 
was connected, and it was during this period 
that he published his Fragments on German 
Literature. In 1769 he resigned his post in 
order to travel, and became travelling tutor 
to the Prince of Holstein-Oldenburg. But 
in Strasburg he was prevented from proceed¬ 
ing by a disease of the eyes; and here he 
became acquainted with Goethe, on whom 
he had a very decided influence. Besides 
his Fragments, his Critical Woods (Kritische 
Wiilder) and other productions had gained 
him a considerable reputation, and he was 
appointed in 1771 court preacher, superin¬ 
tendent, and consistorial counsellor at 
Buckeburg, and in 1776 to the same offices 
at Weimar. In 1801 he was made presi¬ 
dent of the high consistory, a place before 
only given to noblemen. He was subse¬ 
quently made a noble by the Elector of 
Bavaria. He died in 1803. As a theologian 
Herder contributed to a better understand¬ 
ing of the historical and antiquarian part of 
the Old Testament. His Geist der Heb- 
raischen Poesie (Spirit of Hebrew Poetry) 
is highly valued. He did much also for the 
better appreciation of the classical authors. 
His greatest work is his Ideen zur Philoso¬ 
phic der Geschichte der Menschheit (Ideas 
on the Philosophy of the History of Man; 
1785 et seq.). He is the author of some 
pleasing songs, and of an epic entitled The 
Cid. 

Heredit'aments, in law, any species of 
property that may descend to an heir. Cor¬ 
poreal hereditaments consist of material and 
tangible possessions, incorporeal heredita¬ 
ments of rights and privileges not themselves 
tangible, though conferring claims on tan¬ 
gible possessions. 

Hereditary Diseases. See Disease. 

Hered'ity, the transmission from parent 
to offspring of physical and intellectual cha¬ 
racters. This has been at all times believed 
in, but it is only in recent times that the 
conviction has, in the hands of Darwin, 
Herbert Spencer, and Wallace, been method¬ 
ized so as to embody an important zoologi¬ 
cal doctrine. The modern view of evolu¬ 
tion in biology rests upon the belief that 
acquired peculiarities, or differences which 
may arise between parent and offspring, 
can be transmitted with some probability 


of permanence, especially if the variation 
presented by the young is determined by 
external conditions, or if it is such as to 
adapt the possessor more thoroughly to the 
conditions under which it is placed. On the 
other hand, while variations may be thus 
permanently transmitted by heredity, yet 
this very tendency of the young to repeat 
the characters of the parent is also a check 
on variability, or the tendency of structure 
and attributes to change with the environ¬ 
ment. It may be noted that while the 
strong tendency to hereditary transmission 
works in the majority of cases so as to per¬ 
petuate those most fitted to survive, it 
secures the same result in other cases by a 
converse action. The descent of disease in 
families tends ultimately to purify the race 
by accumulating incapacities which end in 
the extinction of the enfeebled strain. 

Hereford (he're-ford), a city and parlia¬ 
mentary borough of England, capital of 
county of same name, on the left bank 
of the Wye. The principal streets are 
broad and straight; houses mostly of brick, 
and the public buildings of stone. The 
beautiful cathedral near the Wye was re¬ 
built, in the reign of William the Conqtieror, 
on the site of an earlier edifice, and restored 
in 1863 under the direction of Sir G. G. 
Scott. Other public buildings are the col¬ 
lege adjoining the cathedral, the shire-hall, 
the county-jail, free library and museum, 
corn exchange, market-hall, and post-office. 
The manufactures, wliich are inconsiderable, 
consist of gloves, leather, turnery, nails, &c. 
Hereford was long an important garrison 
town on the Welsh border, and was the last 
city to surrender to the Parliamentarians. 
The borough returns one member. Pop. 
20,267.—The county, which is entirely in¬ 
land, and borders on Wales, has an area of 
532,898 acres, of which about 500,000 are 
arable, meadow, and pasture. The county 
belongs wholly to the basin of Severn, 
towards which river it has a general slope 
north to south, as indicated by the course 
of its rivers, the Wye and its affluents. The 
soil is in general fertile. Wheat is the 
principal crop, but barley, oats, beans, pease, 
hops, and turnips are also extensively culti¬ 
vated. Orchards are numerous, and a large 
quantity of excellent cider is made. The 
Herefordshire cattle are held in high esti- 
mation for meat, though not good milkers. 
Horses are bred in considerable numbers. 
Oak timber is abundant, and forms, with oak- 
bark, an article of export. For parliamen- 

408 





HERETIC HERMAN NSTADT. 


tary purposes Herefordshire forms two divi¬ 
sions (a northern and a southern), each re¬ 
turning one member. The only pari. bor. 
is Hereford. Pop. 1891, 115,986. 

Heretic, one who embraces a heresy, that 
is, one who holds some theological doctrine 
which conflicts with the beliefs of the 
Catholic or universal church, but who, at 
the same time, calls himself a Christian. 
Many of the early Christians preserved their 
Jewish or Greek philosophical notions, and 
mingled them with the doctrines of Chris¬ 
tianity. Even in the time of the apostles 
we find traces of the Gnostics, and subse¬ 
quently a great variety of heretical sects or 
sectaries arose. Among the chief may be 
mentioned the Manichseans, Sabellians, 
Arians, Apollinarians, Nestorians, Mono- 
physites. Pelagians, Monothelites, Pauli- 
cians, &c. Among religionists stigmatized 
as heretics in later times by the Roman 
Catholic Church, were the Waldenses, the 
Wicliffites, Hussites, Lutherans, and all 
Protestant sects and churches. Before 
Christianity was made the religion of the 
Roman state, nothing but excommunica¬ 
tion was inflicted upon the heretic; but 
severe laws were passed soon after the con¬ 
version of the emperors. The code of Jus¬ 
tinian contains many ordinances against her¬ 
etics, and the canon law made it a duty to 
denounce them, under pain of excommuni¬ 
cation. As early as 385 Priscillian was 
condemned to death as a heretic by the 
Spanish bishops at the Council of Treves; 
but the persecutions of heretics, properly so 
called, began in the pontificate of Gregory 
VII., in the 11th century. Spain, Italy, and 
France, from the 13th to the 16th century, 
suffered much from these persecutions, but 
the states of Germany showed greater 
moderation. In England the burning of 
heretics was practised before 1200, and long 
continued. Heresy is now left entirely to 
the cognizance of the ecclesiastical courts. 

Herford, a town of Prussia, in West¬ 
phalia, 16 miles south-west of Minden. It 
has manufactures of linen and cotton goods, 
leather, basket-work, and tobacco; oil-mills, 
&c. Pop. 15,902. 

Heriot, in English law, a tribute or fine, 
as the best beast or other chattel, payable 
to the lord of the fee on the decease of the 
owner, landholder, or vassal. 

Her'iot, George, founder of the hospital 
in Edinburgh which bears his name, and 
jeweller to King James VI., was born in 
1563. He followed his father’s profession, 

409 


and was admitted a member of the Incor¬ 
poration of Goldsmiths in 1588. In 1597 he 
was appointed goldsmith to the queen by 
James VI., and on the accession of the 
latter to the English crown followed the 
court to England. From his settlement in 
London little is known of his history. He 
died in 1624. He left nearly the whole of 
his fortune to found an hospital in Edin¬ 
burgh for the maintenance and education 
of poor fatherless boys, freemen’s sons, of 
the town. The present magnificent struc¬ 
ture known as Heriot’s Hospital was built 
between 1628 and 1659. See Edinburgh. 

Herisau, a town of Switzerland, in the 
canton and 4 miles north-west of Appenzell. 
It has manufactures of muslin and other 
kinds of cotton goods. Pop. 11,703. 

Heristal. See Herstal. 

Heritable Jurisdictions, grants of crimi¬ 
nal jurisdiction formerly bestowed on great 
families by the Scottish crown, with a view 
to expedite the administration of justice. 
Possessors of these jurisdictions could within 
their domain fine, scourge, imprison, and 
even in some cases put to death without in¬ 
terference of the common law. They were 
abolished after the rebellion of 1745. 

Heritable Securities, in Scotch law, the 
term applied to what is known in English 
law as mortgages and charges on land. 

Heritors, in Scotch law, such proprietors 
of lands and houses in'any parish as are 
liable to public burdens, especially the up¬ 
keep of the parish church. 

Her'mann, Johann Gottfried Jakob, a 
German scholar, born in 1772. He began 
to lecture on ancient literature at Leipzig 
in 1794, and with this university he was 
connected till his death in 1848. Hermann 
originated valuable reforms in the method 
of Greek grammatical instruction; and he is 
especially known for his editions of H^schy- 
lus, Euripides, Aristophanes, Bion, and Mos- 
chus, and for the controversies in which his 
theories involved him with Voss, Creuzer, 
Bockh, Ottfried Muller, and other scholars. 

Her'mannstadt, a town of Transylvania, 
on the Cibin, 54 m. s.s.e. Klausenburg. 
It consists of a high and a low town, con¬ 
nected by steep stone stairs, and of three 
suburbs. The high town is double walled 
and well built. It is the seat of the govern 
nor of the province and of the Greek metro¬ 
politan of Transylvania. The manufactures 
are varied, and there is an important transit 
trade, chiefly to and from Constantinople. 
Pop. 19,446. 



HERMAPHRODITE-HERMETIC ART. 


Hermaph'rodite, an animal in which the 
characteristics of both sexes are either really 
or apparently combined, especially an ani¬ 
mal having the parts of generation both of 
male and female, so that reproduction can 
take place without the union of two indi¬ 
viduals. Hermaphrodites are divided into 
true and spurious, the first exhibiting areal 
combination of the characteristics of the 
two sexes; while in the second the combina¬ 
tion is only apparent. The animals in which 
the organs of the two sexes are normally 
combined in the same individual are con¬ 
fined to the invertebrate division of the 
animal kingdom, as for example certain 
groups of the inferior worms, molluscs, bar¬ 
nacles, &c. There are no real hermaphro¬ 
dites in the human species. 

Hermaphrodite Brig, a brig that is 
square-rigged forward and schooner-rigged 
aft. 

Hennas, one of the so-called apostolic 
fathers, generally supposed to be the person 
mentioned by that name in Rom. xvi. 14, 
though others maintain that he lived much 


later. He is known as the author of a work 
entitled the Shepherd, circulated at Rome 
early in the second century, and for which a 
place in the canon was even claimed. Only 
a few fragments exist of the Greek original, 
but the Latin translation, made at a very 
early period, appears to be complete. 

Hermeneu'tics (from a Greek word mean¬ 
ing to explain or interpret), the science 
which fixes the principles of the interpreta¬ 
tion of the sacred writings. Hermeneutics 
bears the same 
relation to e.ce- 
ffeszs as theory 
to practice. See 
Exegesis. 

Hermes,call¬ 
ed by the Ro¬ 
mans Mercu- 
rius (see Mer¬ 
cury), in Greek 
mythology the 
son of Zeus 
and Maia, the 
daughter of At¬ 
las. He was 
born in Arca¬ 
dia, and soon 
after his birth 
left his cradle 
iind invented the lyre by stringing the shell 
of a tortoise with three or seven strings. The 
lyre, however, he resigned to Apollo, with 



Hermes.—Wall painting, Pompeii. 


whom it was ever after identified. Hermes 
also invented the Pandean pipe. The an¬ 
cients represent Hermes as the herald and 
messenger of the gods. He conducted the 
souls of the departed to the lower world. He 
was the ideal embodiment of grace, dignity, 
and persuasiveness, but also of prudence, 
cunning, fraud, perjury, theft, and robbery. 
His cunning was frequently of service both to 
the gods and the heroes, and even to Zeus 
himself. Later writers ascribe to him the 
invention of dice, music, geometry, letters, 
&c. He was worshipped in all the cities of 
Greece, but Arcadia was the chief place of 
his worship, his festivals being called Her- 
maa. In the monuments he is represented 
as in the flower of youth, or in the full 
power of early manhood. He often appears 
with small wings attached to his head and 
to his ankles. Among his symbols are the 
cock, the tortoise, a purse, &c., and especially 
his winged rod, the caduceus. 

Hermes, Georg, a German theologian, 
born 1775. He studied theology at the 
University of Munster; became teacher in 
the gymnasium of that city, and in 1807 
professor of dogmatic theology in the uni¬ 
versity. When the Prussian government 
established the University of Bonn, Hermes 
was appointed to the chair of Catholic theo¬ 
logy (1820). Here he distinguished himself 
by an ingenious effort to base the doctrines 
of the church on Kant’s system of philosophy 
—an attempt known as Hermesianism. It 
aroused powerful opposition, being con¬ 
demned as heretical by a papal letter of 
1835, two years after the death of its origi¬ 
nator. 

Hermes Trismegis'tus, a mythical person¬ 
age, the reputed author of a great variety of 
works, probably written by Egyptian Neo- 
Platonists, who ascribed the authorship of 
the highest attainments of the human mind 
to Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes; regarding 
him as the source of all knowledge and in¬ 
ventions, the Logos incarnate, thrice greatest 
(Gr. tris megistos). Clement of Alexandria 
mentions the contents of forty-two books 
of Hermes which were extant in his time. 
Of those which now remain the most im¬ 
portant is the Poimandres or Poimander, a 
dialogue on nature, the creation, the deity, 
the soul, knowledge, and similar topics. 
Of the extant works none belongs, in all 
probability, to an earlier date than the 4th 
or perhaps the 3d century of our era. 

Hermetic Art, another name iorAlchymy 
(which see). 


410 


















HERMETIC SEALING-HERO. 


Hermetic Sealing, the term used to de¬ 
note a very old process in which a glass 
vessel, such as a tube or flask, has its neck 
so fused together that no part of the con¬ 
tained matter can escape, and nothing for¬ 
eign can get in. 

Hermitage, one of the finest French wines, 
produced along the Rhone between Valence 
and Valihre, iti the ci-devant Dauphiny. It 
is of two kinds, red and white; the former 
is preferred. 

Hermit-crab, a name common to a family 
(Paguridae) of well-known decapod crusta¬ 
ceans. These crabs take possession of and 
occupy the cast-off univalve shells of various 
molluscs, carrying this habitation about with 
them, and changing it for a larger one as 
they increase in size. There are several 
species of various sizes, chiefly belonging 
to tropical shores. 

Hermits. See Anchorites. 

Hermon, a mountain of Syria, belonging 
to the Anti-Lebanon, about 9400 feet high. 

Hermop'olis. See Syra. 

Hermosillo (-sil'yo), a city in the state of 
Sonora, Mexico, on the river Sonora, 110 
miles north from the port of Guaymas, with 
which it has a large traffic. It has a mint, 
distilleries, and flour-mills. Pop. 14,000. 

Hernandia, a genus of large East Indian 
trees, forming the nat. order Hernandiaceae. 
They have al¬ 
ternate entire 
leaves and flow¬ 
ers arranged in 
axillary or ter¬ 
minal spikes or 
corymbs. //. 

Sonora , or Jack - 
in-the-box, is so 
called from the 
noise made by 
the wind whist¬ 
ling through its 
persistent in- Hemandia Sonora (Jack-in-a-box). 
volucels. The 

fibrous roots chewed and applied to wounds 
caused by the Macassar poison form an 
effectual cure, and the juice of the leaves is 
a powerful depilatory. The wood is light, 

• that of H. guianensis takes fire so readily 
from a flint and steel that it is used in the 
same way as amadou. 

Hernia, in surgery, a tumour formed by 
the displacement of a soft part, which pro¬ 
trudes by a natural or accidental opening 
from the cavity in which it is contained. 
The brain, the heart, the lungs, and most 

411 


of the abdominal viscera may become totally 
or partially displaced, and thus give rise to 
the formation of hernial tumours. But the 
term is ordinarily applied to abdominal her¬ 
nia. Every part of the abdomen may be¬ 
come the seat of hernia, but it most com¬ 
monly appears in the anterior and inferior 
region, which, being destitute in a great 
measure of muscular fibres, and containing 
the natural openings, offers less resistance 
to the displacement of the viscera. Most of 
the viscera, when displaced, push the peri¬ 
toneum forward before them: this mem¬ 
brane thus forms an envelope of the hernia, 
which is called the hernial sac. The hernia 
itself is usually a loop of the small bowel, 
and though it has been pushed through the 
wall of the abdomen, forming a tumour 
under the skin, the faeces still pass along it. 
If the hernia can be returned to the abdo¬ 
men, it is said to be reducible; if, from its 
size or other cause, it cannot be replaced, 
it is irreducible. A hernia is said to be 
strangulated when it is not only irreducible, 
but also subjected to a continual constric¬ 
tion, which interferes with the circulation 
through the blood-vessels of the part and 
the passage of the faeces. It may be rapidly 
fatal. Constriction may be produced by 
different causes, but generally occurs at the 
margins of the opening through which the 
hernia protrudes. As soon as a patient 
perceives that he is affected with a hernia 
he should have recourse to medical advice, 
for the disease is then in its most favourable 
state for treatment. The hernia when it is 
reduced must be prevented from recurring 
by the constant pressure of a pad or truss. 
An irreducible hernia must be supported 
with great care. All violent exercises, and 
excess in diet, must be avoided. The stran¬ 
gulated hernia requires prompt relief, and 
may necessitate an operation. 

Hernosand (her'neu-san), a seaport and 
cathedral town of Sweden, capital of 
AVesternorrland, on the island Herno, in 
the Gulf of Bothnia, with a considerable 
shipping trade. Pop. 5621. 

Hero, a Greek priestess of Aphrodite at 
Sestos, on the coast of Thrace, for love of 
whom Leander, a youth of Abydos, swam 
every night across the Hellespont, guided by 
a torch from her tower. He was at length 
drowned in the attempt and his body washed 
ashore, when Hero, overcome with anguish, 
threw herself from the tower on the corpse 
of her lover, and perished. There is a 
Greek poem by Musaeus on this subject. 








HERO-HERODOTUS. 


Hero (of Alexandria), one of the most 
distinofuished Greek mathematicians and 
mechanists of ancient times, who flourished 
about B.c. 150-100. A common pneumatic 
toy, called Hero’s fountain, is attributed to 
him, and he also invented the aeolipile, a 
heliostat, &c. 

Her'od, called the Great, King of the 
Jews, was a native of Ascalon, in Judea, 
where he was born about 74 b.c. He was 
the second son of Antipater the Idumean, 
who, being made procurator of Judea by 
Julius Caesar, appointed Herod to the govern¬ 
ment of Galilee. He at first embraced the 
party of Brutus and Cassius, but after their 
death reconciled himself to Antony, by 
whose interest he was first named Tetrarch, 
and afterwards king of Judea. After the 
battle of Actium he successfully paid court 
to Augustus, who confirmed him in his 
kingdom. On all occasions his abilities as 
a politician and commander were conspicu¬ 
ous; but his passions were fierce and ungov¬ 
ernable, and his wife Mariamne, her brother, 
grandfather, and mother, and his own sons 
by her, were all put to death by him. He 
rebuilt the temple at Jerusalem with great 
magnificence, and erected a stately theatre 
and amphitheatre in that city. He also 
rebuilt Samaria, which he called Sebaste, 
and constructed many strong fortresses 
throughout Judea, the principal termed 
Caesarea, after the emperor. The birth of 
Jesus Christ is said to have taken place in 
the last year of the reign of Herod, viz. B.c. 
4, the year also signalized by the massacre 
of the children of Bethlehem. Herod’s 
policy and influence gave a great temporary 
splendour to the Jewish nation, but he was 
also the first to shake the foundation of 
the Jewish government, by dissolving the 
national council, and appointing the high- 
priests and removing them at pleasure, with¬ 
out regard to the laws of succession. 

Herod Agrippa I., son of Aristobulus by 
Berenice, daughter of Herod the Great. 
From his attachment to Caligula he was 
imprisoned by Tiberius, but on the accession 
of Caligula (a.d. 37) he received the gov¬ 
ernment of part of Palestine, and latterly 
all the dominions of Herod the Great. To 
please the Jews, with whom his rule was 
very popular, he caused St. James to be put 
to death, and imprisoned St. Peter. He died 
fn the circumstances related in Acts xii., in 
A.D. 44. 

Herod Agrippa II., son of the preceding, 
and last of the Herodian line. Being too 


young to govern, Judea was, on his father’s 
death, reduced to a Roman province. He 
subsequently received the kingdom of Chal- 
cis, and obtained the superintendency of the 
temple at Jerusalem, where, with his sister, 
Berenice, he heard the defence of Paul be¬ 
fore Festus. Being driven from Jerusalem 
by the revolt of the Jews he joined Cestius, 
and later on Vespasian, and during the siege 
of Jerusalem was very serviceable to Titus. 
After its reduction (a.d. 70) he and Berenice 
(with whom he was suspected to have an 
incestuous intercourse) returned to Rome. 
He is supposed to have died there, A.D. 94. 

Herod An'tipas, son of Herod the Great 
by his fifth vdfe, Cleopatra, was appointed 
tetrarch of Galilee on his death (b.c. 4). 
This was the Herod who put to death St. 
John the Baptist, in compliment to his wife 
Herodias in revenge for his reproaches of 
their incestuous union. Having visited 
Rome he was accused of having been con¬ 
cerned in the conspiracy of Sejanus, and 
was stripped of his dominions, and sent (a.d. 
39) with his wife into exile at Lugdunuin 
(Lyons), or, as some say, to Spain, where 
he died. 

Herodio'nes, the herons, a modern name 
for an order of birds including the herons 
proper, but also the bitterns, storks, spoon¬ 
bills, ibises, &c. 

Herod'otus, the oldest Greek historian 
whose works have come down to us, the 
‘father of history,’ born at Halicarnassus in 
Asia Minor about B.c. 484. Before writ¬ 
ing his history he travelled extensively, 
visiting the shores of the Hellespont and the 
Euxine, Scythia, Syria, Palestine, Babylon 
and Ecbatana, Egypt as far as Elephantine 
and other parts of northern Africa, every¬ 
where investigating the manners, customs, 
and religion of the people, the history of 
the country, productions of the soil, &c. On 
returning home he found that Lygdamis 
had usurped the supreme authority in Hali¬ 
carnassus, and put to death the noblest 
citizens, among others his uncle, the epic 
poet Panyasis, and Herodotus was forced 
to seek an asylum in the island of Samos. 
Having formed a conspiracy with several 
exiles he returned to Halicarnassus and 
drove out the usurper, but the nobles who 
had acted with him immediately formed an 
aristocracy more oppressive than the govern¬ 
ment of the banished tyrant, and Herodotus 
withdrew to the recently founded colony of 
Thurii, in Italy, where he seems to have 
spent most of his remaining life. Here, 

412 



HEROES 


HERON. 


at an advanced age, we are told by Pliny, 
he wrote his immortal work, a statement 
strengthened by the fact that events are 
noticed in the body of the book which oc¬ 
curred so late as 409 b.c., while its abrupt 
ending proves almost beyond question that 
he was prevented by death from completing 
it. The history is divided into nine books, 
each bearing the name of a muse, and is 
written in the Ionic dialect. The object of 
the historian is to narrate the conflict be¬ 
tween the Greeks and Persians, and he 
traces the enmity of the two races back to 
mythical times. Rapidly passing over the 
mythical period he comes to Croesus, king 
of Lydia, of whom and of his kingdom he 
gives a comparatively full history. The 
conquest of Lydia by Cyrus induces him to 
relate the rise of the Persian monarchy and 
the subjugation of Asia Minor and Babylon. 
The history of Cambyses and his Egyptian 
expedition leads him to introduce the valu¬ 
able details of the history, geography, and 
manners and customs of Egypt, which oc¬ 
cupy the second book. The Scythian ex¬ 
pedition of Darius causes the historian to 
treat of the Scythians and the north of 
Europe; and the subsequent extension of 
the Persian kingdom affords him the oppor¬ 
tunity for giving an account of Cyrene and 
Libya. In the meantime the revolt of the 
lonians breaks out, which eventually brings 
on the conflict between Greece and Persia. 
An account of this outbreak and of the rise 
of Athens after the expulsion of the Peisis- 
tratidae, is followed by what properly con¬ 
stitutes the principal part of the work, and 
the history of the Persian war now runs on 
in an uninterrupted stream until the taking 
of Sestos. There are English translations 
of his history bj’^ Beloe, Cary, and Rawlin- 
son, the last being accompanied by impor¬ 
tant notes and dissertations. 

Heroes, a name applied by the Greeks 
to mythical personages who formed an in¬ 
termediate link between men and gods. They 
were demigods, whose mortal nature only 
was destroyed by death, while the immortal 
ascended to the gods. The heroic age of 
Greece is considered to have terminated 
with the return of the Heraclidae into the 
Peloponnesus (b.c. 1100). There were six 
great heroic races, descended respectively 
from Prometheus and Deucalion, Inachus, 
Agenor, Danaus, Pelops or Tantalus, and 
Cecrops. Individual families, as, for instance, 
the jEacido’, Atridtv, Heraclidcc, belong to 
one or another of these races. Great sacri- 

413 


flees were not offered to the heroes, as they 
were to the Olympian deities; but groveswere 
consecrated to them, and libations poured 
out on their sepulchres. 

Herold, Louis Joseph EKRniNAND, a 
French musical composer, born 1791, died 
1833. He entered the conservatoire at 
Paris, afterwards studied at Rome, and be¬ 
came musical tutor to the daughters of 
Murat, king of Naples. His first success¬ 
ful opera was Les Rosihres, produced in 
1817. This was followed by, among other 
minor compositions, Le Muletier (1823), 
and Marie (1826). His chief works, how¬ 
ever, are the famous Zampa (1821), and the 
Pre aux Cleres (1832). 

Heron, the common name of birds of the 
genus Ardea, constituting with the bitterns 
the family Ardeidae, type of what is now 
commonly regarded as a separate order of 



Common Heron (Ardea cinerea). 


birds, the Herodiones. The herons are very 
numerous, and almost universally spread 
over the globe. They are distinguished by 
having a long bill cleft beneath the eyes, a 
compressed body, long slender legs naked 
above the tarsal joint, three toes in front, 
the two outer united by a membrane, and 
by moderate wings. The tail is short, 
rounded, and composed of ten or twelve 
feathers. The common heron (Ard^a cinerea) 
is about 3 feet in length from the point of 
the bill to the end of the tail, builds its 
nest in high trees, many being sometimes 
on one tree. Its food consists of fish, frogs, 
molluscs, mice, moles, and similar small ani¬ 
mals. It has an insatiable voracity, and 
digests its food with great rapidity. It haunts 
fresh-water streams, marshes, {)onds, and 
lakes, as also the searshore. It was formerly 
in high esteem for the table, and, being re¬ 
markable for its directly ascending flight, 
was the special quarry pursued in falconry 









HERON-HERRING. 


by the larger hawks. The great heron (A. 
herodias) is an inhabitant of America, and 
is called also great blue heron; the great 
white heron or egret [A. or Herodias alba) 
belongs to Europe; and the green heron 
{A. virescens), the flesh of which is much 
esteemed, is a native of North America. 

He'ron. See Hero. 

Herpes, a skin disease which, in most of 
its forms, passes through a regular course 
of increase, maturation, decline, and ter¬ 
mination, in from ten to fourteen days. It 
is characterized by vesicles which arise in 
distinct but irregular clusters, and com¬ 
monly appear in quick succession, and near 
together, on an inflamed base; generally 
attended with heat, pain, and considerable 
constitutional disorder. The term includes 
shingles and the like. The name herpes is 
given from the tendency of the eruption to 
creep or spread from one part of the skin to 
another (Greek herpein, to creep). 

Herpetology (from Gr. herpeton, a reptile), 
that department of natural history which 
treats of reptiles. See Reptiles. 

Herre'ra, Francesco, one of the greatest 
painters of the Seville school, was born 
there about 1576, died at Madrid 1656. 
He designed with spirit and vigour, and 
may justly be regarded as the founder of a 
new national school. His Last Judgment 
is a master-piece of design and colouring. 
Equal praise is due to his Holy Fanuly and 
the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He 
also displayed much skill in fresco painting 
and bronze work.—His youngest son, Fran¬ 
cesco, surnamed El iMozo, born 1622, died 
1685. He gained a great reputation in oil- 
painting and fresco, and became principal 
painter to Philip IV. 

Herrick, Robert, an English poet, born 
in London, 1591, died about 1674. He 
was vicar of Dean Prior in Devonshire for 
about 20 years; suffered deprivation under 
the government of Cromwell; but recovered 
his benefice after the restoration of Charles 
II., in 1660. His compositions were pub¬ 
lished in 1648, under the title of Hesperides, 
or the Works, both Humane and Divine, 
of Robert Herrick. It is a delightful col¬ 
lection of love lyrics, epigrams, sketches of 
rural scenery, &c. Notwithstanding his 
frequent coarseness he has been pronounced 
a writer of delightful Anacreontic spirit, 
and the best of English lyric poets. 

Herring, the general name of fishes of 
the genus Clupea, the most important of 
which is the ClupSa harenyus, or common 


herring. It is of wide distribution in the 
North Atlantic, 45° N. lat. being about the 
southern limit. It measures from 10 to 12 
inches in length, with blue-green back and 
brilliant silvery white under parts. It has 
small teeth in both jaws, and is of an ele¬ 
gant shape, the body being much compressed. 
It was formerly supposed that the herrings 
migrated in two great shoals every summer 
from the Polar Seas to the coasts of Europe 
and America, returning in the winter, but 
the migration is ])robably oJilyfrom a deeper 
part of the ocean to a shallower, d'he feed¬ 
ing ground of the herring is probably the 
mud deposits found in tlie deeper parts of 
the sea, and it seems to be a fact that dur¬ 
ing their visits to the shallower waters of 
the coast for the purpose of spawning they 
do not feed, or feed very little. In summer 
the herring leaves the deep water where it 
has passed the winter and spring months, 
and seeks the coast where it may deposit its 
ova, and where they may be exposed to the 
influences of oxygen, heat, and sun-light, 
which are essential to their development. 
They are generally followed by multitudes 
of hakes, dog-fishes, &c., and gulls and other 
sea-birds hover over the shoals. They swim 
near the surface, and are therefore easily 
taken by net. So great is their fecundity 
that the enormous number taken appears 
to produce no diminution of their abun¬ 
dance, as many as 68,000 eggs havitig been 
counted in the roe of one female. Herring, 
without any apparent cause, often desert 
parts of the coast where for a time they 
have been remarkably abundant, not re¬ 
turning in similar plenty till after the 
lapse of a number of years. Such seems 
to be the case on our Eastern coasts. The 
common American species, C. elongata, 
difters somewhat in its external appearance 
from the common European species, C. 
harengiis, above described. It varies in 
length from 12 to 15 inches; the color 
above is deep blue, tinged with yellow, 
with silvery sides and lower parts. Herring 
are full of roe in the end of June, and 
continue in season till the beginning of 
winter, when they deposit their spawn. 
The mode of fishing for herring is by drift- 
nets, very similar to those employed in the 
pilchard fisheries ; the fishing is carried on 
only in the night, the most favourable time 
being when it is quite dark, and the surface 
of the water is ruffled by a breeze. The 
food of the herring is believed to consist 
chiefly of minute crustaceans and acalep- 

414 




HERRNHUT- 

IrcR; but it feeds also on small fishes, even 
the young of its own species. Other prom¬ 
inent members of the herring family (Clu- 
peidae) are the sprat or garvie {CUipM 
sprattus), the pilchard or gypsy herring (C. 
pilchardus), the whitebait, anchovy, &c. 

Herrahut, a village of Saxony, 50 miles 
E. of Dresden. It was founded by Count 
Zinzendorf in 1722, for the Moravian Breth¬ 
ren, and it afterwards became the metro¬ 
polis and centre of that sect of Christians, 
who, from this town, are often called Herrn- 
huters. See United Brethren. 

Herschel, Caroline Lucretia, sister of 
the astronomer Sir William Herschel, born 
at Hanover 1750, died 1848. She joined 
her bn^ther at Bath in 1771, and acted dur¬ 
ing his life as his astronomical assistant. 
She also found time to conduct a series of 
observations of her own. Her observations 
were published by the Royal Society, of 
which she was made an honorary member. 
On her brother’s death she returned to 
Hanover. 

Herschel, Sir John Frederick William, 
only son of Sir William Herschel, was born 
in 1792 at Slough, near Windsor, died 
in 1871. In 1813 he graduated B.A. at 
Cambridge, and was Senior Wrangler and 
Smith’s Prizeman. After his father’s death 
he spent eight years reviewing the nebulae 
and clusters of stars discovered by his father. 
The results were given in 1833 to the Royal 
Society in the form of a catalogue of stars. 
The catalogue contained observations on 
525 nebulae and clusters of stars not noticed 
by his father, and on a great number of 
double stars, between 3000 and 4000 in all. 
In 1830 he produced his excellent Prelimi¬ 
nary Discourse on the Study of Natural 
Philosophy, and about the same time pub¬ 
lished several treatises in the Encyclopaedia 
Metropolitana, Lardner’s Cyclopaedia, &c. 
In 1834 he established, at his own expense, 
an observatory at Feldhuysen, near Cape 
Town, his object being to discover whether 
the distribution of the stars in the southern 
hemisphere corresponded with the results 
of his father’s labours in the north. He 
returned to England in 1838, and in 1847 
was published Results of Astronomical Ob¬ 
servations made during 1834-38 at the Cape 
of Good Hope, being the Completion of a 
I’elescopic Survey of the Whole Surface 
of the Visible Heavens. He was one of 
the earliest pioneers in photography; was 
made a D.C.L. of Oxford; and on the queen’s 
coronation he was created a baronet. In 

415 


-HERSCHEL. 

1848 he was president of the Royal Astro¬ 
nomical Society, and in 1850 was appointed 
Master of the Mint, an office which he 
resigned in 1855. Among Sir John’s other 
works are Outlines of Astronomy, Familiar 
Lectures on Scientific Subjects, and a trans¬ 
lation of the Iliad in verse. 

Herschel, Sir William, astronomer, son 
of a musician of Hanover, born 1738, died 
1822. He came to England in 1757, and 
was employed in the formation of a military 
band, and in conducting, while organist at 



Sir William Herschel. 


Bath, several concerts, oratorios, &c. Al¬ 
though enthusiastically fond of music, he 
had for some time devoted his leisure hours 
to the study of mathematics and astronomy; 
and being dissatisfied with the only tele¬ 
scopes within his reach, he set about con¬ 
structing instruments for himself. Late in 
1779 he began a regular survey of the 
heavens, star by star, with a 7-feet reflec¬ 
tor, and discovered, March 13, 1781, a new 
primary planet, named by him the Georghtvi 
Skills, but now known as Uranus. This 
discovery extended his fame throughout the 
world, and brought him a pension of £400 
a year, with the title of private astronomer 
to the king. Assiduously continuing his 
observations, he measured the rotation of 
Saturn, discovered two of its satellites, and 
observed the phenomena of its rings. He 
also discovered the satellites of LIrS,nus, and 
observed the volcanic structure of the lunar 
mountains. At Slough, near Windsor, he 
erected a telescope of 40 feet length, and 
completed it iu 1787. Herschel received 






HERSE — 

much assistance in making and recording 
observations from his sister Caroline; and 
latterly his brother, a skilful optical instru¬ 
ment maker, lent him valuable aid. In 
1802 he laid before the Royal Society a 
catalogue of 5000 nebulae and clusters of 
stars which he had discovered. He was 
made D.C.L. by the University of Oxford, 
and in 1816 was knighted. 

Herse, Hearse, a framework whereon 
lighted candles were placed at the obsequies 
of distinguished persons. The funeral herse 
of the middle ages was a temporary canopy 



Herse.—MS. in Bodleian Library. 


covered with wax-lights, and set up in the 
church; the coffin was placed under the 
herse during the funeral ceremonies. Some¬ 
times it was a very elaborate structure. 
The name has been transferred to the 
modern carriage for bearing a dead body to 
the grave. 

Hersfeld, a town of Prussia, province of 
Hesse-Nassau, 10 miles n.n.e. of Fulda. 
Pop. 7262. 

Herstal, or Heristal, a town of Belgium, 
on the Meuse, 3 miles north-east of Li^ge. 
It was the residence of Pepin le Gros, and 
afterwards of several French kings of the 
second race; and has a church founded by 
Charlemagne. Pop. 12,015. 

Hertford, town and former pari, borough 
of England, capital of the county of same 
name, on the Lea, 19 miles north of London. 
It consists of three principal streets, meeting' 
in a central square. There are breweries 
and oil and flour mills. Hertford now gives 
name to a pari. div. of the county. The 
castle, which was built by Edward the Elder 


HERVEY. 

about 905, was occupied by John of Gaunt, 
and by the queens of Henry IV., V., and 
VI.; and Elizabeth also resided in it occa¬ 
sionally. John II., king of France, and 
David, king of Scotland, were both in cap¬ 
tivity here. Pop. 7747.—The county of 
Hertford (contracted Herts), i^ bounded 
by Cambridgeshire, Essex, Middlesex, Buck¬ 
ingham, and Bedford; area, 405,141 acres, 
of which about five-sixths are arable, mea¬ 
dow, and pasture. The general aspect of 
the county is pleasing, being diversified by 
hill and valley, pasture lands, arable farms, 
and picturesque parks and woods. The prin¬ 
cipal rivers are the Lea and Colne, both of 
which have numerous tributaries. Agricul¬ 
ture employs a large number of the in¬ 
habitants; there are manufactures of paper, 
silk, and straw. For parliamentary pur¬ 
poses it forms four divisions, each return¬ 
ing a member to the House of Commons. 
Pop. 1891, 220,125. 

Hertogenbosch. See Bois-le-Duc. 

Hertz, Henrik, Danish dramatic poet, 
was born at Copenhagen of Jewish parents, 
1798, died 1870. He published several 
comedies anonymously in 1826-30. Poeti¬ 
cal Epistles from Paradise, in which he 
imitated and satirized the affected style and 
spirit of his contemporaries, raised a great 
commotion at the time. He wrote a great 
number of poems and novels, but his best 
w'orks are his plays. Among his best known 
are Sparekassen, Ninon, Svend Dyring’s 
Huus, a tragedy founded on an old saga, 
and King Rene’s Daughter, which has been 
translated and performed in France, Ger¬ 
many, and Britain. 

Her'uli, an ancient Germanic people, ori¬ 
ginally found on the northern shores of the 
Black Sea. Under the leadership of Odoacer 
they helped in the overthrow of the Western 
Empire. About the end of the 6th century 
they ceased to have a separate existence as 
a people. 

Her'vey, James, English divine, born in 
1714, died 1758. Having taken orders he 
filled curacies in Hampshire and Devonshire, 
and in 1743 he became curate to his father, 
at whose death he succeeded to the livings 
of Weston Favel and Collingtree. His 
works, which had a great popularity not¬ 
withstanding their turgid and meretricious 
style, include Meditations among the Tombs; 
Reflections in a Flower Garden; a Descant 
on Creation; Contemplations on the Night 
and Starry Heavens; Theron and Aspasia, 
religious dialogues; and a volume of Letters. 

416 









































HERVEY ISLANDS 


HESSE. 


Hervey Islands, a group of islands in the 
Pacific Ocean, s.w. of the Society Islands, 
lat. 20° s., Ion. 160° w., consisting of nine 
islands, either volcanic or coralline, the 
largest being Earatonga. The natives have 
legends of their migration from Samoa, and 
many have been converted to Christianity 
by English missionaries. Pop. about 7000. 
Called also Cook’s Islands. 

Herzegovina (hert-se-go-ve'na), a province 
of the Balkan peninsula, now under the Aus¬ 
trian sway, bounded on the N. by Croatia and 
Bosnia, on the E. by Novibazar, on the s.E. 
by Montenegro, and on the s. and w. by Dal¬ 
matia; area, 700 square miles. The sur¬ 
face is generally mountainous, but contains 
many fertile valleys. Pop. about 200,000. 
An insurrection which broke out in July, 
1875, formed the beginning of a train of 
events resulting in war between Russia and 
I’urkey. In accordance with the Treaty of 
Berlin (1878) the province was occupied by 
Austrian troops, and is now ruled by an 
Austrian military governor. 

Herzen (hert'sen), Alexander, a Russian 
writer, born in 1812 at Moscow, died at 
Paris 1870. VVhile a student at Moscow 
he imbibed extreme philosophical and so¬ 
cialistic views, which Vjrought about his im¬ 
prisonment and exile. He was afterwards 
pardoned, but spent the latter part of his 
life (from 1847) abroad. Among his nu¬ 
merous works are the novels. W ho is to 
Blame? and Dr. Krupow; Letters from 
France and Italy; On the Development of 
Revolutionary Ideas in Russia; Ilecollec- 
tious of my Lifetime; Memoirs of the 
Empress Catharine, &c. 

Herzog (har'zoA), Johann J akob, German 
Protestant theologian, born at Basel 1805, 
died at Erlangen 1882. He was successively 
professor of historical theology at Lausanne, 
church history at Halle, and latterly at Er¬ 
langen. His chief works are Calvin and 
Zwingli, Life of (Ecolampadius and the Re¬ 
formation in Basel, and his great Real- 
Encyklopadie fiir Protestantische Theologie 
und Kirche, a vast collection of German 
learning and speculation, of which he was 
the editor, and to which he contributed 
over 500 articles. 

He'siod, one of the oldest poets of Greece, 
belonging to the 8th century B.C., and con¬ 
nected with Ascra, a village of Boeotia, at 
the foot of Mount Helicon. Little is known 
of his life. Of numerous works attributed 
to him there only remain the Theogony, a 
collection of the oldest fabler concerning the 
VOL. IV 417 


birth and achievements of the gods; the 
Shield of Heracles, a fragment of a larger 
work; and a didactic poem, W^orks and 
Days, which treats of agriculture, the choice 
of days, &c., with prudential precepts con- 
cerniug education, domestic economy, &c. 

Hesper'ides (-dez), in Greek mythology, 
certain nymphs who lived in gardens, of 
rather uncertain locality, as guardians of the 
golden apples that grew there, being assisted 
in the charge by a dragon. Hesiod places 
the gardens in an island of the ocean far to 
the west. It was the eleventh labour of 
Heracles to kill the dragon and bring the 
golden apples of the Blesperides to Eurys- 
theus. 

Hesperor'nis, a fossil bird found in the 
chalk formation of Kansas, about 6 feet 
long, without wings, and having its jaw'S 
armed with teeth, which are not set in 
sockets, but in a common groove. It has 
been described as ‘a kind of swimming, 
loon-like, raptorial ostrich, without fore¬ 
limbs, with the gape armed with formidable 
rows of strong teeth like a gigantic lizard, 
and with a large, broad, and flattened tail 
like a beaver.’ 

Hes'perus, among the ancient Greeks, a 
name of the evening star (the planet Venus). 

Hesse (hes), or Hessen, anciently a ter¬ 
ritory of Germany, situated mainly between 
the rivers Neckar, Rhine, Main, Lahn, and 
B’ulda. After various fortunes it was ruled 
by the landgrave Philip I., who succeeded 
in 1509, and at his death in 1567 divided 
his dominions among his four sons. B’he 
death of two of these, however, reunited the 
territories in part, so that there remained 
only the two main divisions of Hesse-Cassel 
and Hesse-Darmstadt, the latter now known 
simply as Hesse. See following articles. 

Hesse, or Hessen, Grand-duchy of, 
formerly known as Hessen-Darmstadt, an 
independent state of South Germany, con¬ 
sisting of sundry distinct portions. Of the 
two main portions, one (forming the pro¬ 
vinces of Rheinhessen on the left, and Star- 
kenburg on the right bank of the Pthine) 
lies immediately to the north of Baden, the 
other, Oberhessen (Upper Hesse), is entirely 
inclosed by the Prussian province of Hessen- 
Nassau; area of whole grand-duchy, 2964 
sq. miles. Oberhessen is generally moun¬ 
tainous ; the provinces Starkenburg and 
Rheinhessen are alsp mountainous towards 
their frontiers, more especially in the south¬ 
east, but there are also extensive plains be¬ 
longing to the valleys of the Main and the 

m 


HESSE-CASSEL 


HESSIAN FLY. 


Hhine. The climate is greatly diversified, 
being cold and bleak in the mountainous 
districts, and mild and pleasant in the val¬ 
leys of the Rhine and the Main. Much of 
the soil, particularly in the provinces of 
Starkenburg and Rheinhessen, is remark¬ 
ably fertile. The vine forms a most import¬ 
ant object of culture, and fruit is very abun¬ 
dant. The principal towns are Darmstadt, 
the capital; Mainz, Giessen, Bingen, and 
Worms. About two-thirds of the inhabi¬ 
tants are Protestants. Pop. 956,611.—The 
Grand-duchy of Hesse originated in the 
division of the Landgraviate of Hesse in 
1567. (See Hesse.) In 1806 the landgravi¬ 
ate was erected into a gi’and-duchy with an 
enlarged territory by Napoleon. It was 
reduced to its present limits in 1866, when 
it had to cede to Prussia some districts in 
the north, besides Hesse-Homburg, which, 
after being separated from it since 1596, 
had been reunited to it in the beginning of 
the year in which it was ceded. The reign¬ 
ing grand-duke, Ludwig (Louis), was mar¬ 
ried to Princess Alice of Great Britain. 

Hesse-Cassel, or Kurhessen (‘Electoral 
Hessen’), a district of Germany, formerly an 
independent electorate, containing 4430 sq. 
miles, but now, with the exception of several 
small strips of territory, forming part of the 
'Prussian province of Hessen-Nassau. It was 
founded in 1567. (See Hesse.) The last 
twenty years of its independent history is 
simply a narrative of conflicts between the 
people for political freedom and the elector 
for absolute rule. At last, on the outbreak 
of the German war of 1866, the elector de¬ 
clared himself on the side of Austria, and 
his territory was occupied by Prussian troops. 
On the conclusion of the war Hesse-Cassel 
was annexed to the Prussian territories. 

He.sse-Darmstadt. See Hesse, Grand- 
duchy of. 

Hesse-Homburg, before its absorption 
by Prussia after the German war of 1866, 
a landgraviate of Germany, consisting of 
two parts, the lordship of Homburg, situated 
N.N.w. of Frankfort, and the lordship of 
Meissenheim. It had an area of about 105 
square miles, and a population of 27,000 
inhabitants. The greater part of the public 
revenue was obtained from the gaming¬ 
tables of the watering-place, Homburg, the 
capital. 

Hesse-Nassau, or Hessen-Nassau, a 
province of Prussia, formed out of the for¬ 
mer Principality of Hesse-Cassel, the Duchy 
of Nassau, the Landgraviate of Hesse- 


Homburg, the territory and town of Frank¬ 
fort, &c. It borders on the Prussian pro¬ 
vinces of Westphalia, Hanover, Saxony, and 
the Rhineland, the Kingdom of Bavaria, 
&c., and incloses Upper Hesse. (See Hesse, 
Grand-duchy of.) The boundary is partly 
formed by the Rhine, Main, Weser, and 
Werra. Other rivers are the Lahn and 
Fulda. The greater part of this province 
belongs to the central German plateau, and 
has a rugged surface, partly covered by 
branches of the Harz. Still, about 40 per 
cent of the whole is arable, while about the 
same is under wood. The chief mineral is 
iron. Mineral springs are numerous. The 
manufactures consist chiefly of woollens, 
cottons, and linen. The principal towns are 
Cassel, the capital, Wiesbaden, and Frank¬ 
fort. Area, 6055 sq. m. Pop. 1890,1,664,426. 

Hessian, a stout coarse cloth made o' 
hemp. 

Hessian Boots, a kind of high boots with 
tassel in front, worn over tight trousers, in 
fashion with military gentlemen in the 18th 
century. 

Hessian Fly (Cecidomyia destructor), 
a fly of the family Tipulidse, of the order 
Diptera (two-winged flies), the larva of 
which is very destructive to wheat, barley, 
and rye crops (it does not attack oats). 
It is so named from the unfounded belief, 



Hessian-fly (Cecidomyia destructor). 

a, Male (natural size), fc, Male (magnified), c, Pupae 
fixed on the joint of the wheat-stalk. 

prevalent in America, where it is specially 
destructive, that it was brought over to that 
country in the baggage of the Hessian mer¬ 
cenaries employed against the Americana 
in the war of Independence. The female 
fly is about the eighth of an inch in length, 
with a wing expanse of about a quarter of 
an inch. Its body is brown, with the upper 
parts, the thorax, and the head of a darker 
sh^-de, approaching to black, wings are 

418 







HESTIA-HEXANDRIA. 


of a dusky gray, and are surrounded with 
fringes. The male is somewhat smaller 
than the female and has longer antennae. 
The female Hies usually lay their eggs on 
the young plants twice in the year, in May 
and September, out of which eggs the mag¬ 
gots hatch in from four to fourteen days. 
These work themselves in between the leaf- 
sheath and the stem, and fix themselves near 
the lowest joints, often near the root, and 
suck the juices of the stem, so that the ear 
falls down at a sharp angle. These mag¬ 
gots turn to pupae, from which the flies de¬ 
velop in about ten days. It has long been 
a pest in America and Germany, but did not 
appear in Britain till the summer of ] 886. 

Hestia, one of the later Greek goddesses, 
equivalent of the Latin Vesta. 

Heterarocha. See Iluia-bird. 

Heterocer'cal, a term applied to gan 
and elasmobranchiate fishes, in which the 
vertebral column ri;ns to a point in the 
upper lobe of the tail, as in the sharks and 
sturgeons, causing this lobe to be much 
larger than the other. 

Heterogen'esis, a term sometimes used as 
equivalent to spontaneous generation; other¬ 
wise applied to alternate generation. See 
Generation. 

Heteroousians (het-e-ro-ou'zi-anz), in 
eccles. hist, a branch of the Arians who 
held that the Son was of a dilferent substance 
from the Father. See Ilomoonsians. 

Heterop'oda, an order of marine molluscs, 
the most highly organized of the Gastero¬ 
poda. In this order the foot is compressed 
into a vertical muscular lamina, serving for 
a fin, and the gills, when ])reseut, are col¬ 
lected into a mass on the hinder part of the 
back. The chief genera are Carinaria and 
Firbla. 

Heterop'tera (Gr. heteros, different, and 
pteron, a wing), a section of hemipterous 
insects comprising those 
in which the two pairs of 
wings are of different con¬ 
sistence, the anterior part 
being horny or leathery, 
but generally tipped with 
membrane. They comprise 
the land and water bugs. 

By some naturalists the 
Heteroptera are separated 
from the Homoptera (the «, the scutciium; 
other section of the He- ^hcmeitia. 
miptera), and raised into a distinct order. 

Hetman, or Ataman, the title of the 
head (general) of the Cossacks. This dig¬ 

419 


nity was abolished among the Cossacks of 
the Ukraine by Catharine the Great, and 
although the Cossacks of the Don still retain 
their hetman, the former freedom of election 
is gone, and the title of chief hetman is now 
held by the Russian heir-apparent to the 
crown. 

Heuglin (hoi'glin), Theodor, Baron von, 
German traveller, born 1824, died 1876. 
He became first known by his travels in 
the region of the White Nile and Abj's- 
sinia (1854); took part in the German ex¬ 
pedition of 1861-62 to the Egyptian Sou¬ 
dan ; and afterwards accompanied Mdme. 
Tinne in her expedition to the Upper Nile. 
In 1870-71 he made a journey to the region 
of Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, and in 
1875 a last journey to the shores of the 
Red Sea. He published several volumes of 
African travel and natural history. 

Hex'achord, in the ancient music, an inter¬ 
val of four tones and one semitone, equiva¬ 
lent to that which the moderns call a sixth. 

Hex'agon, a plane figure of six sides and 
six angles. When these lines are equal the 
figure is calleci a regular hexagon. 

Hexahe'dron, a figure having six faces, 
or a solid bounded by six planes. The term 
cube is now generally applied to the regular 
hexahedron. 

Hexam'eter, a verse of six feet, the heroic 
or epic measure of the Greeks and Romans. 
The sixth foot is always a spondee (two 
long syllables) or a trochee (a long and a 
short). The five first may be all dactyls 
(two short syllables and one long), or all 
spondees, or a mixture of both. The scheme 
of this verse then is— 



with all the varieties which the mingling of 
the two kinds of feet affords. In modern 
poetry the hexameter has been frec^uently 
used. In English hexameters accent is 
almost entirely substituted for length, and 
trochees generally take the place of spondees. 
Longfellow in his Evangeline, Kingsley in 
his Andromeda, and Clough in his Bothie 
have adopted this form of verse. Tlie fol¬ 
lowing lines are specimens of Clough’s Eng¬ 
lish hexameters;— 

0 let us I try, he | answered, tlie | waters them | 
selves will sup | port us, | 

Yea very | ripples and I waves will j form to a I 
boat under | neath us. 

Hexan'dria, in the Linnsean system of 
botany, a class of plants having six stamens, 
which arc all of equal or nearly equal length. 





HEXAPLA — 

Hex'apla (Greek, Tiexapla, ‘six-fold'), a 
collection of the Holy Scriptures in six lan¬ 
guages; applied particularly to the combina¬ 
tion of six versions published by Origen, 
containing the Hebrew text with a tran¬ 
script of it in Greek characters, the Sep- 
tuagint, and three other versions, those, 
namely, of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theo- 
dotion. It is only extant in fragments. 

Hex'astyle, in architecture, a term applied 
to a portico or temple which has six columns 
in front. 

Hexham, a town of England, in North- 
umberlandshire, on the Tyne, about 20 miles 
west from Newcastle. There are here ruins 
of an abbey church, originally a cruciform 
structure, built about 674, destroyed two 
centuries later by the Hanes, renovated in 
1113, and demolished by the Scots in 1296. 
Hats, gloves, and leather are manufactured, 
but the industries are chiefly agricultural. 
Hexham gives name to a pari. div. of the 
county. Pop. 5919.—The Battle of Hex¬ 
ham, fought 15th May, 1464, was one of those 
belonging to the wars of the Roses. The 
Lancastrians under Somerset were defeated 
by Montague, the former being slain. 

Heydeck, Karl Wilhelm von (some¬ 
times called Ileidegrier), Bavarian landscape 
painter, born at Saaralben in Lorraine 1788, 
died at Munich 1861. He entered the mili¬ 
tary academy at Munich in 1801, and rose 
to the rank of lieutenant-general. He served 
as a volunteer in the Peninsular campaign, 
and took an active part in the Greek war 
of independence. His pictures are numerous, 
the more important being preserved at Ber¬ 
lin and Munich. Among them are Tyrolean 
W(jod-cutters, The Lion Gate at Mycenae, 
The Ascent to the Acropolis, &c. 

Heylin, Peter, D.H., English theologian, 
born 1600, died 1662. He published his 
Microcosmos, or Description of the Globe, 
in 1625. In 1629 he became chaplain to 
Charles I., and obtained several benefices, 
from which he was ejected during the civil 
war. At the Restoration he was made sub¬ 
dean of Westminster. He wrote a Life of 
Laud, a Defence of the Church of England, 
and several theological works. 

Heyne (hl'ne), Christian Gottlob, Ger¬ 
man scholar, born 1729, died 1812. He was 
educated at Chemnitz and at Leipzig Uni¬ 
versity, and after a long struggle with pov¬ 
erty he received, in 1763, an invitation to 
become professor of eloquence and poetry at 
Giittingen. He was soon after (1764) ap- 
^oiutied first librarian^ and rexnained here 


HEZEKIAH. 

till his death. He particularly applied him¬ 
self to classical criticism and the illustration 
of the writings of the ancients, and pub¬ 
lished valuable editions of Homer, Pindar, 
Diodorus Siculus, Epictetus, Virgil, Tibul¬ 
lus, &c., all with full commentaries. 

Heyse (hi'ze), Paul Johann Ludwig, Ger¬ 
man novelist and dramatist, born at Berlin 
1830, settled at Munich in 1854. He has 
written many plays, and short stories for 
newspapers and magazines ;' but his fame 
rests on his great novels. Die Kinder der 
Welt (The Children of the World), 1872; 
and Im Paradiese (The Paradise Club), 1875; 
generally recognized as among the most 
powerful and artistic works of modern Ger¬ 
man fiction. 

Heywood, a municipal borough of Eng¬ 
land, in Lancashire (giving name to a pari, 
div.), about 8 miles north-west of Man¬ 
chester. The making of power-looms, iron 
and brass founding, boiler-making, and all 
branches of cotton spinning and manufac¬ 
turing, are extensively carried on. Pop. 
22,979. 

Heywood, John, an early English dra¬ 
matist, lived in the first half of the sixteenth 
century, and died at Mechlin about 1565. 
Sir Thomas More introduced him at the 
court of Henry VIII., with whom he be¬ 
came a favourite. His zealous attachment 
to the Roman Church recommended him to 
Queen Mary; but this very circumstance 
rendered him an object of suspicion during 
the two succeeding reigns, and he found it 
expedient to retire to the Continent. Hey- 
wood’s dramatic works may be classed as 
Interludes, as they stand between the mir¬ 
acle-plays and the drama proper. Among 
them are: A mery Play between the Par¬ 
doner and theFrere, the Curate andNeybour 
Pratte; A Parable of the Spider and the 
Fly; The Four P’s; &c. 

Heywood, Thomas, dramatist, lived in 
the reigns of Elizabeth, J ames I., and Charles 
I. He was born in Lincolnshire, and edu¬ 
cated at Cambridge. He composed wholly 
or in part 220 different plays. Of these 
only about twenty-four remain, of which 
the one most admired is A Woman Killed 
with Kindness, published in Dodsley’s Col¬ 
lection. He was also the author of Great 
Britain’s Troy, An Apology for Actors, and 
a number of other works. 

Hezeki'ah (H izkiyah, generally HizhiyahUy 
sti'ength of Jehovah), the twelfth, and one 
of the best of the kings of Judah. He suc¬ 
ceeded Ahaz about 717 b.c., and died about 

420 




filBBERT LECTURES-HIDES. 


698 B.c. He repressed idolatry, fought suc¬ 
cessfully against the Philistines, and hoped 
to become entirely independent of Assyria, 
bxit had his fenced cities captured, and 
was mulcted in a large tribute. About this 
time Hezekiah had a serious illness from 
which he miraculously recovered, and cele¬ 
brated his fresh lease of life in a thanks¬ 
giving, preserved in Isaiah xxxviii. Among 
the ambassadors who came with letters and 
gifts to congratulate him on his recovery 
was the viceroy of Babylon, to whom he 
displayed the royal treasures. For this he 
received a terrible rebuke, and he was told 
by Isaiah that from Babylon would come 
tbe ruin and captivity of Judah. The 
greater part of the Scripture records bearing 
on the reign of Hezekiah is occupied by the 
two invasions of Sennacherib, and the sud¬ 
den destruction of the Assyrian army. He¬ 
zekiah did not long survive this deliverance. 

Hibbert Lectures, a course of lectures 
founded by Rol)ert Hibbert in 1847 for the 
promotion of comprehensive learning and 
thorough research in relation to religion 
wholly apart from the interest of any par¬ 
ticular church or system. The first course 
was given at Westmiuster in 1878 by Prof. 
Max Muller, ‘On the Origin and Growth of 
Religion, as illustrated by the Religions of 
India.’ Subsequent lecturers have been M. 
Renouf, M. Ernest Renan, Rhys Davids, 
Abraham Kuenen, and Albert R^ville. 

Hibernation. See Dormant State. 

Hiber'nia, the ancient name of Ireland, 
applied to it first by Julius Caesar. Aris¬ 
totle mentions this island by the name of 
lerne; Pomponius Mela calls it Iverna; 
Ptolemy, luvernia. 

Hibis'cus, an extensive genus of plants, 
nat. order Malvaceae (mallows), chiefly na¬ 
tives of tropical climates. They have large 
showy flowers, borne singly upon stalks to¬ 
wards the ends of the branches, these flowers 
having an outer calyx (called the epicalyx) 
of numerous leaves in addition to the true 
five-lobed persistent calyx. They are chiefly 
jBhrubs, one or two being herbs, and a few 
attaining the dimension of trees. The species 
are remarkable for abounding in mucilage 
and for the tenacity of the fibre of their 
bark, whence several are employed for many 
economical purposes in the different countries 
where they are indigenous. The petals of 
II. rosa-sinensis, a plant with large, hand¬ 
some, usually red flowers, frequent in green¬ 
houses, are astringent, and used in China 
as a black dye for the hair and eyes. The 

421 


handsome flowering shrub known in gardens 
as Althaa frutex is a species of hibiscus 
{II. syriacus). The root of II. Maniliot 
yields a mucilage used in Japan as size and 
to give a proper consistence to paper. The 
leaves of II. canvabinus are eatable, and an 
oil is extracted from its seeds, while it is 
cultivated in India for its fibre, and hence 
known as Indian hemp. 

Hiccup, or Hiccough, is a convulsive 
catch of the respiratory muscles, with sonor¬ 
ous inspiration, repeated at short intervals. 
Though generally a trivial and transient in¬ 
convenience, its occurrence in the last stages 
of acute disease is a grave, and often a fatal 
symptom. The frequent swallowing of small 
pieces of ice, or small doses of anti-spasmodic 
medicines, usually relieves a severe fit. 

Hickes, George, D.D., English divine, 
philologist, and antiquary, was born 1642, 
died 1715. He became dean of Worcester 
in 1683, but of this he was deprived in 1690 
for refusing to take the oaths to William III. 
after the Revolution. He followed the for¬ 
tunes of James li., and was consecrated 
suffragan Bishop of Thetford in 1694 by the 
non-juring Archbishop Sancroft. Of his nu¬ 
merous works the most important are In- 
stitutiones Grammaticae Anglo-Saxonicae et 
Maso-Gothicae, &c. (Oxon. 1689), and Lin- 
guarum veterum septentrionalium Thesau¬ 
rus Grarnmatico-Criticus et Archaeologicus 
(Oxon. 1705). 

Hick'ory, the name given to several species 
of timber-trees of the genus Carya, belong¬ 
ing to the nat. order Juglandaceae (walnut). 
They are natives of North America, and 
are remarkable for stateliness and general 
beauty. The wood is heavy, strong, and tena¬ 
cious, and is used for making carriage-shafts, 
screws, whip-handles, cogged wheels, &c. 
Tbe shag-bark {C. alba) yields the hickory- 
nut of commerce, and its wood is very valu¬ 
able. C. olivceformis yields the pecan-nut. 
The pig-nut or brown hickory is the C. 
glabra, and the swamp hickory is C. amara, 
so called from tbe bitterness of its nut. 

Hidalgo, a Spanish nobleman of the lower 
class. There w^ere hidalgos de naturalem, 
of noble birth, and hidalgos de ‘privilegio, 
that is, those on whom the king had con¬ 
ferred nobility, and those who purchased no¬ 
bility. The title is now obsolete. 

Hide, OF Land. See Hyde. 

Hides, the skins of animals, either raw or 
dressed; but the name is more commonly 
given to the undressed skins of the larger 
domestic animals, as oxen, horses, &c., the 



HIERACIUM-HIEROGLYPHICS. 


smaller being called skins. The hide trade 
is now an important one. 

Hieracium. See Hawhweed. 

Hiera Picra, ‘ Holy Bitter,’ a warm cath¬ 
artic composed of aloes and canella bark 
made into a powder and mixed with honey, 
still a farourite in domestic medicine and 
veterinary practice. 

Hierap'olis, a ruined city of Asiatic Tur¬ 
key, near the right bank of the Lycus, 121 
miles east by south of Smyrna. It was 
famous for its thermal springs, was the 
birthplace of Epictetus, and is mentioned by 
St. Paul in his epistle to the Colossians 
(iv. 13). 

Hi'erarchy (from Gr. Jiieros, sacred, and 
arche, government), sacred government, 
sometimes the church, sometimes the rule 
which the ecclesiastical governing body 
exercised as at once priests and civil magis¬ 
trates. In the former sense the hierarchy 
arose with the establishment of the Chris¬ 
tian church as an independent society. 
In the middle ages the papal hierarchy 
gathered great strength, and the pope be¬ 
came a spiritual monarch, ruling western 
Christendom with power but feebly limited 
by princes and councils. A reactionary 
movement began in the 14th centtiry, and 
the general tendency of subsequent events 
has always been to make the civil and hier¬ 
archical power more and more independent 
of each other. The term hierarchy as used 
to denote the governing and ministering 
body in the church, according to its several 
gradations, can strictly be applied only to 
those churches which are ruled by bishops, 
such as the Roman Catholic Church and 
the Anglican Church, which also holds the 
theory of a hierarchical gradation of rank 
and authority. Both these churches com¬ 
prise the three orders of bishops, priests, and 
deacons. 

Hierat'ic Writing (Gr. hieratikos, sacred), 
the mode of writing used by the Egyptian 
priests in their records. See Hieroqlyphics. 

Hi' ero I., ancient Greek ruler or ‘Tyrant’ 
(that is, absolute monarch) of Syracuse in 
Sicily, brother of Gelon, whom he succeeded 
in 478 B.c. He was an enlightened ruler, 
and a patron of genius and learning. His 
court became the rendezvous of the most 
distinguished writers of his time, inchiding 
Pindar^ JEschylus, Bacchylides, Epichar- 
mus, and Simonides. The Hiero of Xeno¬ 
phon contains the finest eulogium of this 
monarch. He was several times victor in 
the Grecian games. Pindar has celebrated 


his victories: several odes of this poet are 
filled with his praises. Hiero died at Catana, 
467 B.c. 

Hiero II., King or Tyrant of Syracuse 
(269-214 B.C.), son of Hierocles, a noble 
Syracusan, who claimed a descent from the 
family of Gelon. He was chosen by the 
soldiers as general in 275 B.c., and recog¬ 
nized as king about 270. In 264 he made 
an alliance with the Carthaginians against 
Rome, and thus began the first Punic war. 
Being defeated by the Romans he made 
peace by the payment of tribute, and was 
ever after a faithful and useful ally to them. 
His subjects enjoyed great prosperity during 
his reign. Hiero devoted himself to the 
construction of military machines of all 
kinds, and ships of great size, under the 
direction of Archimedes, who lived in Syra¬ 
cuse during this reign. 

Hierochloe (hl-er-ok'lo-e), Hierochloa. 
See Holy-grass. 

Hieroglyphics (from Gr. hieros, sacred, 
and glypho, I engrave), a term originally 
applied to the inscriptions sculptured on 
buildings in Egypt, in the belief that the 
writing was confined to sacred subjects, and 
legible only to the priests. The term has 
also been applied to picture-writing in gen¬ 
eral, such as that’of the Mexicans and the 
still ruder pictures of the North American 
Indians. Three different modes of writing 
were used by the ancient Egyptians, the 
Hieroglyphic, the Hieratic, and the Demotic. 
Pure hieroglyphic writing is the earliest, 
and consists of figures of material objects 
from every sphere of nature and art, with 
certain mathematical and arbitrary sym¬ 
bols. Next was developed the hieratic or 
priestly writing, the form in which most 
Egyptian literature is written, and in which 
the symbols almost cease to be recognizable 
as figures of objects. Hieratic writings of 
the third millennium B.c. are extant. In 
the demotic or enchorial writing, derived 
directly from the hieratic, the symbols are 
still more obscured. The demotic was 
first used in the 9th century B.c., and was 
chiefly employed in social and commercial 
intercourse. Down to the end of the 18th 
century scholars failed to find a clue to 
the hieroglyphic writings. In 1799, how¬ 
ever, M. Bouchard, a French captain of 
engineers, discovered at Rosetta the cele¬ 
brated stone which afforded European scho¬ 
lars a key to the language and writing of 
the ancient Egyptians. It contained a tri¬ 
lingual inscription in hieroglyphics, demotic 

422 



HIEROGLYPHICS. 


characters, and Greek, which turned out 
to be a decree of the priests in honour of 
Ptolemy V., issued in 195 B.c. The last 
paragraph of the Greek inscription stated 
that two translations, one in the sacred and 
the other in the popular Egyptian language, 
would be found adjacent to it. The dis¬ 
covery of an alphabet was the first task. 
The demotic part of the inscription was 
first examined by De Sacy and Akerbl.ad, 
and the signification of a number of the 
symbols ascertained. The hieroglyphic part 
was next carefully examined and compared 
with the demotic and Greek. At last after 
much study Champollion and Dr. Thomas 
Young, independently of each other, disco¬ 
vered the method of reading the characters 
(1822), and thus provided a clue to the de¬ 
cipherment of the ancient Egyptian writing. 

Hieroglyphic characters are either ideo¬ 
graphic, i.e. using well-known objects as 
symbols of conceptions, or 2 )honetic, i.e. 
representing words by symbols standing for 
their sounds. The phonetic signs are again 
divided into alphabetical signs and syllabic 
signs. Many of the ideographic characters 
are simple enough; thus the figure of a man, 
a woman, a calf, indicate simply those 
objects. Others, however, are less simple, 
and convey their meaning figuratively or 
symbolically. Water was expressed by 
three zigzag lines, one above the other, to 
represent waves or ripples of running water, 
milk by a milk-jar, oil by an oil-jar, fishing 
by a pelican seizing a fish, i.e. fishing; see¬ 
ing and sight by an eye; and so on. The 
nature of the phonetic hieroglyphs, which 
represent simply sounds, will be understood 
from an explanation of the ac¬ 
companying cuts. 

1, The first hieroglyph in 
the name of Kleopatra is a 
knee, which is hne or lie in 
Coptic, and represents the K 
of Kleopatra. K does not oc¬ 
cur in the name Ptolemaios. 

2. The second hieroglyph in 
Kleopatra is a lion couchant, 
which is laboi in Coptic, and 
lahu in the old Egyptian, and 
represents the L of both 
names. In Kleopatra it oc¬ 
cupies the second place, and 
in Ptolemaios the fourth. 3. 

The third hieroglyph in 
Kleopatra is a reed, which is aM in Coptic 
and aak in the old Egyptian, and repre¬ 
sents the E of Kleopatra. The reed is 

423 



Cartouche of 
Cleopatra, i.e. 
Kleopatra. 






Cartouche of Ptolemy, i.e. 
Ptolemaios. 


doubled in Ptolemaios and occupies the 
sixth and seventh places, where it repre¬ 
sents the diphthong ai of Ptt)lemaios. 4. 
The fourth hieroglyph in Kleopatra is a 
noose, which represents the 0 of both names, 
and occurs in 
the third place 
of Ptolemaios. 

5. The fifth 
hieroglyph in 
Kleopatra is a 
mat, which re¬ 
presents the P 
of both names, and is the initial of Ptole¬ 
maios. 6. The sixth hieroglyph in Kleopatra 
is an eagle, which is akhoom in CJoptic, and 
represents the A, which is found twice in the 
name Kleopatra, but does not occur in the 
name Ptolemaios, although the diphthong ai 
occurs as described above. No. 3. 7. The 

seventh hieroglyph in Kleopatra is a hand, 
which is toot in Coptic, and represents the 
T of Kleopatra, but does not occur in Ptole¬ 
maios, where it might be expected to occupy 
the second place. The second place of 
Ptolemaios is occupied by a semicircle, 
which is found at the end of feminine 
proper names, and is the Coptic feminine 
article T. The researches of Champollion 
satisfied him of the existence of homopliones, 
or characters having the same phonetic value 
and which might be interchanged in writing 
proper names. 8. The eighth hieroglyph in 
Kleopatra is a mouth, which is ro in Coptic, 
and represents the R of Kleopatra. 9. The 
ninth hieroglyphic in Kleopatra is the eagle, 
which is explained in No. 6 above. 10. The 
semicircle is the T of Ptolemaios, which 
with 11, the egg found at the end of pro¬ 
per names of women, is a feminine affix. 
In the name of Ptolemaios there is still 
the M and the S to account for. The fifth 
hieroglyph in the cartouche of Ptolemaios 
is a geometrical figure, consisting of three 
sides of (probably?) a parallelogram, but 
now called a hole, because the Coptic mu 
has that signification, and represents the 
M. The hook represents the S of the word 
Ptolemaios. Vowels were only regarded 
by the Egyptians as they were needed 
to avoid ambiguous writing. 

There are groups of hieroglyphs of which 
one element is an ideographic sign, to which 
a phonetic complement is added to indicate 
the pronunciation of the ideographic sign. 
The words of a text could be written in 
hieroglyphs in three ways—1. By phonetic 
hieroglyphs; 2. By ideographic hieroglyphs; 



























HIERONYMITES 


HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND. 


abd 3, By a combination of both. Accor¬ 
ding to Ebers, in the perfected system of 
hieroglyphics the symbols for sounds and 
syllables are to be regarded as the founda¬ 
tion of the writing, while symbols for ideas 
are interspersed with them, partly to render 
the meaning more intelligible, and partly 
for ornamental purposes, or with a view to 
keep up the mystic character of the hiero¬ 
glyphics. 

Hieron'ymites, or Jeronymites, hermits 
of St. Jerome (Hieronymus), an order of 
religious persons established in 1374, who 
wear a white habit with a black scapulary. 
They possessed the convent of St. Lawrence 
in the Escurial, and still have convents in 
Sicily, the West Indies, and South America. 

Hieronymus, St. See Jerome, St. 

High Altar. See Altar. 

High Church, a term applied to a party 
in the Church of England. It was applied 
first to a party among the younger clergy 
during the latter part of the reign of Eliza¬ 
beth who asserted that Calvinism was incon¬ 
sistent with the ancient doctrine and con¬ 
stitution of the primitive church, and who 
claimed a divine right for episcopacy. Bi¬ 
shop Andrewes was the chief writer of this 
party, and Laud became its most active 
leader. The term now generally refers to 
those who exalt the authority and jurisdic¬ 
tion of the church, and attach great value 
to ecclesiastical dignities and ordinances, 
being more or less identified with the ritu¬ 
alistic party. See Ritualism. 

High Commission, Court of, an eccles¬ 
iastical court created by 1 Eliz. c. i. 1559, 
by which all spiritual jurisdiction was vested 
in the crown. Under Charles I. and Laud 
it assumed illegal powers, and was abolished 
in 1641. 

High Court of Justiciary. See Justi¬ 
ciary Court. 

Highgate, a n.w. subiirb of London, 
situated on a hill commanding fine views of 
the metropolis and tlie surrounding country, 
5^ miles from St. Paul’s. Pop. 9457. 

High German, originally the Teutonic 
dialect spoken in the southern and elevated 
parts of Germany, as distinguished from 
Platt Ueutsch or Low German, spoken in 
the northern and more lowland portions of 
Germany. See Germany. 

Highland Regiments, regiments in the 
British army originally raised in the High¬ 
lands of Scotland. Their origin is found in 
certain companies of Highlanders armed by 
government about 1725-30, for the purpose 


of keeping order in the Highlands, and called 
the Black Watch from the sombre colours of 
their tartans. These were embodied as a 
regiment of the regular army in 1739, the 
first Highland regiment being the 43d, 
afterwards the 42d, which has boi’ne a dis¬ 
tinguished part in almost all the wars in 
which Britain has been engaged. Other 
seven regiments were raised at different 
times, the 71st and 72d in 1777; the 74th 
in 1787; the 78th or Ross-shire Buffs in 
1793; the 92d or Gordon Highlanders in 
1796; the 93d or Sutherland Highlanders 
in 1800; and the 79th or Cameron High¬ 
landers in 1805. Under the present terri¬ 
torial system the Highland Regiments con¬ 
sist of the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), 
1st bat. 42d Foot, 2d bat. 73d Foot, 3d bat. 
Royal Perth Militia; The Highland Light 
Infantry, 1st bat. 71st Foot, 2d bat. 74th 
Foot, 3d and 4th bats. 1st Royal Lanark 
Militia; the Seaforth Highlanders (Ross- 
shire Buffs, Duke of Albany’s), 1st. bat. 
72d Foot, 2d bat. 78th Foot, 3d bat. High¬ 
land (Rifle) Militia; the Queen's own Ca¬ 
meron Highlanders, 1st. bat. 79th Foot, 2d 
bat. Highland Light Infantry Militia; the 
Gordon Highlanders, 1st bat. 75th Foot, 2d 
bat. 92d Foot, 3d bat. Royal Aberdeenshire 
JMilitia; Princess I^ouise’s (Argyll and Su¬ 
therland Highlanders), 1st bat. 91st Foot, 
2d bat. 93 Foot, 3d bat. Highland Borderers 
Militia, 4th bat. Royal Renfrew Militia. 
Each regiment has its own distinctive tartan, 
some retain the kilt, others wear trousers. 
Several Highland volunteer regiments are 
brigaded with the corps above mentioned. 

Highlands, Col. Pop. 1890, 5161. 

Highlands of Scotland, asomewhat vague 
and indefinite geographical division of Scot¬ 
land, N. and w. of a line running n.e. from 
Dumbarton on the Clyde through the coun¬ 
ties of Dumbarton, Stirling, Perth, Forfar, 
Kincardine; then N.w. through Aberdeen, 
Banff, Moray, and Nairn to the shores of 
the Moray Firth. The Highlands are gen¬ 
erally subdivided into two parts, the West 
Highlands and the North Highlands; the 
former of which contains the shires of Argyll 
and Bute, the Southern Hebrides, and part 
of Perth and Dumbarton; and the latter 
comprehends the counties of Inverness, Ross, 
Sutherland, the districts of Athol, Rannoch, 
and the Isles of Skye, Lewis, and others 
belonging to Inverness and Ross. The moun¬ 
tainous parts of Banff, Moray, Aberdeen, 
and Kincardine are also recognized as form¬ 
ing part of the Highlands; while Caithness 

424 



HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND-HIGH-PRIEST. 


(partly) and the Orkney and Shetland Isles 
are excluded, because their inhabitants are 
of Scandinavian origin. The whole of the 
district, which embraces the Celtic-speaking 
part of Scotland, is wild, rugged, and moun¬ 
tainous, with much grand and picturescjue 
scenery. The western coast is indented by 
many narrow arms of the sea, and is flanked 
by numerous islands. Forming, by their 
natural characteristics, a region distinct 
from the Lowlands of Scotland, the High¬ 
lands were long in a state of political semi¬ 
independence, and socially and otherwise — 
and particularly in retaining the use of the 
Gaelic tongue—the people have still certain 
characteristics peculiar to themselves. What 
especially separated this region from the 
rest of Scotland, was not only the Celtic 
language and blood, but also the clan system 
and all connected with it. See Clan. 

In the earliest times the Highland 
chiefs gave allegiance to higher chiefs or 
princes, by whom the Scottish kings were 
acknowledged as sovereigns merely in name. 
Among these native princes were the power¬ 
ful lords of the Isles, who flourished from 
very ancient times to the reign of James V. 
They ruled over all the Western Islands 
(the Hebrides) from Islay north, and over 
the western part of the county of Inverness, 
and as powerful allies exerted an influence 
over the greater part of the Highlands. In 
the early part of the 15th century the High¬ 
landers threatened to overrun great part of 
the Lowlands, but they received a check in 
the defeat of Donald of the Isles at Harlaw 
in 1411. From this time onward their 
incursions on the Lowland parts of Scotland 
were confined chiefly to occasional plunder¬ 
ing raids. In the wars of the 17th century 
the Highlanders were largely engaged on 
the side of the Stuarts, and great numbers 
fouijht under both Montrose and Dundee. 
After the suppression of the rising of 1715 
a strenuous attempt was made to break 
up the tribal organization of the High¬ 
landers. An act was passed in 1724 for their 
disarmament; between 1726 and 1737 great 
military roads were formed under the direc¬ 
tion of General Wade, and a chain of fortified 
military posts constructed, to overawe the 
people. The chieftains made every effort 
to maintain their threatened power, and to 
destroy the effect of the innovations with 
which the government sought to weaken 
the bonds of the clans, but the weakening 
went on. The rebellion of 1745 gave the 
government an opportunity of hastening the 

425 


process, by the abolition of heritable juris¬ 
dictions (which see), and of the ancient 
privileges of the chiefs. A stringent law 
for disarming the people was passed, and 
they were even prohibited from wearing 
their national dress, a prohibition not for¬ 
mally removed till 1782. The great exten¬ 
sion of sheep-breeding and the appropria¬ 
tion of large tracts to game have tended 
much to depopulate some parts of the High¬ 
lands. In other parts, notably in some of 
the Western Islands, the population has 
increased beyond a point where their cir¬ 
cumscribed condition could support them, 
and much discontent, agitation, and trouble 
has been the result. (See Crofters.) The 
Highland dress, so well known at the pre¬ 
sent day, is modern in a good many of its 
features, and especially so in the great var¬ 
iety of tartans that have been invented, and 
of W’hich each clan now appears to claim 
one. In 1881 there were 231,549 persons 
in Scotland speaking Gaelic regularly. See 
also Highland Regiments. 

Highness, a title of honour given to 
princes or other persons of rank, used \N ith 
poss. pronouns hi.% her, &c., and with the 
addition of royal, imperial, serene, applied 
to the members of royal, imperial, and some 
German sovereign families. 

High Places, in Scripture, eminences or 
mounds on which sacrifices were offered. 
Altars and places of worship were erected 
from the very earliest times on the tops of 
hills, &c. As such a practice led to idola¬ 
trous observances, it was strictly forbidden 
by the law of Moses. High places are 
frequently mentioned in conjunction with 
groves. 

High-priest, the head of the Jewish 
priesthood. In the books of Moses the 
holder of this dignity is simply designated 
the priest; the epithet high occurs on one 
or two occasions, but as a distinctive epithet 
it appears to have been added subsequently. 
The formal consecration of Aaron, the bro¬ 
ther of Moses, together with his sons, to a 
hereditary priesthood, is recorded in Exod. 
xxviii. The high-priesthood continued in 
the line of Aaron, sometimes in one, and 
sometimes in another branch of it, until the 
coming of Christ. From b.c. 153 till the 
time of Herod the Great the regal and 
priestly authority were united in members 
of the Asmonaean family (the Maccabees). 
After the subjugation of the Jews the high- 
priesthood was often arbitrarily conferred 
by the foreign masters. In the time of our 



HIGH-SEAS-HILL. 


Saviour it appears to have been held by 
several priests alternately. 

High-seas, the open sea or ocean. The 
claims of various nations to exclusive rights 
and superiority over extensive tracts of the 
ocean-highway have been settled after much 
controversy by a general international law. 
The principle now accepted is that the 
jurisdiction of maritime states extends only 
for 3 miles, or within cannon range of their 
own coasts; the remainder of the seas being 
high-seas, accessible on equal terms to all 
nations. Inland seas and estuaries, of course, 
are excepted. 

High-treason. See Treason. 

High-water, that state of the tides when 
they have flowed to the greatest height; 
also the time when such flow or elevation 
occurs. See Tides. 

Highways. See Roads. 

Hil'ary, St., one of the early fathers of 
the church, born at Poitiers, of which city, 
after his conversion from heathenism, he 
became the bishop about 350. His contests 
with the Arians caused his banishment to 
Phrygia, whence he returned after some 
years, and continued to distinguish himself 
as an active diocesan till his death in 367 
or 368. 

Hilary Term, one of the four English 
law terms. It begins on thb 11th, and ends 
on the 31st of January: named from the 
xestival of St. Hilary, January 13. 

Hilda, Saint, a grand-niece of Edwin, 
King of Northumbria, born about 614, died 
680. At the age of fourteen she was baptized 
along with her royal kinsman by Paulinus. 
She was consecrated by Bishop Aidan, and 
was successively head of the abbey of Hartle¬ 
pool and of the famous monastery at Whitby. 
Caedmon, the Anglo-Saxon poet, was at¬ 
tached to the monastery during her rule. 

Hildesheim (hil'des-him), a city of Prus- 
sia, the see of a bishopric, founded by Louis 
le Debonnaire in 818. Pop. 29,386. 

Hildreth, Richard, historian of the 
U. S., was born in Massachusetts in 1807. 
He graduated at Harvard in 1826. After 
practising law for two years he became 
editor of the Boston Atlas, a leading politi¬ 
cal paper, in which his articles were re¬ 
markable for vehemence and historical 
illustration. In 1840 he went to Demerara, 
British Guiana, editing successively several 
journals. His “History of the United 
States,” six volumes, published 1849-56, 
is a standard work. He died in Florence, 
Italy, in 1866. 


Hill, Sir Rowland, K.C.B., English postal 
reformer, born at Kidderminster 1795, died 
1879. He was engaged as a schoolmaster 
till 1833, shortly after which he was ap¬ 
pointed secretary to the commissioners for 
the colonization of South Australia. In 
1837 he published a pamphlet recommend¬ 
ing the adoption of a low and uniform rate 
of postage throughout the United Kingdom. 
The scheme was approved by a committee 
of the House of Commons, which examined 
its details in 1838, and early in 1840 the 
penny postage system, which seems to have 
been originally proposed by Mr. J ames 
Chalmers of Dundee, was carried into effect 
with the assistance of Mr. Hill, who, for 
this purpose, received an appointment in 
the Treasury. In 1846 he received a public 
testimonial of the value of upwards of 
£13,000. In 1846, he was made secretary 
to the postmaster-general, and in 1854 chief 
secretary to the Post Office. In 1860 he 
became K.C.B. He retired from the Post 
Office four years later with a pension of 
£2000, besides a grant of £20,000 voted by 
parliament. 

Hill, Rev. Rowland, popular preacher, 
notable for his humour and eccentricities, 
son of Sir Rowland Hill, Bart., of Hawk- 
stone in Shropshire, born 1744, died 1833. 
He was ordained in the Anglican Church, 
but embracing the views of the Calvinistic 
Methodists, he soon began to preach in 
barns and meeting-houses, and when they 
were too small or too distant, or not to be 
procured, in streets, fields, and highways. 
In 1783 he laid the foundation of Surrey 
Chapel in the Blackfriars Road, London, 
where he preached with great success every 
winter for about fifty years, making sum¬ 
mer excursions to the provinces, where his 
preaching attracted immense crowds. He 
published sermons and other theological 
works, of which the best known are his 
Village Dialogues. 

Hill, Rowland (Viscount Hill), British 
general, nephew of the above, born 1772, 
died 1842. He entered the army in his six¬ 
teenth year, obtained the rank of captain in 
1793, and became colonel of the 90th Regi¬ 
ment in 1800. He took part in the Egyptian 
campaign, and in 1806 was made major- 
general. He served with great distinction 
during the campaigns of Moore and Wel¬ 
lington in the Peninsula. In 1809 he be^ 
came lieutenant-general; in 1812 he was 
made a K.B.; and in 1814, on being made 
a peer by the title of Baron of Almarez and 

426 


hill AH — 

of Hawkstone, parliament voted him a per¬ 
petual pension of £2000. At Waterloo he 
commanded the right wing of the British, 
and he was personallv thanked by Welling- 



Viscount Hill. 


ton for his services. In 1828 he was ap¬ 
pointed general commanding-in-chief of the 
British army, a post which he held till 
1842, when he retired and was made a 
viscount. 

Hillah, a town of Asiatic Turkey, 60 miles 
south by west of Bagdad, on the Euphrates, 
among the ruins of ancient Babylon. It 
has good bazaars, and manufactories of silk 
and leather. The Euphrates is here crossed 
by a floating bridge. Pop. 10,000. 

Hillel, Jewish rabbi, born at Babylon 
about B.c. 112. He came to Jerusalem, it 
is said, at about forty years of age, became 
president of the Sanhedrim and founder of 
the school of Hillel. Shammai, another 
member of the Sanhedrim, became the head 
of a rival and hostile school. Hillel’s party 
was the more liberal of the two, and became 
the dominant one. 

Hill States, a collective name given to 
several independent and feudatory states of 
India. They are situated on the east side of 
the Sutlej, and comprise about twenty states, 
including Sirmar, Bilaspur, Bashahr, Gub- 
bul, &c. 

Hill Tipperah, a native state, Hindustan, 
adjoining the British district of Tipperah, 
Bengal. The country is hilly, several ranges 
of hills running parallel from N. to s., with 
broad intervening valleys. Wild elephants 

427 


•HIMALAYA. 

and other large game abound in the forests. 
The principal crop is rice, and tea is indi¬ 
genous in some parts of the bills. The 
government is despotic and patriarchal, and 
a resident political agent protects British 
interests. Area, 4086 sq. miles. Pop. 98,780. 

Hill Tribes, the name given collectively 
to the numerous wild tribes inhabiting the 
mountainous regions of India. 

Hilo, the chief town of the island of 
Hawaii, and the second largest in the Sand¬ 
wich Islands. Pop. 6000. 

Himalaya (Sanskrit, Himalaya, the abode 
of snow), a chain of snowy mcnmtains in 
Asia, the most elevated on the earth, which 
separates the Indian Peninsula from the 
plateau of Tibet, between the 72d and 
96th degrees of E. Ion., or between the In¬ 
dus on the west and the Brahmaputra on 
the east; length about 1500 miles, average 
breadth about 180 miles. The direction of 
the Himalaya range from the Indus is for 
great part of its length from north-west to 
south-east, after which it curves gradually 
to the east, or slightly to the north-east. 
The great plain of India, south of the Himii- 
laya, has a general elevation of 1000 feet 
above the sea. The transition from this plain 
to the ascent of the range is marked in the 
north-west by a belt of dry porous ground 
broken up into numerous ravines. East of 
this the Tarai, a belt of sloping marsh land, 
occupies the same position. The Tarai is 
covered with forest and jungle, is crowded 
with wild animals, and is very malarious. 
Beyond this lies the Bhahar, a belt of a 
gravelly and sandy nature covered with 
forests of valuable timber-trees. The duns, 
maris, or dicars, longitudinal valleys partly 
cultivated and partly yielding forest growth, 
occupy the space between the Bhahar and 
the slope of the Himalayas themselves. The 
general height of the Himalayas is double 
that of the Alps; the passes over the former 
ordinarily exceed, often by half a mile, the 
elevation of Mont Blanc. The Ibi-Gamin 
Pass in Garhwal, the highest of all, is 
20,457 feet, the Mustagh 19,019 feet, the 
Parangla 18,500 feet, the Kronbrung 18,313 
feet, and the Dura Ghjlt 17,750 feet high. 
There are several summits in the Himalaya 
which approach closely to double the abso¬ 
lute elevation of the highest of the Alps, 
and 120 of them are stated to be above 
20,000 feet. The rivers of the Punjab (‘ Five 
Waters’) spring from a portion of the great 
chain which may be considered a distinct 
group under the title of the North-western 






HIMALAYA-HIMERA. 


llimillaya. Some of the peaks here rise to 
a height of 24,000 to 25,000 feet; or to 
28,278 feet if the Karakorum is regarded 
as part of the Himalayas. In the Central 
or Middle Him^^laya rise the sources of the 
Ganges and Jumna, in a region regarded 
by the Hindus as holy ground. Farther 
eastward, in Nepal, is the highest part of 
the Himalaya, as far as it is known and 


measured. Hhawalagiri has an elevation 
of 26,826 feet, the Gaurisankar or Mount 
Everest, the highest known mountain in the 
world, is 29,002 feet; the Yassa group rises 
to the height of 26,680 feet, the Ibjibia 
group to 26,306. Going farther east, in 
Sikkim, or on its borders, we find Kanchin- 
jinga, the western peak of which is 28,156 
feet high, the eastern, 27,815 feet, while the 



The Snowy Range of Himdlayas, from Marma. 


Kabru ridge rises to 24,015 feet. Sikkim 
forms a comparatively narrow but interest¬ 
ing territory, walled in on three sides by 
stupendous mountains from 17,000 to 28,000 
feet high. Here terminates the region of 
the Middle Hinullaya, most of the streams 
from which unite in the Ganges. The 
Eastern Him;ilaya, which extends from Sik¬ 
kim east to the Brahmaputra and completes 
the chain, sends all its waters to the last- 
named river, and is all comprised in Bhutan. 
A little to the east of Sikkim, Charnalari 
attains the height of 23,944 feet. About 
250 miles further east a conspicuous group 
has been observed with two peaks, named 
the Gemini or Twins, 21,500 feet high. 
Thence towards the east the mountains sink 
rapidly, but the range may be traced beyond 
the right bank of the Brahmaputra. This 
stream, as well as the Indus, rises on the 
little-known north side of the Himsllaya, 
their sources not being far apart. The snowy 
ridge of the Himjilayas, as far as examined, 


consists everywhere of granite, with which 
are immediately associated gneiss and mica- 
slate, followed, in descending, by metamor- 
phic and secondary rocks till we arrive at 
the more recent alluvial deposits. Earth¬ 
quakes are still frequent within this region; 
and hot springs gush forth in abundance, 
even from beneath the snow. The limit of 
perpetual snow in the middle division (Ion. 
78'^ E.) is stated to be about 15,500 feet on 
the south side and 18,500 feet on the north¬ 
ern. In Sikkim the snow-line descends on 
the south side to 14,500 feet, while on the 
north it rises to a level of 19,600 feet. Im¬ 
mense glaciers exist at various parts. The 
vegetation of the Him5,layas is very rich, 
there being forests of pine, spruce, silver-fir, 
and deodar cedar at suitable elevations, with 
rhododendrons in rich profusion. Among 
the more characteristic animals are the yak, 
musk-deer, wild sheep, &c. 

Him'era, an ancient Greek town on the 
N. coast of Sicily, the site of which is near 

428 








































HIMYARITES- 

the modern Termini. Here Gelon and 
Theron annihilated the army of Hamilcar 
the Carthaginian (480 B.C.). In 409 B.a 
Hannibal, grandson of Hamilcar, razed the 
town to the ground, 

Himyarites, a race or group of races in 
Arabia, regarded as descendants of Himyar, 
one of the mythical ancestors of the Arabs. 
According to tradition they became the 
dominant race in Yemen about 3000 years 
before Mohammed, and spread to the Eu¬ 
phrates on the one hand and Abyssinia on 
the other. Their most flourishing period 
appears to have been from about 100 B.c. 
till A.D. 629, when they succumbed to Mo¬ 
hammedanism. The Himyaritic language^ 
not now spoken, formed, with the Arabic 
and Ethiopic, the southern branch of the 
Semitic family of tongues. During the last 
hundred years several hundreds of Him¬ 
yaritic inscriptions have been collected, and 
deciphered by means of alphabets with the 
corresponding Arabic letters which had been 
preserved. The Mahrah tribes of S. Arabia 
are the direct descendants of the ancient 
Himyarites. 

Hinckley, a town of England, partly in 
Warwickshire, but mostly in the county of 
Leicester. It lies 12 miles south-west of 
Leicester, and contains an ancient church. 
The staple trade is hosiery, but there are 
also large boot and shoe factories. Pop. 7673. 

Hincmax, Archbishop of Rheims, ecclesi¬ 
astic and statesman, was born about 806, 
died at Epernay 882. He was at first a 
monk in the Abbey of St. Denis. In 845 
he was elected archbishop of Rheims, where 
he exercised extensive political as well as 
ecclesiastical authority. He was a man of 
enlightenment, one of the best scholars of 
his age, and was distinguished as a defender 
of the liberties of the church. He wrote two 
treatises on Predestination, and numerous 
other works. 

Hind, the female of the stag, or red-deer. 
See Deer. 

Hindi, one of the languages of India, 
being that form of Hindustani which em- 
ploys the Devanagari or Sanskrit character. 
There are many varieties of it. 

Hindley, a town of England, in Lanca¬ 
shire, giving name to one of the parliamen¬ 
tary districts of s.w, Lancashire. Cotton 
n)anufacture is the chief industry, and coal 
abounds in the vicinity. Pop, 14,715. 

Hinduism. See Brahraanism. 

Hindu Kush, or Indian Caucasus, a 
mountain system of Central Asia. It is 

429 


-HIPPARCHUS. 

generally considered as a continuation of 
the Himalayas, which it adjoins at the 
Indus, and then stretches west till it unites 
with the Ghur Mountains in North Afghan¬ 
istan, Its culminating point, in the range 
of Hindu-Koh, to the north of Cabul, is far 
beyond the limit of perpetual snow, but is 
not supposed to exceed 20,000 feet. In 
many features the Hindu Kush resembles 
the Himalayas proper, though it is lower 
and destitute of forests. 

Hindus, or Hindoos. See India. 

Hindustan', the name commonly given to 
the whole Indian empire, but which properly 
applies only to the Punjab and the valley 
of the Ganges. See India. 

Hindusta'ni, one of the chief languages 
of India, having various forms or dialects. 
When written in the Persian character, and 
containing many Persian words and phrases, 
it is known as Urdu; another form of it is 
Hindi. 

Hinnom, Valley of. See Gehenna. 

Hinny, a hybrid, the produce of a stallion 
and a she-ass. It is smaller and inferior in 
strength to the mule produced by an ass and 
a mare, and it is also much less common. 

Hio'go, a seaport of Japan, opened to foreign 
trade in 1860. It is situated on the island 
of Hondo, on the Bay of Osaka, 40 miles s.w. 
of Kioto, with which it has railway com¬ 
munication, The trade with the interior 
is important, and the exports of tea, copper, 
fish, silk, &c., large. Pop. 40,618. 

Hiouen-Thsang, Chinese traveller and 
Buddhist priest, born about a.d. 602, died 
664. He wrote travels in India, and trans¬ 
lated many Hindu books on Buddhism into 
Chinese. 

Hip, the fruit of the dog-rose or wild- 
brier. It contains tannin, sugar, citric and 
malic acids, and is sometimes used in making 
conserves. 

Hip-joint, the joint of the hip, a ball-and- 
socket joint formed by the reception of the 
globular head of the femur or thigh-bone 
into the socket or acetabulum of the os in- 
nominatum. For flexion, extension, rota¬ 
tion, and strength combined it is the most 
perfect joint in the body. 

Hipparchus. See liippias. 

Hippar'chus, ancient Greek astronomer, 
was born at Nicaea in Bithynia, and lived 
about B.c. 160-125, He resided for some 
time at Rhodes, but afterwards went to 
Alexandria, then the great school of science. 
A commentary on Aratus is the only work 

of bis oxtant. He first ascertaiued tbe true 



HIPPARION-HIPPOLYTUS. 


length of the year, discovered the preces¬ 
sion of the equinoxes, determined the re¬ 
volutions and mean motions of the planets, 
prepared a catalogue of the fixed stars, &c. 

Hippa'rion, a fossil genus of the horse 
family, of the Upper Miocene and Pliocene 
periods. The members are distinguished 
by the fact that each foot possesses a single 
fully-developed toe, bordered by two func¬ 
tionless toes which do not touch the ground, 
but simply dangle on each side of the central 
toe. The hipparion was about the size of 
an ass, one American species being, how¬ 
ever, about the size of a goat. 

Hip'pias, ruler of Athens, son of Pisis- 
tratus, after whose death (b.c. 527) he as¬ 
sumed the government, in conjunction with 
his brother Hipparchus. The latter being 
assassinated while conducting a solemn pro¬ 
cession to the temple of Minerva, Plippias 
seized the reins of the government alone, 
and revenged the death of his brother by 
imposing taxes on the people, selling offices, 
and putting to death all of whom he enter¬ 
tained the least suspicion. His tyranny 
became at last unbearable, and he was ex¬ 
pelled from the city B.c. 510. 

Hippo, sometimes called Hippo Regius 
to distinguish it from another town of the 
seme name on the Carthaginian coast; an 
ancient Numidian city, the ruins of which 
still exist a short distance south of Bona in 
Algeria. It was the episcopal see of St. 
Augustine, and was destroyed by the Van¬ 
dals in 430. 

Hippobos'cidae, a family of dipterous in¬ 
sects, parasitic on birds and quadrupeds. The 
type is the genus ilippobosca or horse-fly. 

Hippocam'pus, a genus of 
fishes, closely allied to the 
pipe-fishes, of singular con¬ 
struction and peculiar habits; 
the upper parts have some 
resemblance to the head and 
neck of a horse in miniature, 
which has suggested the 
name. When swimming they 
maintain a vertical position 
their general length is from 
6 to 10 inches, and they occur 
in the Mediterranean and 
Atlantic. 

Hip'pocras, a medicinal drink, composed 
of wine (generally a mixture of Idsbon and 
canary), with an infusion of mixed spices 
and other ingredients, formerly much used 
in England, and still common on the Con¬ 
tinent 



Hippocampus 

brevirostris. 


HippocTates, the most famous among the 
Greek physicians, the father of medicine, 
born in the island of Cos B.c. 460. Be¬ 
sides practising and teaching his profession 
at home he travelled on the continent of 
Greece, and died 
at an advanced 
age B.c. 357, at 
Larissa, in Thes¬ 
saly. His writ¬ 
ings, which were 
early celebrated, 
became the nu¬ 
cleus of a collec-. 
tion of medical 
treatises by a 
number of au¬ 
thors of different 
places and pe¬ 
riods, which were 
long attributed to 
him, and still bear 
his name. The best edition is that of Littrd 
(in ten vols. 8vo, Paris, 1839 -61). Among 
his genuine writings are the first and third 
books on epidemics; the aphoi'isms; on diet 
in acute diseases; on air, waters, and locali¬ 
ties; on prognostics; on wounds of the head. 
Hippocrates was one of the first to insist on 
the importance of diet and regimen in dis¬ 
ease. He had remarkable skill in diagnosis, 
practised auscultation, and taught the doc¬ 
trine of ‘critical days.’ 

Hippocrene (-kre'ne; ‘The Horse’s Foun¬ 
tain ’), a spring on Mount Helicon, a moun¬ 
tain in Boeotia, consecrated to the IMuses, the 
waters of which possessed the power of poetic 
inspiration. It is said to have risen from the 
ground when struck by the hoofs of Pe¬ 
gasus. 

Hip'podrome, the Greek name for the 
public place where the horse and chariot 
races were held. In Byzantine times the 
hippodrome at Constantinople acquired great 
renown, and factions originating in the hip¬ 
podrome caused perpetual confusion in all 
departments of the public service. The 
name is sometimes applied to a modern 
circus. 

Hippogriff, a fabulous animal or monster, 
half-horse and half-griffin. 

Hippor 3 rtus, in Greek mythology, son of 
Theseus, whose stepmother, Phaedra, fell in 
love with him, and accused him to his father 
in order to revenge herself for his indiffer¬ 
ence. He was put to death, but his inno¬ 
cence being afterwards established, Phaedr^i 
destroyed herself. See Phmdra. 

430 





HIPPOLYTUS-HISSAR. 


Hippolytus, an early Christian bishop and 
writer, the details of whose history are in¬ 
volved in obscurity. He appears to have 
lived about the beginning of the 3d cen¬ 
tury, and is supposed to have suffered mar¬ 
tyrdom under Alexander Severus. The 
most important of his writings is the Philo- 
sophumena, a refutation of heresies, discov¬ 
ered in 1842. 

Hippom'ane, a genus of plants belonging 
to tbe liiuphorbiaceae. The //. Mancinella 
is the manchineel. 

Hippo'nax, a Greek poet, born at Ephesus 
540 B.C., of whose works only a fragment 
of 100 lines remain. He was deformed in 
person; was banished from Ephesus for 
his satirical raillery, and lived in extreme 
poverty. 

Hippon'oiis. See Bellerophon. 

Hippoph'agy, the practice of feeding on 
horse flesh. Hippophagi was the name 
given by old geographers to certain noma¬ 
dic Scythian tribes on tbe north of the Cas¬ 
pian Sea, who fed on horse flesh. Horse 
flesh has been eaten for a considerable time 
in Germany, and it has been regularly sold 
in Paris since 1866. 

Hippopot'amus, the typical genus of a 
family of Ungulates, of which two living 
species are known. One species, II. amphi- 
bius, is of large size, and is common through¬ 
out the greater part of Africa; the other, 
H. liheriensis, is not only smaller, but has 
other important differences, and is f(.und 
only in the African west coast rivers, and 
those flowing into Jjake Tchad. The former 
species has a thick and square head, a very 
large muzzle, small eyes and ears, thick and 
heavy body, short legs terminated by four 
toes, a short tail, two ventral teats, skin 
about 2 inches thick on the back and sides, 
and without hair, except at tbe extremity of 
the tail. The incisors and canines of the 
lower jaw are of great strength and size, 
the canines or tusks being long and curved 
forward. These tusks sometimes reach the 
length of 2 feet and more, and v\ eigh up¬ 
wards of 6 lbs. The animal is killed by the 
natives partly as food, but also on account 
of the tusks and teeth, their hardness being 
superior to that of ivory, and less liable to 
turn yellow. The hippopotamus has been 
found of the length of 17 feet, and stands 
about 5 feet high. It delights in water, living 
in lakes, rivers, and estuaries, and feeding 
on water-plants or on the herbage growing 
near the water. It is an excellent swimmer 
and diver, and can remain under water a 

431 


considerable time. The behemoth of Job is 
considered by commentators to be the hip¬ 
popotamus, as the description of his size, 
manners, food, and haunts is not unlike those 



Hippopotamus (/7ippopo<amMS amphibius). 


of the latter animal. Among the ancient 
Egyptians it was revered as a divinity, as 
it is among the negroes in some localities. 
Several extinct species are found in old- 
world tertiary and diluvial formations. 

Hippurites (-i'tez), a genus of fossil bi¬ 
valves, having the under shell of great depth, 
and of a conical form, with a flat lid or oper¬ 
culum, occurring in the lower chalk. They 
are allied to the living Chama, or gaping 
cockle. The Hippurite limestone is an im¬ 
portant representative of the cretaceous 
rocks in the south of France and the 
Pyrenees, characterized by a large admix¬ 
ture of shells of the family Hippuritidse. 

Hip -roof, a roof, the ends of which slope 
so as to have the same inclination to the 



horizon as its other two sides, being thus of 
a triangular form. 

Hirschberg (hirsh'berA), a town of Prussia, 
province of Silesia, 26 miles south-west of 
Liegnitz, beautifully situated at the conflu¬ 
ence of the Bober and the Zacken. It is 
well built, and has varied manufactures. 
Pop. 15,622. 

Hispania. See Spain. 

Hispaniola. See Ilayti. 

Hissar', a town of Hindustan, in the 
Punjab, administrative headquarters of dis¬ 
trict of the same name, on the Western 
Jumna Canal, 102 miles w. of Delhi. Pop. 
14,167, The district has an area of 3540 
















HISTOLOGY 


HITTITES. 


pq. miles. Pop. 504,183. Hissar is also 
the name of a division under a ccmmissioner 
in the Punjab, comprising the three dis¬ 
tricts, Hissar, Rohtak, and Sirsa. Area, 
8355 sq. miles. Pop. 1,311,067. 

Histol'ogy, the study of the tissues which 
enter into the formation of animals and 
plants, and their various organs, by means 
of the microscope and chemical and physical 
reagents. It may be described as a kind of 
minute anatomy. It comprehends the struc¬ 
ture and mode of development of the various 
tissues, and is divided into animal histology 
and vegetable histology. 

History (Greek historia, from histored, I 
inquire into) is used by Herodotus in the 
sense which it has since retained, of a nar¬ 
rative of events and circumstances relating 
to man in his social or civic condition. A 
record of bare facts by themselves does not 
constitute history. Such a record (f rming 
a chronicle or annals) is chronolo ically 
valuable; but to attain the dignity i 1 his¬ 
tory we must have social events and volu¬ 
tion detailed with considerable fulness, and 
the growth and movements of society, from 
one phase to another, distinctly traced and 
recorded. The modern school of historians 
devote much attention to the social life of 
the people; their method being further 
characterized by the utmost accuracy of re¬ 
search, the extreme importance assigned to 
contemporary documentary evidence, and 
careful weighing of data. The field of his¬ 
tory proper is so far restricted as to its sub¬ 
ject, that only the doings of a community 
possessing something of an independent or¬ 
ganic life can constitute it. History may be 
conveniently divided into ancient, mediaeval, 
and modern; but these divisions have little 
scientific value. The first includes the Jew¬ 
ish history and that of the nations of anti¬ 
quity, reaching down to the destruction of 
the Roman Empire, a.d. 476; the second 
begins with 476 and comes down to the dis¬ 
covery of America in 1492, or to the Ee- 
formatioji; the third section extends from 
either of these eras to our own times. The 
earliest written history is found graven 
on the monuments of Egypt, Assyria, kc. 
These, though of the barest description, 
have the value of contemporary chronicles. 
Next come the histories found in the ca- 
onical books of the Old Testament; but the 
real inventors of the artistic form of history 
were the Greeks. 

Hitchcock, Edwakd, American geologist, 
born 1793, died 1864, After being for four 


years minister of a Congregational church 
at Conway, Massachusetts, he was appoin¬ 
ted in 1825 professor of chemistry and na¬ 
tural history at Amherst College, and in 
1845 president of the same college, and pro¬ 
fessor of natural theology and geology. He 
was connected with the state survey of 
Massachusetts, Vermont, and part of New 
York, valuable reports on which he pub¬ 
lished. He was author of various other 
works, some geological and some of miscel¬ 
laneous character. These include Geology 
of the Connecticut Valley, a highly popu¬ 
lar work on Elementary Geology, Illustra¬ 
tions of Surface Geology, Religion of Geo¬ 
logy and its Connected Sciences, and Re¬ 
miniscences, published shortly before his 
death. 

Hitchcock, Roswell Dwight,D. D.,LL.D., 
American theologian, born 1817, died 1887. 
He entered Andover Theological Seminary 
in 1838, and was successively professor of 
natural and revealed religion in Bowdoin, 
of church history at New York, president of 
the American Palestine exploration society^ 
and presiilent of Union Theological Semi¬ 
nary. He visited Italy, Greece, Egypt, and 
Palestine (1866-69), was the author of a 
Life of Edward Robinson, numerous theo¬ 
logical works, hymns, &c. 

Hitchin, a market town of England, in 
Hertfordshire, 34 miles north of London. 
The parish church, St. Mary’s, contains 
some fine brasses of the 14 th, 15th, and 
16th centuries, and a fine altar-piece by 
Rubens. Many females are employed in 
straw-plaiting, and lavender is largely grown 
in the vicinity. Pop. 8434. 

Hitopadesa (hit-6-pa da'sha; Sanskrit, 
goodly instruction h an ancient Sanskrit 
wmrk, taken from an older work called the 
Panchatantra or the five books, the source 
also of the collection known as the fables of 
Bidpai or Pilpay. The book consists of 
fables, one story growing out of another 
after the eastern fashion, with verses cited 
from ancient writers by the interlocutors, 
and was designed for the instruction of 
princes. It has been translated into many 
Asiatic and European languages. 

Hittites, a Canaanitish nation first men¬ 
tioned in connection with Abrahain, who 
bought the field and cave of Machpelah 
from them. There are notices of them in 
Palestine during and after the captivity. 
Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions seem to 
indicate that the nation consisted of a con¬ 
federacy ruled by a number of chiefs, and 


HOBBEMA. 


HITU 


at one time there was a Hittite empire ex¬ 
tending over a large area in Asia Minor and 
Syria. Their chief territory was in the 
Orontes Valley. 

Hitu'. See Itu. 

Hivao'a, an island in the South Pacific 
Ocean, the largest of the south-western 
group of the Marquesas; 22 miles long east 
to west; about 10 miles greatest breadth. 
It is mountainous, and bears indications of 
volcanic eruptions. Pop. about 6500. 

Hive. See Apiary. 

Hi'vites, a Canaanitish tribe first noticed 
in Gen. xxxiv. At the conquest of Canaan 
the main body occupied the northern con¬ 
fines of Western Palestine. Solomon sub¬ 
jected them to a regular tribute. 

H’Lassa. See Lassa. 

Hoadly, Benjamin, English prelate, born 
1676, died 1761. He was educated at Cam¬ 
bridge; took orders in 1700, and after being 
settled in London distinguished himself in 
controversy with Bishop Atterbury and 
others. A staunch low-churchrnan, he was 
appointed Bishop of Bangor in 1715. A 
sermon preached before the king in 1717 
gave rise to the ‘ Bangorian Controversy ’ 
regarding the divine authority of the king 
and the church. He was translated to the 
see of Hereford in 1721, to Salisbury in 
1723, and Winchester in 1734. 

Hoang-Ho, or Yellow River, a large 
river in China, the sources of which are in 
mountains in the Koko-Nor territory, north 
from Tibet. After a winding course of 
several hundred miles, it proceeds nearly 
due north to about lat. 41'; then east for 
nearly 200 miles, when it suddenly bends 
round, and flows directly south for about 
other 200 miles; then turns abruptly east, 
and flow's in that direction till it reaches 
Lung-men-kau, when it diverges to the 
north-east, and falls into the Gulf of Pe- 
che-le about lat. 37° 30', and Ion. 118° 30'. 
From the 13th century till 1853 the Hoang- 
Ho entered the sea in lat. 34°, south of the 
peninsula of Shan-tung, but at the latter 
date it took its present course. Since then 
vast sums have been spent in watching and 
strengthening the banks of the river, which 
is constantly overflowing at some point. In 
the autumn of 1887 the whole body of the 
river burst its banks about 300 miles from 
its mouth, and flooded about one-sixth of the 
province of Ho-nan, destroying towns and 
villages and causing a loss of life, the lowest 
estimate of which is one million. Its length 
is estimated at about 2600 miles. It derives 
VOL. IV. 433 


its name from the vast quantities of yellow 
earth held in a state of solution by its 
waters. 

Hoar-frost. See Frost 

Hoarhound. See Horehound. 

Hoarseness, an affection of the throat 
causing harshness and roughness of voice, 
due to h’regular and imperfect bringing to¬ 
gether of the vocal chords, most frequently 
from swelling of the mucous membrane 
of the chords, and excessive secretion of 
mucus in their neighbourhood. It arises 
from a variety of causes, the most common 
of which is catarrh or cold. Simple hoarse¬ 
ness is treated with soothing remedies, tire 
inhalation of the steam of boiling w’ater, 
warm poultices to the neck, &c. 

Hoatzin, or Hoactzin, Opisthocomus cris- 
tdtus, a singular gregarious South American 
bird, sometimes called the Crested Touraco, 
referred by some naturalists to the family 
Cracidse (curassows), order Gallinaceae; by 
some made to form an order by itself (Opis- 
tbocomi); by others regarded as of the order 
Insessores, and allied to the plantain-eaters. 
The plumage is brown streaked with white, 
and the head has a movable crest. It is of 
the size of a pheasant, and has an enormous 
crop with a very small gizzard. 

Hobart, up to 1881 Hobart Town, the 
capital of Tasmania, situated at the foot of 
Mount Wellington (4166 ft.), on the river 
Derwent, about 12 miles from its mouth. 
The city is built in the form of a square, 
the streets crossing each other at right 
angles. Among the public buildings are 
the government house, the government of¬ 
fices, the houses of parliament, town-ball, 
post-office, museum, Episcopal and Roman 
Catholic cathedrals, and several other places 
of worship, many public and private schools, 
the general hospital, &c. There are several 
jam manufactories, brew'eries, flour mills, 
tanneries, a woollen factory, &c.; and in 
connection with the shipping interest first- 
class patent slips. The harbour is easy of 
access, and has ample depth, capacity, w'harf 
and dock accommodation. Pop. 28,648. 

Hobart, Garret A., Vice-Pres. U. S., 
born at Long Branch, N. J., 1844; ad¬ 
mitted to the bar 1866; city counsel 1871; 
in the Legislature 1873-74; State Senate 
1877, its president 1881-82; defeated for 
U. S. Senate 1884; elected Vice-President 
1896. Is interested in banking interests, 

Hob'bema, Meindert or Minderhout, 
Dutch landscape-painter; born at Amster¬ 
dam iu 1638; died 1709. 


124 



HOBBES-HOCKEY. 


Hobbes. Thomas, English moral and po¬ 
litical philosopher, born 1588 at Mai m eslmry, 
died 1679. He was educated at Oxford, and 
afterwards travelled on the Continent as 
tutor in the Earl of Devonshire’s family, 
becoming acquainted with Gassendi, Des¬ 
cartes, Galileo, &c. He was also intimate 
with Lord Bacon (some of whose works he 
translated into Latin), Lord Herbert of 
Cherbury, and Ben Jonson. From 1637 
to 1641 he resided much at Chatsworth, 
but becoming alarmed at the probability of 
political commotions, he went to Paris. He 
stayed abroad some years, and during that 
time published most of his works. He also 
taught mathematics to the Prince of Walts 
(Charles II.), then in Paris, who after the 
restoration gave him a pension of £100. 
He spent his latter days with the Devon¬ 
shire family. The most remarkable i^f his 
works is his Leviathan, or the Matter, 
Form, and Power of a Cominonwealth 
(1651). Other works are De Cive (1642), 
De Corpore Politico (1650), De Libertate, 
Necessitate et Casu (1654), and Behemoth, 
a history of the civil war, published after 
his death. He also published a metrical 
version of the Iliad and Odyssey. In the 
history of the development of freethought 
in Europe Hobbes holds an important place, 
and he was one of the first great English 
writers on government. He conceived the 
state of nature to be one in which all are at 
war with each other, and government as 
the result of a compact, suggested by sel¬ 
fishness, for the sake of peace and protec¬ 
tion. Absolute rule was the best form of 
government, but this is qualified by the as 
sertion that obedience to a ruler is only due 
so long as he can afford protection to the 
subject. The philosophy of Hobbes, so de¬ 
preciated among his contemporaries, has 
been more or less adopted by Locke, Hart¬ 
ley, Hume, and Priestley, and his ideas on 
government have formed the foundation of 
the utilitarianism of the Benthamites. 

Hobby. See Falcon. 

Hobhouse, John Cam. See Broughton 
{Lord). 

Ho'boken, a city, New Jersey, U.S., on 
the Hudson river, and close to Jersey City, 
which stretches immediately to the south. 
It lies opposite New York, with which it is 
connected by steam ferries. It has various 
manufactories, and among the public insti- 
ttitions is the Steven’s Institute of Tech¬ 
nology, with library and valuable sets of 
philosophical apparatus. Pop. 43,648. 


Hobson, Richmond Pearson, Lieuten¬ 
ant, U. S. Navy. Born at Greensboro, Ala., 
Aug. 17,1870. Graduated from Naval Aca¬ 
demy, to which he was aj)pointed from his 
native State, July 1,1891,as Assistant Naval 
Constructor, being apj)ointed cadet May 21, 
1885. He with a crew of seven other vol¬ 
unteers, June 3, 1898, ran the Jlerrimac, a 
collier, into the narrow entrance of the har¬ 
bour ofSantiago,under agalling and heavy 
bombardment of the land batteries, and 
there sunk her. He and his companions 
escaped in a small boat and surrendered 
to the Spanish commander. He was pro¬ 
moted first naval constructor for this gal¬ 
lant action. See Merrimac. 

Hoche (osh), Lazare, general in the 
French revolutionary war, born 1768. He 
took service in the French guards when 
sixteen years old, and at the revolution 
joined the popular party. He greatly dis¬ 
tinguished himself at the siege of Thionville 
and the defence of Dunkirk, and shortly 
afterwards, when scarcely tw^enty-five years 
of age, received the command of the army 
on the Moselle. In 1793 he drove the 
Austrians out of Alsace, and soon after was 
arrested by the Jacobins and imprisoned at 
Paris. In 1794 he was released, and ap¬ 
pointed commander of the army destined to 
quell the rising in the west, and afterwards 
to that in La Vendee. In 1796 he conceived 
the plan of attacking Britain, by making 
a descent on Ireland. He accordingly set 
sail in December from Brest, but the ex¬ 
pedition utterly failed, and he w^as obliged 
to return without having even effected a 
landing. After his return he received the 
command of the army of the Sambre and 
Meuse, He opened the campaign of 1797 
by a bold passage over the Rhine, and had 
defeated the Austrians in several engage¬ 
ments, when he was stopped in the path of 
victory by the news of the armistice con¬ 
cluded in Italy. He died suddenly in Sep¬ 
tember, same year (1797). 

Hoohheim (ho/i'him), Prussia. P. 2699, 

Hoohstadt (hoA'stet), Bavaria, the scene 
of battle of Blenheim in 1704. P. 2471. 

Hock, the name given to the German 
wines grown in the Hochheim district (see 
Jlochheim). It is a white still wine, but is 
'sometimes rendered sparkling. The name 
is also loosely applied to all the Rhenish 
wines. 

Hockey, a game at ball known as shinty 
in Scotland, and hurling in Ireland. It is 
played with a club curved at the lower end, 

434 



HODGE 


HOFFMANN. 


by a number of persons divided into two 
parties or sides; and the object of each side 
is to drive the ball into that part of the 
field marked off as their opponents’ goal. 

Hodge, Charles, D.D,, LL.D., theolo¬ 
gian born in Philadelphia 1797, died 1878. 
He graduated at Princeton College in 1815, 
and joined the teaching staff of the theolo¬ 
gical seminary in 1820. He founded the 
Princeton Review; was the author of nume¬ 
rous theological essays, commentaries, a 
work on Systematic Theology, &c.—His son 
Archibald Alexander Hodge, D.D., born 
at Princeton, 1823; spent some time as a 
missionary in India, and afterwards became 
professor of theology at Alleghany, Pa. He 
is author of several theological works, in¬ 
cluding a commentary on the Confession of 
Faith. Died Nov. 11, 1886. 

Hodom'eter (from Gr. hodos, a way, and 
mctron, a measure), an instrument for mea¬ 
suring the length of way travelled by any 
vehicle. It consists of a clockwork arrange¬ 
ment fixed to the side of the vehicle, and 
connected with the axle. An index records 
on a dial the distance travelled. 

Hoe, an instrument for cutting up weeds 
and loosening the earth in fields and gar¬ 
dens, in shape something like an adze, being 
a plate of iron, with an eye for a handle, 
which is set at a convenient angle with the 
plate. The Dutch hoe differs from the 



common hand hoe in having the cutting 
blade set like the blade of a spade. A 
horse-hoe is a frame wheel-mounted, and 
furnished with ranges of shares spaced so 
as to work in the intervals between the 
rows of turnips, potatoes, &c. It is used 
on farms for the same purpose as the hand 
hoe, and worked by horse-power. 

Hof (hof), a town in Bavaria, Upper Fran¬ 
conia, on the left bank of the Saale, 30 miles 
N.N.E. of Baireuth. It has woollen, linen, 
cotton, leather, and paper manufactures. 
Marble and ironstone are worked in the 
vicinity. Pop. 1890, 24,455. 

435 


Hofer, Andreas, Tyrolese patriot, born 
in 1767. In 1796 he led a rifle company 
against the French on Lake Garda, and after 
the Peace of Luneville took a prominent 
part in the organization of the Tyrol militia. 
In 1809 he took the lead in an insurrection 
of the Tyrolese for shaking off the yoke of 
Bavaria, to which their country had been 
transferred by the Treaty of Presburg. In 
a short time, with intermittent assistance 
from the Austrians, he defeated the French 
and Bavarian troops, and nearly the whole 
country was liberated. Hofer then carried 
on the military and civil administration, 
under the most singular circumstances, till 
the Peace of Vienna was proclaimed. 
Misled by false reports he commenced hos¬ 
tilities anew, and thus forfeited the protec¬ 
tion of the amnesty. He remained concealed 
for some time, but was at last betrayed to 
the French, and carried to Mantua, where 
he was tried by a court-martial and shot, 
February 20, 1810. His family was indem¬ 
nified for the loss of their property by the 
Emperor of Austria in 1819, and his son 
ennobled. 

Hoffman, Charles Fenno, poet and 
novelist, born at New York 1806, died 
1884. He edited the American Monthly 
Magazine and the New York Mirror; pub¬ 
lished Greyslaer, a novel; The Vigil of 
Faith, and other Poems; and a number of 
songs, &c. During the last thirty years of 
his life he was afflicted with mental de¬ 
rangement. A complete edition of his poems 
was published by his nephew in 1874, with 
a critical introduction by W. C. Bryant. 

Hoffmann, August Heinrich, called also 
Hoffmann VON F ALLERSLEBEN,German lyric 
poet and philologist, born at Fallersleben in 
Hanover 1798, died at Corvey 1874. Under 
the influence of the brothers Grimm he took 
to investigating old German literature, and 
became professor of German literature at 
Breslau in 1835. He also made special 
studies of Dutch and Silesian literature. 
He was dismissed in 1842 for the supposed 
revolutionary tendencies of his songs, and 
led a wandering life for some years. In 
1860 he became librarian to the Duke of 
Ratibor. He published several volumes of 
songs, and works on the German Language 
and Literature. 

Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus, 
or, properly, Ernst Theodor Wilhelm, 
German novelist, born at Konigsberg 1770, 
where he studied law. He afterwards held 
‘Several minor Judicial appointments under 






HOFWYL 


HOGARTH. 


government, and died in 1822, intemperate 
habits having ruined his health. He culti¬ 
vated music and art, especially caricature, 
with success. Among his works of fiction 
are the Phantasiestucke in Callot’s Manier 
(1814); Die Elixire des Teufels (1816); the 
Nachtstiicke (1817): the Serapionsbriider 
(twenty-three tales, 1819, et seq.); Lebens- 
ansichten des Kater Murr (1820-22); and 
many others. In his longer novels he has 
a strong tendency to make use of super¬ 
natural! machinery; but his master-pieces 
are his short stories. 

Hofwyl (hof'vil), a village of Switzerland, 
6 miles N. of Bern, noted as the seat of the 
educational institution founded by Fellen- 
berg and Pestalozzi in 1802. 

Hog, a general name for the ungulate or 
hoofed animals of the genus Sus, or swine. 
The head is prolonged into a pointed or 
truncated snout; the feet have four toes, 
two of which reach the ground; and the 
skin is very thick, and mostly covered with 
stiff bristles. The common hog {Sus scrofa), 
in a tame state, is almost universal, except 
in very high latitudes. The prevailing 
colour of the domestic animal is a dull yel¬ 
lowish white, sometimes marked irregularly 
with black, and sometimes totally black. 
It is omnivorous in its habits, devouring 
almost any vegetable or animal substance. 
It is also very prolific, has usually two 
litters in a year, a litter consisting of from 
ten to even twenty. Its flesh forms a 
material part of the food of mankind, though 
Jews are strictly enjoined not to eat it, and 
Mahommedans agree in this prohibition. 
Pork takes salt better than almost any 
other meat, and hence forms an important 
article in military and naval stores. The 
lard of the hog is used in a variety of pre¬ 
parations, and the bristles are used in large 
quantities in the manufacture of brushes, 
whilst the skin, when tanned, is used by 
saddlers, bookbinders, &c. The hog is erro¬ 
neously looked on as a peculiarly stupid 
and gluttonous animal; it has also an unde¬ 
served reputation for filthy habits, but the 
too common filthiness of pig-sties is more the 
fault of the owner than the tenant. It 
wallows in the mire, but this is a peculiarity 
of all the pachydermata to cool themselves 
and provide a protection against insects. 
The wild-boar, from which most of our 
domesticated varieties are derived, is found 
in most parts of Europe and Asia. In size 
the wild animal considerably exceeds the 
domesticated hog, the legs are longer and 


more muscular, and the back therefore much 
higher. Hunting this animal has always 
been a favourite amusement, and can still 
be practised in various parts of Europe. 
The wild hogs of Hindustan, which afford 
the amusement of ‘ [)ig - sticking ’ to the 
British resident there, belong to the species 
S. cristatus, closely allied to the European 
wild-boar. Another species is found in 
south-eastern Asia, Java, and various islands, 
and distinct from it is the Guinea hog of 
W. Africa, which is also said to have been 
naturalized in Brazil. As allied to the hog 
may be mentioned the Babyroussa, the genus 
Phacoehcerus, or wart-hogs, and the peccaries. 

Ho'garth, William, painter and satirical 
artist, born in London, 1697, died 1764. 
He was apprenticed to a silversmith, who 
employed him in engraving ciphers and 
crests on spoons and pieces of plate. In 
1720 he commenced business for himself, 
painting portraits, and making designs and 




William Hogarth. 


book-plates for the booksellers, &c. Among 
these was a series of illustrations to Hu di- 
bras. Besides pf)rtraits, he also painted 
miscellaneous subjects in oil. In 1729 he 
married the daughter of Sir James Thorn¬ 
hill, the painter, against her father’s wishes, 
who is said, however, to have been mollified 
when Hogarth produced his celebrated series 
of pictures called the Harlot’s Progress, a 
work which brought his great powers fairly 
before the public. The engravings of these, 
which became exceedingly popular, were 
published in 1734. This was followed by 

436 ^ 



HOG-DEER-HOHENSTAUFEN. 


the Rake’s Progress and Marriage k la 
Mode, two similar series of paintings and 
engravings; Industry and Idleness, Beer 
Street and Gin Lane, The Election, The 
Enraged Musician, The Country-Inn Yard, 
The March to Finchley, Strolling Actresses 
Dressing in a Barn, Four Stages of Cruelty, 
and a host of other engravings, which all 
evinced his extraordinary [lowers of satire, 
wit, and imagination. Several portraits, 
notably those of himself, Garrick, Lovat, 
and Wilkes, are master pieces in their way. 
He was also ambitious of shining as an 
historical painter, but in this line he was 
not so suc-cessful. In 1753 his work on 
the Analysis of Beauty appeared, a treatise 
which brought him little fame, and which 
was severely ridiculed by his enemies and 
professional rivals. In originality of ima¬ 
gination and invention, and for vigour of 
realism and dramatic power, Hogarth stands 
in the highest rank, and his genius was 
always enlisted on the side of virtue and 
morality. Though best known as an en¬ 
graver, he possessed high qualities as a 
painter. The best edition of his works 
is that published by Boydell (London, 
1790), the plates of which, retouched by 
Heath and others, have been repeatedly 
published since. 

Hog-deer. See J x/s. 

Hog-fish, the popular name given to tele- 
ostean fishes of the genus Scorpcvna, family 
Scorpaenidae or Triglidae. The best known 
species is the S. scrofa, comm(m in the Medi¬ 
terranean, having the head flattened side¬ 
ways, armed with spines, and adorned with 
membranous lobes or filaments. It is of a 
large size and a red colour. 

Hogg, James, more familiarly known by 
the name of the Ettrick Shepherd, was born 
in Selkirkshire in 1770, died at Altrive, on 
the Yarrow, in 1835. After receiving a very 
scanty education, he began to earn his bread 
by daily labour as a shepherd. His early 
rhymings brought him under the notice of 
Sir Walter Scott, by whose advice he pub¬ 
lished a volume of ballads under the title of 
The Mountain Bard. The failure of an ill- 
judged agricultural scheme brought him to 
Edinburgh, where he published the Forest 
Minstrel (1810), and started a weekly 
periodical entitled The Spy, which, after a 
short time, became defunct. The appear¬ 
ance of the Queen’s Wake in 1813, with its 
charming ballad of Kilmeny, established 
Hogg’s reputation as a poet. In 1815 he 
published his Pilgrims of the Sun, which 

437 


was followed by Mador of the Moor, the 
Poetic Mirror (a collection of imitations of 
living poets). Queen Hynde, and Dramatic 
Tales, as well as by The Brownie of Bods- 
beck, and other prose tales; the Jacobite 
Relics (partly written by Hogg), &c. From 
1817 he had held the farm of Altrive from 
the Duke of Buccleuch at a merely nominal 
rent; but his farming schemes never throve, 
and he was generally in narrow circum¬ 
stances. 

Hog-gum, a resinous substance used for 
strengthening plasters, and also as a diuretic, 
laxative, and stimulant medicine. In the 
West Indies it is employed as a substitute 
for pitch in tarring boats, ropes, &c. It is 
uncertain to what tree it is due. 

Hog-plum, the popular name of the plants 
belonging to the genus Spondias, nat. order 
Anacardiacese. Some of the species yield 
pleasant fruits, as S. purpmrea and S. lutca 
of the West Indies, the species generally 
called hog-plum, because their fruit is a 
common food for hoo's. 

O 

Hog-rat, a genus (Cnpromys) of rodent 
animals, family Muridse (mice), different 
species of which, including the musk-cavy, 
are found in the West Indies. 

Hogshead, an obsolete measure of capacity 
containing 63 old wine gallons, or 52| im¬ 
perial gallons. For beer it was 54 gallons, 
for rum 45 to 50 gallons, for brandy 45 to 
60 gallons, and for different kinds. In the 
United States the measure is still in use, 
being equivalent to 63 American gallons or 
52‘485 imperial gallons; for tobacco it varies 
from 750 lbs. in some states to 1200 lbs. in 
others. 

Hohenlin'den (ho-en-), a village of 
Bavaria, 20 miles east of Munich, cele¬ 
brated for the victory gained by the French 
under Moreau over the Austrians under the 
Archduke John, December 3, 1800. 

Hohenlohe (ho'en-lo-e), formerly a prin¬ 
cipality of Germany, containing 680 square 
miles, now chiefly under the sovereignty of 
Wurtemberg, and partly under that of 
Bavaria. 

Hohenstaufen (ho'en-stou-fn), a German 
princely family, several members of which 
filled the imperial throne. The founder of 
the family was Frederick, lord of Hohen¬ 
staufen, a castle in the Suabian Alps, who for 
his services to the Emperor Henry IV. re¬ 
ceived the duchy of Suabia, and the hand of 
his daughter Agnes. His son Conrad was 
elected emperor in 1138. After the death 
of Conrad (1152) the confidence which was 



HOHENSTEIN-HOLBERG. 


felt in the Hobenstaufeh family caused the 
choice to fall on his nephew, Frederick III. 
of Suabia, who was followed by Henry VI. 
(1190), who added by his wife the king¬ 
dom of Sicily and Naple.s to the hereditary 
dominions of the family; and he again by 
Otto IV. (1197) and Frederick II. (1215- 
50), all belonging to the same house. After 
the death of Frederick II. his son Conrad 
was acknowledged as his successor, with the 
title of Conrad IV., by most of the states of 
the empire; but Innocent IV. laid him 
under an interdict, declared him to be de¬ 
prived of all his lands, and persecuted him 
with relentless hatred till his death in 1254. 
The possessions of the family ultimately fell 
to Bavaria, Baden, and Wlirtemberg. 

Hohenstein (ho'en-stin), a town in Ger¬ 
many, kingdom of Saxony, 10 miles north 
east of Zwickau. Pop. 6827. 

Hohenzollern (ho-en-tsol'ern), a small ter¬ 
ritory of Germany, since 1852 an adminis¬ 
trative division of Prussia. It consists of a 
long, narrow, irregular strip of country, 
entirely surrounded by Wurtemberg and 
Baden. Area, 450 sq. miles. Pop. 66,720. 
The princely family of Hohenzollern dates 
from Thassilo, Count of Zollern, who died 
about 800 A.D. There have been several 
lines and branches, the main one being re¬ 
presented by the present imperial family of 
Germany. 

Hoists. See Lifts. 

Hokitika, a town of New Zealand (South 
Island), capital of the province of Westland, 
and the principal place on the west coast. 
It owes its rise to being the centre of the 
productive gold-fields discovered in 1865. 
Pop. 2687. 

Holacanthus. See Coral Fishes. 

Holbach (hol'ba/i), Paul Heinrich Die¬ 
trich, Baron von, philosopher, born at Hei- 
delsheim, in the Palatinate, in 1723. He 
was educated in Paris, where he passed the 
greater part of his life, and died in 1789. 
He became the patron and associate of the 
encyclopaedists, and contributed many papers 
on natural history, politics, and philosophy to 
the Encyclopedic. The principal work at¬ 
tributed to him, which appeared under the 
name of M. Mirabaud, is the Systbme de la 
Nature. He afterwards published Systhme 
Social, or Principes Naturels de la Morale 
et de la Politique; Boris Sens, or Id^es 
Naturelles opposees aux Idees Surnaturelles 
•—a sort of atheist’s catechism; Elements 
de la Morale Universelle; &c., &c. Accord¬ 
ing to Holbach matter is the only form of 


existence, and everything is the effect of a 
blind necessity. 

Holbein (hol'bin), Hans, an eminent Ger¬ 
man painter, born at Augsburg in 1497. He 
studied under his father, Hans Holbein the 
elder, a painter of considerable merit (1450- 
1526)^ and at an early age settled at Basel, 
where he exercised his art till about 1526. 
He then came to England, where letters from 
his friend Erasmus, whose Panegyric on 



Hans Holbein the younger. 


Folly he had illustrated by a series of draw¬ 
ings, procured him the patronage of the 
chancellor Sir Thomas More. He was ap¬ 
pointed court painter by Henry VIII.; and 
in the Windsor collection has left portraits 
of all the eminent Englishmen of the time. 
The most celebrated of his pictures are the 
Madonna at Darmstadt (better known 
through the replica at Dresden), represent¬ 
ing the Burgomaster Meyer and his wives 
kneeling to the Virgin; and the Solothurn 
Madonna. His famous Dance of Death has 
only been preserved in the engravings of 
Llitzelburger. There are a considerable 
number of engravings on wood and copper 
from Holbein’s designs. He died at White¬ 
hall of the plague in 1543. 

Holberg, Ludwig, Baron, the father of 
modern Danish literature, was born at Ber¬ 
gen, in Norway, then part of the Danish 
dominions, in 1684; died at Copenhagen Jan¬ 
uary 27, 1754. He studied at the Univer¬ 
sity of Copenhagen, and afterwards travelled 
through a good part of Europe, spending 
some time in Oxford, where he taught music 
and modern languages, and studied modern 
history and philosophy. In 1718 he was 
appointed to an ordinary professorship iJl 

438 



HOLCUS-HOLLAND. 


the University of Copenhagen, where after 
this date he chiefly resided till his death. 
In 1735 he was elected rector, and in 1737* 
treasurer of the university in which he held 
his professorship, and in 1747 he was raised 
to the rank of baron. His works may be 
divided into four classes—poems, stage 
pieces, philosophical treatises, and historical 
works. His poems are chiefly of a satiri¬ 
cal nature. The most celebrated is Peder 
Paars, a comic heroic poem in fourteen 
cantos, which is still regarded throughout 
the Scandinavian countries as a master¬ 
piece. Almost equally famous is his Nicolas 
Klimm’s Subterraneous Travels, a satirical 
romance in prose. His stage pieces are all 
either comedies or farces, and are nearly 
all characterized by true comic power. 
Among his philosophical writings the most 
important is his Moral Reflections (1744). 
His historical works include The Political, 
Ecclesiastical, and Geographical Condition 
of the Danish Monarchy, A General His¬ 
tory of the Jews, and A History of Famous 
Men and Famous Women (1739-45). 

Holcus, a genus of grasses (nat. order 
Graminese), extremely common in some 
pastures, where they are called soft grasses. 
Whether because of their innutritious 
quality, or of the soft hairs with which 
they are covered, they are neglected by 
cattle. II. saccharatus contains a large 
quantity of sugar, and II. odordtus is cele- 
bi'ated for its fragrance. There are only 
two species native to Britain, woolly soft 
grass or meadow soft grass ( II. landtus) and 
creeping-rooted soft grass ( H. mollis), which 
are both perennial, growing about 2 feet 
high when in flower. H. lanatus is the 
only North American species. 

Hold, the whole interior cavity or belly 
of a ship, or all that part of her inside which 
is comprehended between the floor and the 
lower deck throughout her length. 

Holibut. See Ilalihut. 

Holiday, any day set apart as a religious 
or national festival; in a general sense a 
day or a number of days during which a 
person is released from his everyday labours. 
In Britain certain days were fixed as bank- 
holidays by parliament in 1871, and it was 
enacted that all business transactions which 
would have been valid on an}' such holiday 
shall be held as valid if performed on the 
day following. In England and Ireland 
the bank-holidays are Good Friday, Easter 
Monday, Whit-Monday, the first Monday 
of August, Christmas Day, and the 26th of 

439 


December (or the 27th should the 26th be 
a Sunday). The days fixed as bank-holidays 
for Scotland are New-Year’s Day, Good 
Friday, the first Monday of May, the first 
Monday of August, and Christmas Day. 
In most of the U. States the bank holidays 
are New-Year’s Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, 
Washington’s Birthday, Good Friday, 
Decoration Day, Fourth of July, Labor 
Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas. 

Hol'inshed, Raphael (Ralph), an Eng¬ 
lish chronicler of whom nothing more is 
known than that he was descended from a 
family originally belonging to Cheshire, 
that he lived in the age of Queen Elizabeth, 
and that he died about 1580. He is only 
known by his Chronicles of Englande, Scot- 
lande, and Irelande, the first edition of 
which, known as the ‘Shakspere edition,’ 
because it is the one which is supposed to 
have been used by him in collecting mate¬ 
rial for his historical plays, was published 
in London in 1577. In the preparation of 
this work Holinshed was assisted by several 
of the most learned men of the day. 

Holkar, the family name of the Mahara¬ 
jahs of Indore. 

Holl, Frank, R.A., portrait and subject 
painter, son of Francis Holl, an eminent 
engraver, was born in London, 1845, died 
1888. He was a very successful student at 
the Royal Academy, and exhibited con¬ 
stantly from his student days. Among 
his best-known pictures are Faces in the 
Fire, Fern-Gatherers, No Tidings from the 
Sea, Leaving Home, and the Gifts of the 
Fairies. Latterly he devoted himself to 
portraiture, in which he greatly excelled, and 
painted many of the celebrities of the day. 

Holland, or Parts op Holland, a dis¬ 
trict of England, one of the three portions 
into which the county of Lincoln is divided. 
It occupies the south east part of the county 
round the Wash, and consists almost entirely 
of low, marsh, and fen land. 

Holland, a fine and close kind of linen, so 
called from its first being manufactured in 
Holland; also a coarser linen fabric, un¬ 
bleached or dyed brown, used for covering 
furniture, carpets, &c., or for making win¬ 
dow-blinds or the like. 

Holland, Henry Richard Vassall Fox, 
Third IjOrd, born 1773, died 1840. He 
succeeded to the peerage by the death of 
his father when less than one year old. In 
1798 he took his place in the House of Lords, 
and as the nephew of Charles James Fox 
was at once acknowledged as a Whig leader. 


HOLLAND 

In 1806 he was commissioner for settling 
disputes with the United States; lord privy 
seal in 1806-7; and chancellor of the Duchy 
of Lancaster. He made Holland House 
the resort of the wit, talent, and beauty of 
his day. 

Holland, Sir Henry, an English physi¬ 
cian, born 1788, died in London 1873. He 
waseducatedattheUniversityof Edinburgh, 
where he took the degree of M. D. in 1811. 

Holland, Josiah G., author and edi¬ 
tor, was born in Massachusetts in 1819. 
In 1844 he graduated at the Berkshire 
Medical College, but in his practice re¬ 
ceived but little encouragement. At the 
age of 30 he connected himself with the 
Springfield Republican. Dr. Holland ex¬ 
hibited remarkable aptitude for journalism, 
and the paper soon became vastly popular. 
As a book-maker many of his works have 
been very successful, with immense sales. 
In 1870 Dr. Holland began editing “Scrib¬ 
ner’s Monthly.” As a lecturer he was 
very popular. He died in 1881. 

Holland, Kingdom of. See Netherlands. 

Holland, New, the name formerly given 
to the island or continent of Australia. 

Holland, North {NoordhoUand), and 
Holland, South {SuidhoUand), two pro¬ 
vinces of the Netherlands. The greater part 
of the former consists of a peninsula, bounded 
by the North Sea on the w. and the Zuider- 
Zee on the e. Area, 1054 sq. miles. It lies 
very low, some portions of it being at least 
partially below the level of the sea, and is 
generally fertile. A broad margin of downs 
or sand-hills protects it from the sea on the 
west. Besides rivers (Vecht, Amstel, Zaan, 
&c,), it is intersected by the Great North 
Holland Canal. The chief towns are Am¬ 
sterdam, Alkmaar, Haarlem, Helder, and 
Zaandam. Pop. 860,742.— South Holland, 
the most populous province of the Nether¬ 
lands, is bounded on the north by North 
Holland, on the west by the German Ocean, 
’rhe southern part of the province is broken 
up into several islands. Area, 1155 sq. 
miles. Like North Holland, it is a flat and 
depressed tract, and it also is protected from 
the sea on the west by a margin of downs 
or sand-hills. The chief river is the Rhine, 
with its numerous branches. The lakes 
were formerly numerous, but most of them 
are now drained. The soil is fertile and 
well cultivated. The principal towns are 
Delft, Dort, Gorkum, Gouda, Leyden, Rot¬ 
terdam, Schiedam, ’s Gravenhage (the Ha¬ 
gue). Pop. 1892, 987,342. 


— HOLLY. 

Holland, Philemon, physician, teacher, 
and ‘ translator-general of his age,’ born at 
Chelmsford 1551, died 1636. He became 
master of the free grammar school of Cov¬ 
entry, and also practised as a physician. 
His translations include Livy, Pliny, Plu¬ 
tarch’s Morals, Suetonius, Xenophon, &c., 
and he published an edition, with additions, 
of Camden’s Britannia. 

Hollands. See Gin. 

Hollar, Wenzel or Wenceslaus, a Bo¬ 
hemian engraver, born in Prague about 
1607, died in London, 1677. He accom¬ 
panied the Earl of Arundel, the British 
ambassador to the German emperor, to Lon¬ 
don, who employed him to engrave some of 
the pictures of his collection. Among his 
numerous works, which are esteemed for 
their delicate, firm, and spirited execution, 
and which number some 2740 plates, are 
a set of twenty-eight plates, entitled Orna- 
tus Muliebris Anglican us, representing the 
dresses of Englishwomen of all ranks and 
conditions in full-length figures; Holbein’s 
Dance of Death, &c. 

Holloway, Thomas, born 1800, died 
1883; proprietor of the popular pills, oint¬ 
ment, &c. He founded a Sanatorium or 
asylum for the insane, and hospitals for in¬ 
curables and convalescents, at Egham, Sur¬ 
rey, 1873; and also at the same place the 
Royal Holloicay CoUege, designed to supply 
the best and most suitable education for 
women of the middle classes. The college, 
which was opened by the queen in 1886, 
contains a collection of pictures of the value 
of £100,000. The total cost of the two in¬ 
stitutions was about a million sterling. 

Hollow Ware, the trade term for all kinds 
of vessels made of cast or wrought iron, 
and used for cooking and other purposes. 

Holly {Ilex), a genus of plants of the 
order Aquifoliacese, embracing a number of 
evergreen trees or shrubs. The common 
holly (/. aquifolium) is common in Britain 
and the Continent of Europe. It is a hand¬ 
some, conical evergreen tree, growing to the 
height of 20 or 30 feet. Its leaves are dark- 
green, shining, and leathery, abundantly 
armed with prickles on the lower branches, 
but free from them on the upper, or on very 
old trees. The flowers are white, appearing 
in May; the fruit is red, ripening in b’ep- 
tember, and remaining on the tree all the 
winter. A good many varieties are known, 
distinguished by the shape and colour of the 
leaves, which are sometimes spotted or edged 
with yellow, &c. It is excellently adapted 



HOLLYHOCK-HOLOTHURTA. 


for hedges and fences, as it bears clipping. 
The wood is hard and white, and is em¬ 
ployed for turnery work, knife handles, &c. 
The bark yields a mucilaginous substance, 
from which birdlime is made. Among the 
Romans it was customary to send boughs of 
holly to friends, with new-year’s gifts, as 
emblematical of good wishes; and it is used 
to decorate houses at Christmas. The Ame¬ 
rican holly (Ilex opaca) is widely diffused 
throughout the United States. It sometimes 
attains the height of 80 feet, with a trunk 
4 feet in diameter. The I. ylabra is another 
species of holly, inhabiting the coast regions 
of the United States. Its leaves furnished 
the ‘ black drink ’ which used to hold an 
important place in Indian ceremonies. The 
mate or Paraguay tea-plant is a species of 
holly (/. Parayuayensin). 

Hollyhock, a biennial plant {Althwa rosea), 
nat. order Malvaceae. It is a native of 
China, and is a frequent ornament of gar¬ 
dens. There are many varieties, with single 
and double flowers, characterized by the 
tints of yellow, red, purple, and dark purple 
approaching to black. It reaches a height 
of 8 feet or more. 

Holmes (homz), Oliver Wendell, M.D., 
LL.D., American writer, born at Cambridge, 



Mass,, 1809, and educated at Harvard Uni¬ 
versity. He began the study of law, but 
in a short time relinquished it for that of 
medicine. In 1839 he became professor of 
anatomy and physiology in Dartmouth Col¬ 
lege, N.H., but resigned after two years’ 
service in order to devote himself to prac¬ 
tice in Boston. In 1847 he was appointed 
to the chair of anatomy at Harvard, a posi¬ 
tion which he filled till 1882. He has 
written voluminously both in prose and 

441 


verse, and shone as a prominent figure in 
the famous group associated with the At¬ 
lantic Monthly. His chief works, besides 
several volumes of poems, and treatises on 
medicine, are The Autocrat of the Break¬ 
fast Table, The Professor at the Breakfast 
Table, and The Poet at the Breakfast Table; 
Elsie Venner, The Guardian Angel, A Mor¬ 
tal Antipathy, and Memoirs of Motley 
and Emerson. A visit to Europe in 1886 
produced a charming record, A Hundred 
Days in Europe. He died Oct. 7, 1894. 

Holm-oak, Quercus Ilex, a shrub-like 
tree, native of the Mediterranean countries, 
with holly-like leaves. In its native coun¬ 
tries it attains a considerable size and age, 
but in Britain it forms an ornamental ever¬ 
green bush of from 20 to 30 feet high, sel¬ 
dom becoming single-stemmed. 

Holofemes. See Judith. 

Holograph, any writing, as a letter, deed, 
will, &c., wholly written by the person from 
whom it bears to proceed. In Scots law a holo¬ 
graph deed is valid without the signatures 
of witnesses, but in English law every deed, 
whether holograph or not, must have the 
names of two witnesses attached to it to 
render it valid. 

Holoptychius (-tik'i-us), a genus of fossil 
ganoid fishes occurring in the upper old red 
sandstone. The head was covered with 
large plates, and the body with bony scales, 
rhombic or cycloid in form. The jaws, be¬ 
sides being armed with numerous sharp- 
pointed fish-teeth, were furnished with large 
teeth of a conical form. 

Holothuria, the type of an order of Ech- 
inoderms, the llolothurioidea or sea-cucum¬ 
bers. This order is destitute of the calca¬ 
reous plates typical of the class, but has a 
leathery integument open at both ends, and 
pierced by orifices through which suctorial 
feet or ambulacra protrude. They have the 
mouth surrounded by tentacula; a long con¬ 
voluted alimentary canal; respiratory organs 
near the anus, and generally in the form of 
two branching arborescent tubes (forming 
the ‘respiratory tree’) into ^yhich the water 
is admitted; and the organs of both sexes 
in each individual. They are capable of 
extending themselves to several times the 
length they have in a state of repose, and 
of extraordinary reproduction of parts, even 
of vital organs. The young undergo a 
metamorphosis during development. They 
abound in the Asiatic seas, the beche-de- 
mer or trepang being a member of the 
family. 





/ 


/ 


HOLSTEIN-HOLY ISLAND. 


Holstein. See Schleswig-Holstein. 

Holster, a leathern case for a pistol, car¬ 
ried by a horseman at the fore part of his 
saddle, and frequently covered with wool or 
fur. 

Holy Alliance, a league concluded at 
Paris, Sep. 26, 1815, between Alexander I., 
emperor of Russia, Francis of Austria, and 
Frederick William III. of Prussia, and 
signed with their own hands, and without 
the countersign of a minister. It consisted 
of a declaration, that, in accordance with 
the precepts of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
the principles of justice, charity, and peace 
should be the basis of their internal ad¬ 
ministration, and of their international re¬ 
lations, and that the happiness and religious 
welfare of their subjects should be their 
great object. Its real aim, however, was to 
maintain the power and influence of the ex¬ 
isting dynasties. It was offered for signa¬ 
ture to all the European Powers except the 
pope and the sultan of Turkey, and ac¬ 
cepted by all except Britain. The events 
of 1848 broke up the Holy Alliance. 

Holy Coat of Treves, a relic preserved 
in the cathedral of Treves, and said to be 
the identical seamless coat worn by our 
Saviour at his crucifixion, and for which the 
soldiers cast lots. It was the gift of the 
Empress Helena, by whom it was discovered 
in her visit to Palestine in the 4th century. 
It has been exhibited to vast numbers of 
pilgrims at irregular intervals. The same 
claim is made for several coats kept in- 
other places. 

Haly Family, in art, representations of 
the infant Saviour and his mother, accom¬ 
panied by one or more members of his family. 

Holy Ghostl according to Trinitarians, 
the third Person in the Holy Trinity; ac¬ 
cording to the Socinians, a Biblical meta¬ 
phor, to designate the divine influence. The 
doctrine of the Athanasian creed adopted 
by Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Cal¬ 
vinists alike, is that the Holy Ghost pro¬ 
ceeded from both Son and Father, and is 
co-eternal and equal with both. The Eastern 
Church, however, following the Council of 
Alexandria held in 362, asserts that the 
Holy Ghost pi-oceeds from the Father alone. 

Holy Ghost, Order op, an order of male 
and female hospitallers, founded by Guy, son 
of William, Count of Montpellier, towards 
the end of the 12th century, for the relief 
of the poor, the infirm and foundlings. After 
the middle of the 18th century it was united 
with the order of St, Lazarus by Clement 


XIII. This w^as also the name of the prin¬ 
cipal military order in France instituted in 
1578 by Henry III., abolished in 1789, re¬ 
vived at the Restoration, and again abolished 
in 1830. 

Holy Grail. See Grail. 

Holy Grass, HicrochlCe, an odoriferous 
genus of grasses belonging to the Phalari- 
dese, and consisting of several species spread 
over the cold parts of both hemispheres. 
The II. borealis, or northern holy-grass, is 
found in Scotland, Iceland, and throughout 
Northern Europe, Asia, and America, and 
occurs also in New Zealand. It has its 
name from the practice adopted in some 
parts of Germany of strewing it before the 
doors of churches on festival days, 

Holyhead, an island, pari, borough, and 
seaport town of North Wales, in the county 
of Anglesey. The island is about 7 miles 
long and 5 miles broad at the widest part, 



is situated off the west side of Anglesey, 
and is connected with the mainland by a 
causeway. The town is on the north-east 
side of the island, and owes its prosperity 
to the railway and steamboat traffic be¬ 
tween England and Dublin. The harbour 
of refuge (Victoria Harbour), opened in 
1873, is formed by a breakwater which is 
' 7860 feet in length, the whole cost, includ¬ 
ing some minor works, being £1,500,000. 
Pop. 8680. 

Holy Island, or Lindisfarne, an island 
off the north-east coast of England, 11 miles 
south-east of Berwick, It is If miles from 
the mainland, with which it is connected by 

442 







HOLY LAND- 

a narrow neck of sand, traversable at low 
water. It is of an irregular form, about 2| 
miles in length, and about mile in breadth 
at the broadest part. The village of Lin- 
disfarne on the s.w. is much resorted to by 
summer visitors, but the great object of 
interest is the extensive ruined abbey of 
Lindisfarne, founded in 635 by Oswald, 
king of Northumbria, destroyed by the 
Danes, and restored by the Normans in 
1082. The castle, on a rock 90 feet high, 
also dates from an early period. Pop. 686. 

Holy Land. See Palestine. 

Holy Maid of Kent. See Barton, Eliza¬ 
beth. 

Holy Office. See Inquisition. 

Holyoke, a city of Hampden co., Mass., 
on the w. bank of the Connecticut river. 
It is a prosperous manufacturing place, its 
rise dating from 1849, when a dam con¬ 
structed across the river supplied it with 
extensive water power. It has manufac¬ 
tures of paper, cotton, wool, wire; machine 
works, &c. Pop. 1890, 35,637. 

Holy Orders. See Orders, Holy. 

Holy Places of Jerusalem, a term meant 
to apply more particularly to that group of 
localities of which the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre is the centre, some of the other 
more celebrated objects being the Garden 
of Gethsemane, the Church of the As¬ 
cension, the Tomb of the Virgin, &c., all 
connected with the life and passion of our 
Saviour. The guardianship of the holy 
places has been a cause of much contention 
between the Greek and Latin churches. 
They were formerly under the control of 
the latter, but since 1757 they have been 
committed to the care of the Greek Church 
by imperial ordinance of the Porte. De¬ 
mands made respecting the holy places and 
the protection of Greek Christians in Tur¬ 
key, led to the Crimean war of 1854-56. 

Holy Roman Empire, a title which the 
German Empire received in 962 when Otho 
I. was crowned at Rome by Pope John 
XII. It came to an end when Francis II. 
became hereditary emperor of Austria in 
1804. 

Holyrood, Palace and Abbey op, in 
Edinburgh, at the eastern extremity of the 
old town. The abbey church, founded in 
1128 by David I., containing the royal 
vault, with the ashes of numerous members 
of the Scottish royal race, is now mostly in 
ruin. The palace is a large quadrangular 
building of hewn stone, with a court within 
surrounded by a piazza. It was erected 

443 


-HOLY WEEK. 

in successive parts from 1501 to 1670, 
contains the private royal apartments in 
modernized condition, the rooms associated 
with the events in the reign of Mary 
Queen of Scots, and a gallery 150 feet 
long, in which are portraits of all the 
Scottish kings, most of them imaginary. 
The abbey and its precincts possess the 
privilege of sanctuary for insolvent debtors, 
but the class of debtors entitled to sanctuary 
has been so restricted by recent legislation 
that the institution may be looked on as 
obsolete. 

Holy Sepulchre, Knights of the, an 
order of knighthood founded by Godfrey of 
Bouillon, 1099, for the guardianship of the 
Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and for the 
protection of pilgrims. It was revived by 
Pope Alexander VI., 1496, and reorganized 
in 1847 and 1868. 

Holy Spirit Plant, an orchidaceous plant 
(Peristeria elata) of Central America, known 
also as the dove-plant, from the resemblance 
of the iinited stamens and pistil of the flower 
to a dove hovering with expanded wings, 
somewhat like the conventional dove seen 
in artistic representations of the Holy 
Ghost. It has a spike of almost globose, 
sweet-scented dowers of a creamy white, 
dotted with lilac on the base of the lip. 

Holy Thursday, Ascension-day, in the 
Anglican Church, a movable feast, always 
falling on the Thursday but one before 
Whitsuntide. In the R. Cath. Ch., the 
Thursday in Holy Week, See Holy Week. 

Holy Wars. See Crusades. 

Holy Water, in the Greek and R, Cath. 
Ch., salted water which has been consecrated 
by prayers, exorcism, and other ceremonies, 
to sprinkle the faithful and things used for 
the church. It is placed at the door of 
churches, so that worshippers may sprinkle 
themselves with it as they enter, and it is 
used in nearly every blessing wdiich the 
church gives. Sprinkling the people with 
holy water seems to date from the 9th cen¬ 
tury, and it is considered efficacious not 
from any virtue of its own, but from the 
effect of the church’s prayers at the time of 
using. 

Holy Week, or Passion \Veek, is that 
which immediately precedes Easter, and is 
devoted especially to commemorate the pas¬ 
sion of our Lord. The days more especially 
solemnized during it are Spy Wednesday, 
Maunday Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy 
Saturday, It is an institution of very early 
origin, and is known as Great Week, Silent 



HOLYWELL-HOMEH. 


Week, Penitential Week, &c. Spy Wed¬ 
nesday was a name given in allusion to 
the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot. 
Maundy or Holy Thursday specially com¬ 
memorates the institution of the Eucharist. 

Holywell, parliamentary borough, Flint¬ 
shire, North Wales, on the estuary of the 
Dee, 17 miles S.w. Liverpool. It takes its 
name from the well of St. Winifred, one of 
the most copious springs in Britain, long a 
famous resort for the supernatural cure of 
bodily disease and infirmity. The well is 
covered by a small Gothic building of early 
date. Near the town are coal and lead mines, 
quarries, &c. Holywell is one of the Flint 
group of parliamentary boroughs. Pop. 3090. 

Homage, in feudal law, a formal acknow¬ 
ledgment made by a feudal tenant to and in 
presence of his lord on receiving the inves¬ 
titure of a fief or coming to it by succession, 
that he was his vassal. The tenant, being 
ungirt and uncovered, kneeled and held up 
both his hands between those of the lord, 
who sat before him, and there professed that 
‘he did become his man, from that day 
forth, of life and limb, and earthly honour,’ 
and then received a kiss from his lord. 

Homburg, a town of Prussia, province of 
Hesse-Nassau, 9 miles N.N.w. Frankfort. 
It is well and regularly built, and is much 
frequented on account of the mineral springs 
and bathing establishment, to which gaming¬ 
tables were formerly attached. The waters 
are of two classes, those of three springs 
being purgative, and used for complaints of 
the stomach, liver, kidneys, &c.; those of the 
remaining two containing iron, and being 
used as a tonic. Pop. 8663. 

Home, Henry, a Scottish lawyer and 
author, born 1696, died 1782. He studied 
law at Edinburgh, and was called to the 
bar in 1724. He soon acquired reputation 
by a number of publications on the civil and 
Scottish law. In 1752 he became a judge 
of session, and assumed the title of Lord 
Karnes. In addition to his legal works he 
published Essays on British Antiquities; 
Essays on the Principles of Morality and 
Natural Religion, in which he advocates the 
doctrine of philosophical necessity; Intro¬ 
duction to the Art of Thinking; and his 
best-known work. Elements of Criticism, 
in which, discarding all arbitrary rules of 
literary composition, he endeavours to es¬ 
tablish a new theory on the principles of 
human nature. In 1776 he published the 
Gentleman Farmer; and in 1781 Loose 
Thoughts on Education. 


Home, John, Scottish clergyman and dra¬ 
matic poet, born at Leith, 1722, died at Edin¬ 
burgh, 1808. He studied for the church, 
and was appointed to the parish of Athel- 
staneford, vacant by the death of Blair, au¬ 
thor of the Grave. His tragedy of Douglas 
was performed at Edinburgh in 1756, and 
attained a wonderful popularity, which has 
not yet altogether disappeared. The pro¬ 
duction gave great offence to the church as 
a body; the author was threatened with ec¬ 
clesiastical censures, and in consequence re¬ 
signed his living, and ever after acted and 
appeared as a layman. H e retired into Eng¬ 
land, obtained the protection of the Earl of 
Bute, and received a considerable pension. 
His other plays, the Siege of Aquileia, the 
Fatal Discovery,. Alonzo, and Alfred, are 
absolutely forgotten, a fate which their 
mediocrity deserves. His History of the 
Rebellion of 1745-46 (4to) also disappointed 
public expectation. 

Home Department, that department of 
the executive government of Britain in 
which the interior affairs of the country are 
regulated. It is analogous to the ministry 
of the interior of other countries; its head¬ 
quarters is the home-office, and its chief is 
the home-secretary. This official is one of 
the five secretaries of state of the British 
government. He is responsible for the in¬ 
ternal administration of justice, the main¬ 
tenance of peace in the country, the super¬ 
vision of prisons, police, sanitary affairs, &c. 
The secretary for the home department is 
assisted by a parliamentary under-secretary 
and a permanent under-secretaiy. 

Home Office. See Home Department. 

H omer (Greek, Homeros), an ancient 
Greek epic poet of whom nothing is known 
with certainty, some even doubting whether 
he ever existed. The most probable opinion 
is that he was a native of some locality on 
the sea-board of Asia Minor, and that he 
flourished between 950 and 850 b.c. The 
earliest mention of the name of Homer is 
found in Xenophanes (6th century B.C.). 
The common statement that he was blind 
may safely be discarded. The poems that 
have been generally attributed to Homer 
are the Iliad and Odyssey. The Batracho- 
myomachia, or Battle of the Frogs and 
Mice, and certain hymns to the gods also 
passed under his name, though belonging 
to a later period. The Iliad in its present 
form consists of twenty-four books, and tells 
the story of the siege of Troy from the 
quarrel of Achilles with Agamemnon to the 

444 



HOME RULE-HOMICIDE. 


burial of Hector, with subordinate episodes. 
The Od^'ssey is also in twenty-four books, 
and records the adventures of Odysseus 
(Ulysses) on his return voyage to his home 
in Ithaca after the fall of Troy. Even as 
early as the be¬ 
ginning of the 
Christian era, 
cevtaiu Gi’eek 
critics (the Se¬ 
paratists) main¬ 
tained that the 
two poems were 
the work of dif¬ 
ferent poets, 
but the genex’al 
belief con ijinued 
to be that there 
was one author 
for both. The 
entire system 
of Homeric cri¬ 
ticism, however, 
was re volution- 



Homer—ancient bust. 


ized in 1795 by F. A. Wolf in his Prolego¬ 
mena to Homer. He asserted that the Iliad 
and Odyssey were not originally committed 
to writing, and were not two complete and 
independent poems, but originally a series of 
songs of different poets (Homer and others), 
celebrating single exploits of heroes, and first 
connected as wholes by Pisistratus, about 
640 B.C. Some of Wolf’s arguments have 
been proved erroneous, but since his time 
the old views in regard to the Iliad and 
Odyssey have been held by comparatively few 
of the ablest scholars, though what theory is 
now the most common is difficult to say. 
Among the most conservative theories is 
that which assigns to Homer a central or 
basal portion of both Iliad and Odyssey, to 
which additions by other poets were grad¬ 
ually united; but generally the Odyssey is 
regarded as of somewhat later date than 
the Iliad, and not by the poet who pro¬ 
duced t>lie Iliad in its original form. 

Home Rule, in British politics, a measure 
which has been more especially advocated 
in regard to Ireland. The leading feature 
of the Irish Home Rule party seems to be 
the establishment of a native parliament in 
Ireland to conduct all local and internal 
legislation, leaving the general political gov¬ 
ernment of the empire to an imperial par¬ 
liament. The movement originated in the 
formation of the Home Government Asso¬ 
ciation at Dublin, in 1870, under the presi¬ 
dency of Mr. Isaac Butt. At the general 

446 


election of 1874 the party succeeded in 
sending 60 Home Rule members to parlia¬ 
ment for Irish constituencies. The elections 
of 1885 and 1886 still further strengthened 
the party, 86 members following the lead 
of Mr. Parnell (which see). The original 
scheme has been materially modified since 
Butt’s time, and there are not wanting Irish¬ 
men who declare openly for absolute inde¬ 
pendence, which many believe to be the 
ultimate aim of the whole party. The con¬ 
version of Mr. Gladstone and many mem¬ 
bers of the Liberal party to Home Rule 
principles has added immense strength to 
the movement. In 1893 a Home Rule bill 
was passed by the Commons; but defeated 
by the Lords. See also Land League. 

Home-sickness, in medicine, Nostalgia, a 
disease arising from an intense and uncon¬ 
trolled feeling of grief at a separation from 
one’s home or native land. It is most fre¬ 
quent among persons who leave mountainous 
and go to flat countries, as the Scotch High¬ 
landers and Swiss, or among those who 
change from the country to the town. It 
commences by a deep melancholy, and 
may terminate fatally. 

Homestead, Allegheny co., Pa., 5 miles 
from Pittsburg. The Carnegie steel-works, 
employing 3800 men, are here situated. 
July 6, 1892, labour troubles culminated in 
a serious tumult attracting universal atten¬ 
tion, provoked by the attempt to introduce 
Pinkerton detectives into the mill, result¬ 
ing in the loss of several lives. Pop. 7911. 

Homicide, the killing of one man or human 
being by another. In law, homicide is of 
three kinds— justifiable, excusable, and/eZo- . 
nious; justifiable, when it proceeds from 
unavoidable necessity, as where the proper 
officer inflicts capital punishment, where an 
officer of justice kills an offender who as¬ 
saults or resists him and who cannot other¬ 
wise be captured, or where persons are killed 
in the dispersion of rebellious or riotous 
assemblies; excusable, when it happens 
from misadventure, as where a man in 
doing a lawful act by accident kills an¬ 
other, or in self-defence, as where a man 
kills another in defence of the life of him¬ 
self, his wife, children, parent, servant, &c.; 
felonious, when it proceeds from malice, or 
is done in the prosecution of some unlawful 
act, or in a sudden passion. Self-murder 
also is felonious homicide. Felonious homi¬ 
cide comprehends murder and manslaughter. 
In Scots law manslaughter gets the nam@ 
of culpable homicide. 





HOMILDON 


HOMS. 


Hom'ildon, Battle op, a battle fought in 
1402 between the Scots under Archibald, 
earl of Douglas, and an English force under 
Hotspur and the earl of March, at Homil- 
don Hill, near Wooler. The Scots were 
utterly defeated. 

Homiletics, the art of preaching; that 
branch of practical theology which teaches 
the principles of adapting the discourses of 
the pulpit to the spiritual benefit of the 
hearers, and the best methods which minis¬ 
ters of the gospel should pursue for in¬ 
structing their hearers by their doctrines 
and example. 

Homily, a discourse or sermon read or 
pronounced to an audience on some subject 
of religion; a discourse pronounced in the 
church by the minister to the congregation. 
The ancient homily was sometimes simply 
a conversation, the prelate talking to the 
people and interrogating them, and they in 
turn talking to and interrogating him. In 
modern use a homily differs but little from 
an ordinary sermon, the idea of simplicity, 
however, being always attached to it. The 
earliest existing examples of the homily are 
those of Origen in the 3d century. In the. 
schools of Alexandria and Antioch this form 
of discourse was sedulously cultivated, and 
Clement of Alexandria, St. Dionysius, and 
Gregory Thaumaturgus are among the names 
most eminent in this department. It was 
in later centuries, however, and in the hands 
of Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gre¬ 
gory of Nazianzus, Basil, Cyril of Jerusalem, 
and Cyril of Alexandria, and especially of 
Chrysostom that the homily reached its 
highest excellence. Augustine and Gregory 
the Great were among the western com¬ 
posers of homilies. In the Church of Eng¬ 
land, after the Reformation, two official 
books of homilies were issued. These were 
called The First and Second Books of Homi¬ 
lies, and the former, ascribed to Cranmer, 
appeared in 1547; the latter, said to be by 
Jewell, in 1563. They were originally 
meant to be read by those of the inferior 
clergy who were not qualified to compose 
discourses themselves. 

Homing Pigeon. See 
Carrier Pigeon. 

Homocer'cal [Cr.homos, 
same, kerJcos, tail), a term 
applied in the case of Homocercal Tail, 
fishes which have tails 
with rays diverging symmetrically from the 
backbone, as opposed to heterocercal. 

HomcBop'athy, the name of a system of 


medicine introduced by Samuel Hahnem^mn 
of Leipzic (died 1843). It is a system 
founded upon the belief that drugs Have 
the power of curing morbid conditions simi¬ 
lar to those they have the power to excite, 
an old belief long ago expressed in the Latin 
phrase ‘ siniilia similibus curantur ’ (like is 
cured by like). In contradistinction to this 
system the more common method of treating 
diseases has been termed heteropathy or allo¬ 
pathy. In pi’actice homoeopathy is asso¬ 
ciated with the system of administering in¬ 
finitesimal doses. 

Homoiousians, a sect of Arians, followers 
of Eusebius, who maintained that the nature 
of Christ is not the same with, but only 
similar to (Gr. homoios, like'), that of the 
Father, as distinguished from the Homoou- 
sians, who maintained that he was of the 
same nature. See Homoousians. 

Homol'ogous, (1) in geometry, correspond¬ 
ing in relative position and proportion. (2) 
In physiology, corresponding in type of 
structure; thus, the human arm, the fore¬ 
leg of a horse, the wing of a bird, and the 
swimming paddle of a dolphin or whale, 
being all composed essentially of the same 
structural elements, are said to be homolo¬ 
gous, though they are adapted for quite 
different functions. See Analogue. 

Homoousians (Gr. homos, same, ousia, 
being, nature), the orthodox party in the 
church during the great controversy upon 
the nature of Christ in the 4th century, who 
maintained that the nature of the Father 
and the Son is the same, in opposition to the 
Homoiousians, who held that their natures 
were only similar. See Homoiousians. 

Homop'tera, one of the sections into which 



Homoptera—Cicada Diardi. 


the order of hemipterous insects has been 
divided, the other section being the Hete- 
roptera. The insects of this section have 
the wing-covers generally deflexed, of the 
same consistence throughout, the antennae 
mostly short and terminated by a bristle, 
and the body convex and thick. To this 
section belong the aphides, cicadas, lau- 
tern-flies, &c. 

Homs. See Hems. 

446 







HONAN-HONEY. 


Honan', a once populous city of China, 
in the province of same name, on an affluent 
of the Hoang-ho. The province has an 
area of 65,104 square miles. It is generally 
level, and is watered by the Hoang-ho and 
its affluents. The soil is fertile and care¬ 
fully cultivated; the forests in the west 
supply timber; and mines yield tutenag or 
Chinese copper, cinnabar, mica, &c. Honan 
suffered severely from the inundation of the 
Hoang-ho in 1887; capital, Kai-fung. Pop. 
22,117,036. 

Honawar', seaport and chief town of sub¬ 
division of the same name, Bombay, on an 
estuary into which the Gersoppa river falls. 
It has an important and growing coasting 
trade. Pop. 6658. 

Hondo, the name given by the Japanese 
to the chief island in their empire. In many 
geographical works Nippon or Niphon is the 
distinctive appellation of this island, but by 
the Japanese themselves that name is ap¬ 
plied to the whole country. The area of the 
island is 87,425 sq. miles, and the pop. 
(1886), 29,317,000. See Japan. 

Hondu'ras, a republican state of Central 
America; area, 46,400 square miles. Its sur¬ 
face is hilly with numerous fertile valleys. 
Its mineral wealth is very considerable, and 
includes gold, silver, lead, and copper. The 
chief rivers are the Chamelicon, Glua, and 
Aguan, flowing to the Caribbean Sea, and 
the Choluteca, an affluent of the Pacific. 
There are extensive forests abounding in 
fine timber. The principal cultivated pro¬ 
ductions are maize, beans, some wheat, rice, 
plantains, and tobacco. Since 1880 the 
capital has been Tegucigalpa, the principal 
ports are Truxillo on the Caribbean Sea, and 
Port San Lorenzo, in the Pacific. The con¬ 
stitution of the state gives the legislative 
power to a congress of deputies composed of 
thirty-seven members. The executive au- 
thoiity is in the hands of the president. 
Reciprocity of trade with the United States 
was established April 30, 1892. Pop. 
431,917. 

Honduras, Bay of, a wide inlet of the 
Caribbean Sea, having on the south Guate¬ 
mala and Honduras, and on the west Bri¬ 
tish Honduras and Yucatan. Along its 
shores are the islands of Bonaca, Ruatan, 
Utila, Turneff, and numerous islets and reefs 
called cays. 

Honduras, British, or Belize, a British 
colony of Central America, having north 
and w'est, Yucatan; west and south, Guate- 
niala; and east, the Bay of Honduras. Area, 

447 


7562 sq. miles. The coast is generally low 
and swampy, but the land rises towards 
the interior, and in some parts may be called 
mountainous. The mountains, and the wude 
valleys between them, are covered with 
extensive forests of the finest timber, in¬ 
cluding cedars, pines, iron-wood, logwood, 
braziletto, mahogany, &c. Sugar-cane, coffee, 
bananas, cocoa-nut, tobacco, &c., are culti¬ 
vated; and the exports include mahogany, 
logwood, bananas, and other fruits. The 
climate is fairly healthy. Since 1884 the 
government has been administered as in a 
crown colony under the presidency of a 
governor. The capital is Belize or Balize. 
Honduras was transferred by Spain to 
England by treaty in 1670, but at different 
times its occupation was contested by th-e 
Spaniards till 1783, since which period it 
has remained quietly in the possession of 
Great Britain. The population is com¬ 
posed chiefly of negroes and Caribs from 
the West Indies, who were first brought to 
the country as slaves. Pop. 31,471. includ¬ 
ing about 400 whites. 

Hone, the name given to several varieties 
of slaty stones employed in whetting knives, 
razors, or other edge-tools. They are usually 
pieces of hard close-grained clay-slate, con¬ 
taining minute particles of quartz, with a 
uniform consistence. The best-known varie¬ 
ties are the Ayr stone, so called from being 
found in the river Ayr, in Scotland; the 
Charnley Forest stone, found in Charnwood 
Forest, Leicestei'shire; the German hone, 
the Canada oil-stone, Turkey oil stone, &c. 

Hone, William, English antiquary, born 
1780, died 1842. He began life in a law- 
office and became imbued with freethinkingr 
opinions. In 1800 he abandoned the law 
and made ventures as a writer, bookseller, 
and publisher, which were all failures. In 
1817 he was prosecuted by government for 
the publication of alleged irreverent parodies 
and lampoons, when he defended himself 
with great acuteness, and was acquitted. 
He subsequently had a large sum subscribed 
for him as a cham|)ion of the freedom of the 
press. He gradually abandoned freethought 
and the writing of satires for religion and 
antiquarianism. His chief publications are 
the Every-day Book (1826), Table-book 
(1827--28), and Year Book (18^9), perfect 
mines of antiquarian lore. 

Honey, a vegetable product with sac¬ 
charine properties, collected by Ijees from 
the blossoms of flowers, and deposited in the 
cells of their combs, The best is clear and 



HONEY-ANT-HONEYSUCKLE. 


transparent, and solidifies when kept for 
some time into a granular, white mass. 
Some varieties of it are dark yellow or 
brownish in colour. Spring honey is more 
esteemed than summer honey; and the latter 
more than that of autumn. Virgin honey 
is taken from hives in which the bees have 
never swarmed, and it is of a white colour. 
Yellow honey is extracted from all sorts of 
combs. The flavour of honey largely depends 
on the plants from which it is collected. 
Honey is obtained in large quantities in 
many countries, partly from wild bees, but 
chiefly from those kept in hives. In addi¬ 
tion to its ordinary domestic uses, it is 
employed medicinally as a promoter of ex¬ 
pectoration, to sweeten certain medicines, 
to make a gargle with vinegar, &c. It is also 
used in making mead. The ancients used 
it as we do sugar, and made of it and wine 
a mixture very much liked. See Honey¬ 
comb. 

Honey-ant, an ant [Myrmecocyctus mexi- 
canus) inhabiting Mexico, and living in com¬ 
munities in subterranean galleries. In sum¬ 
mer a certain number of these insects secrete 
a kind of honey in their abdomens which 
become so distended as to appear like small 
pellucid grapes. Later in the season when 
food is scarce these ants are devoured by the 
others, and they are also dug up and eaten 
by the inhabitants of the country. 

Honey-badger. See Ratel. 

Honey Bear, a name of the kinkajou. 

Honey-buzzard. See Buzzard. 

Honey-comb, a waxen cellular structure 
framed by the bees to deposit their honey 
and eggs in. The wax is secreted by the 
insect in the form of small and thin oval 
scales in the folds of the abdomen. The 
comb is composed of a number of cells, most 
of them exactly hexagonal, and arranged in 
two layers placed end to end, the openings 
of the layers being in opposite directions. 
The comb is placed vertically, the cells 
being therefore horizontal. The sides of the 
cells are very thin, and yet the whole struc¬ 
ture is of considerable strength. Some cells 
are destined for the exclusive reception of 
honey; others for the reception of larviB. 

Honey-dew, a sweet saccharine substance 
found on the leaves of trees and other plants 
in small drops like dew. There are two 
kinds; one secreted from the plants, and the 
other deposited by aphides. Different kinds 
of manna are the dried honey-dew or saccha¬ 
rine exudations of certain plants. See 
Manna, 


Honey-eater, the name given to a number 
of insessorial birds forming the family Meli- 
phagidse, of the tribe Tenuirostres. They 
form a numerous group, feeding principally 



Wattled Honey-eater {Anthochcera mellivdra). 


on honey and the nectar of flowers. They 
are natives of Australia and the adjacent 
islands. They have long curved sharp bills, 
with tongues terminating in a pencil of de¬ 
licate filaments, to enable them the better 
to extract the juices of flowers. 

Honey-guide, a name given to the cuckocs 
of the genus Indicator, which by their mo¬ 
tions and cries, conduct persons to the nests 
of wild honey-bees. They are natives of 
South Africa. 

Honey-locust, Sweet Locust, or Black 
Locust (Gleditschia triacanthos), a forest 
tree belonging to the United States, natural 
order Leguminosae. The leaves are pinnated, 
divided into numerous small leaflets, and 
the foliage has a light and elegant ap¬ 
pearance; the flowers are greenish, and are 
succeeded by long, often twisted pods, con¬ 
taining large brown seeds, enveloped in a 
sweet pulp. This tree is especially remark¬ 
able for its formidable thorns, on which ac¬ 
count it has been recommended for hedges. 
The G. monosperma, a tree resembling the 
last in general appearance, grows in swamps 
in Illinois and south-westward. The wood 
is inferior in quality. 

Honey-stone. See MelZite. 

Honey-suckers. Same as Honey-eaters. 

Honeysuckle, or Woodbine, genus Loni- 
cera of liinnseus, natural order Caprifoliaceae. 
The common honeysuckle of Britain, L. peri- 
clym^num., a twining shrub, with distinct 
leaves and red berries, is indigenous in Great 
Britain; but two others have been natural¬ 
ized, L. caprifoliam, distinguished by it^ 



HONFLEUR- 

upper leaves being united in a cup; and 
L. xylosteum, with small, yellowish, scent¬ 
less flowers, and scarlet berries. L. semper- 
virens (trumpet-honeysuckle) is also culti¬ 
vated in Britain on account of the beauty 
of its flowers. The honeysuckle family is 
represented in North America bv nine dif¬ 
ferent species. Australian honeysuckle is a 
name given to Banhsia australis and other 
species of the Protea family, from their 
flowers being filled with a sweet liquid. 

Honfleur (on-flewr), a seaport of France, 
department of Calvados, on the estuary of the 
Seine. It was a poorly-built place, but has 
lately been much improved. The rise of 
Havre has injured its commerce, but it still 
has a trade in agricultural and dairy pro¬ 
duce, some manufactures in connection with 
shipping, fisheries, &c. On the hill above 
the town is the chapel of Notre Dame de 
Grace much frequented by sailors, and filled 
with their votive offerings. Honfleur w'as 
long in possession of the English, and makes 
a considerable figure in. the history of their 
French wars. Pop. 9726. 

Hong-Kong, an island off the s.e. coast 
of China, belonging to the British, at the 
mouth of the estuary that leads to Canton, 
from which it is distant 75 miles. It is 
about 10 miles in extreme length, and 7^ 
miles in extreme breadth, separated from 
the mainland by a narrow strait, and with 
Cowloon on the mainland forms a crown 
colony, area 32 sq. miles. The island con¬ 
sists almost entirely of barren rocks, which 
rise to heights of 1000 to 2000 feet, and is 
almost destitute of vegetation. Good water, 
however, is abundant. On the north side 
of the island, on a splendid harbour, is 
Victoria, the chief town of the island and 
centre of its commerce. It is well laid out 
with handsome streets, and has a cathe¬ 
dral, a bishop’s palace, a government-house, 
court-house, &c.; while handsome residences 
of the merchants are scattered about the 
town and its suburbs. Hong-Kong is a 
great entrepot for the foreign commerce of 
China, and is a free port without customs’ 
dues. It is also a station of the British 
fleet. The revenue of the government is 
derived from the land rents, licenses to sell 
opium, spirits, &c., taxes, postages, fines, 
fees of office, &c. The prosperity of the 
colony is chiefly owing to the presence of 
large numbers of Chinese, engaged in trade 
or in working the building-stone, which is 
one of the principal products of tlie island. 
The foreign commerce is mainly carried on 
VOL. IV. 419 


— HONOURS. 

with Great Britain. In 1891 the imports 
from the United Kingdom were £2,- 
531,328, cotton goods being by far the 
largest item ; exports to it in the same 
year, chiefly silk, tea,and hemp,£1,101,702. 
The currency consists chiefly in dollars 
coined here, value about 4s. 2d. each. Hong- 
Kong was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of 
Nan-King in 1842. The population 1891, 
221,441, more than nine-tenths being Chin¬ 
ese. 

Hon'iton, a town of England, in Devon¬ 
shire, on the Otter, long celebrated for the 
manufacture of a special variety of lace. It 
was a i^arliamentary borough till 1868, and 
now gives name to a pari. div. of the county. 
Pop. 3358. 

Honolu'lu, the capital of the Hawaii 
Islands, south side of the island of Oahu. 
Its most notable edifices are the State 
House, the Roman Catholic cathedral, the 
treasury, the parliament house, &c. There 
is a fine natural harbour. Honolulu is a 
rapidly improving place. Pop. 20,487. 

Honorius, Flavius, son of Theodosius 
the Great, born 384 a.d., died 423. After 
the division of the empire, a.d. 395, Hono¬ 
rius received the western half, but, on ac¬ 
count of his youth, Stilicho was appointed his 
guardian. The principal events of his reign 
are the adoption of rigorous measures against 
paganism in 399; the invasion by Alaric in 
400-403; another irruption of barbarians 
under Ehadagaisus, 405-406. Both inva¬ 
sions were repelled by Stilicho, who was 
assassinated at Ravenna in 408. Alaric 
marched on Rome and plundered it in 409, 
while Honorius shut himself up in Ravenna. 
Some of the finest provinces of the empire, 
Spain, Gaul, and Pannonia, were lost in 
this reign. 

Honour, in law, is a seignory consisting 
of several manors held under one baron or 
lord- paramount. 

Honour, Maids of, ladies in the service 
of European queens, who attend their mis¬ 
tress when she appears in public. In Eng¬ 
land they are eight in number. 

Honourable, Right Honourable and 
Most Honourable, titles given in the 
United Kingdom to peers, their families, 
and certain public functionaries. (See Ad¬ 
dress, Forms of.) In America the governors 
of states, judges, membei’s of Congress, and 
others holding offices of dignity and trust, 
are styled honourable. 

Honours, Military, compliments or sal¬ 
utes paid by troops to royalty, officers o£ 

m 



HONVED 


HOOD. 


rank, &c., or given at funerals to all grades 
of the army .—Honours of War are stipu¬ 
lated terms granted to a garrison surrender¬ 
ing, in consideration of a brave defence, &c. 
Sometimes the vanquished are allowed to 
march out with their arms, drums beating, 
and colours flying; or they may be per¬ 
mitted to deposit their arms and stores at a 
certain spot, and return to their own country 
on parole. 

Honved, the name applied to the Hun¬ 
garian militia. 

Hoobly, or Hubli, a town of India in 
Dhitrwar district, Bombay Presidency, a 
great centre of the cotton trade. Pop. 52,595. 

Hooch, or Hoogh (hoA), Pieter de, one 
of the best Dutch painters in genre, born 
1630, died about 1681. He was peculiarly 
successful in depicting scenes, illuminated 
by sunlight, of Dutch domestic life. Many 
of his finest works are in British galleries. 

Hood, Robin, a celebrated outlaw who, 
according to the popular account, with his 
followers, inhabited Sherwood Forest, in 
Nottinghamshire, and also the woodlands 
of Barnsdale in the adjoining West Rid¬ 
ing. They supported themselves by levy¬ 
ing toll on the wealthy, and more especially 
on ecclesiastics, and by hunting the deer of 
the forest. The principal members of his 
band were his lieutenant Little John, his 
chaplain Friar Tuck, William Scadlock, 
George-a-Greene, Much, the miller’s son, 
and Maid Marian. It is stated that he was 
born in 1160. His death is said to have oc¬ 
curred in 1247, in consequence of the treach¬ 
ery of the prioress of Kirklees, who opened 
an artery by which he bled to death. His 
skill with the long-bow and quarter-staff was 
celebrated in tradition. What basis of fact 
there is for the story of Robin Hood is 
doubtful. Grimm maintained that he was 
' one with the Teutonic god Woden. Other 
theories suppose him to have been a rebel 
yeoman in Lancaster’s rebellion under Ed¬ 
ward II.; a Saxon chief who defied the Nor¬ 
mans; and a fugitive follower of Sir Simon 
de Montfort after the battle of Evesham. 

Hood, Samuel, Viscount, a British ad¬ 
miral, born 1724, died 1816. He joined the 
navy as a midshipman in 1740, and attained 
the rank of post-captain in 1759. Having 
become rear-admiral, he preserved the island 
«f St. Christopher’s from being taken by 
De Grasse, assisted in the defeat of De 
Grasse by Rodney in 1782, and was rewarded 
with the title of Baron Hood of Cathering- 
tuu in the Irish peerage, -In 1793 he com¬ 


manded against the French in the Mediter 
ranean, and captured Toulon and Corsica. 
In 1796 he was made an English peer, with 



Viscount Hood. 


the title of Viscount Hood.— Alexander, 
Viscount Bridport, brother of the preced¬ 
ing, was also an admiral. He commanded 
under Lord Howe in the Channel fleet in 
1794; defeated the French off L’Orient, 
1795; created Viscount Bridport, 1801; died 
1814. —Sir Samuel, cousin of the above, 
born 1762, died 1815, was present at the 
battle of the Nile, 1798; captured Tobago 
and the Dutch settlements in Guiana, 1803; 
and defeated tUe French squadron off Roche¬ 
fort in 1806. 

Hood, T HOMAS, an English poet and 
humorist, ot Scotch extraction, born at Lon¬ 
don, 1798, died 1845. During a residence 
at Dundee, and while only fifteen or sixteen 
years of age, he contributed articles to a 
local paper and magazine. In 1821 he be¬ 
came sub-editor of the London Magazine, 
and in 1826 appeared his Whims and Oddi¬ 
ties, which was followed by National Tales 
and a volume of serious poetry. From 
1829 to 1837 he conducted his Comic An¬ 
nual. At the same time his pen was em¬ 
ployed on other subjects, and he published 
The Epping Hunt, a comic poem, ridiculing 
Cockney sportsmen; Eugene Aram’s Dream, 
inserted in the Gem, of which he was for a 
short time editor; and Tylney Hall, a novel. 
In 1837, on the termination of the Comic 
Annual, he commenced a monthly periodi¬ 
cal entitled Hood’s Own, which consisted 
chiefly of selections from the former work. 
His health now began to fail, and with a 

450 




HOOD 


HOOKER. 


view to its recovery he paid a visit to the 
Continent. While there in 1839 he pub¬ 
lished his Up the Rhine, which, based on 
the lines of Humphrey Clinker, was very 
popular. Shortly after his return he under¬ 
took the editorship of the New Monthly 
Magazine, and continued it till 1843. His 
principal contributions to it he published 
separately, under the title of Whimsicalities. 
His last periodical, entitled Hood’s Maga¬ 
zine, was commenced in 1844; but his health 
shortly afterwards completely broke down, 
and his death occurred in the following year. 
It was during his last illness that he con¬ 
tributed to Punch The Song of a Shirt, 
The Bridge of Sighs, and The Lay of a 
Labourer. Hood is unrivalled as a punster, 
and he possesses a singular power of com¬ 
bining the humorous with the pathetic. He 
had the satisfaction of knowing that the 
pension of £100 conferred upon him on his 
last illness by Sir Robert Peel was to be 
transferred to his wife. 

Hood, Tom, son of the great humorist, 
and a miscellaneous writer, born 1835, died 
1874. He studied at Oxford, and during 
his residence there he wrote Pen and Pencil 
Pictures. In 1861 appeared his Daughters 
of King Daker, and other Poems. In 1865 
he became editor of Fun, which became 
very popular under his management. His 
talents, although similar to those of his 
father, were less brilliant. 

Hooded Crow. See Crow. 

Hooded Seal {Cystophora cristdta), a 
species of seal, the male of which possesses 
a movable, inflatable muscular bag, stretch¬ 
ing from the muzzle to about five inches 
behind the eyes. The prevailing colour is 
bluish black—the head and limbs being 
uniformly black. Its usual range extends 
in America southwards to Newfoundland, 
and in Europe to Southern Norway. 

Hooded Snake. See Cobra de Capello. 

Hoofs, the horny tissues which constitute 
the external part of the feet of certain ani¬ 
mals, mostly herbivorous. They may be re¬ 
garded as homologues of the toe-nails of 
other animals. They are composed of epi¬ 
thelium cells, agglutinated and dried, and 
of intercellular substance and cell contents. 
Chemically they consist of keratin. 

Hooghly River. See lluyh. 

Hook, Theodore Edward, novelist and 
journalist, born 1788, died 1841, was the 
son of James Hook, a musical composer. 
After leaving Harrow he employed^ himself 
iu composing the farce of he Soldier s Re* 

451 


turn, instead of reading for Oxford. For 
some years Hook led a life of gaiety in 
London, and became notorious for practical 
jokes and similar escapades. In 1812 he 
was appointed accountant-general and treas¬ 
urer of the Island of Mauritius; but, owing 
to his gross carelessness, a large deficiency 
in the military chest was discovered, and in 
1818 he was sent home under arrest, but 
no proceedings were taken against him. 
From 1820 to 1841 he was editor of the 
John Bull, and at intervals from 1824 to 
1828 he published his Sayings and Doings, 
while in 1836 he became editor of the New 
Monthly Magazine. His other principal 
works are Life of Sir David Baird, and a 
series of novels, among which may be men¬ 
tioned Love and Pride, Jack Brag, Gilbert 
Gurney, Gurney Married, Precepts and 
Practice, Fathers and Sons. 

Hook, Walter Farquhar, Dean of Chi¬ 
chester, born about the beginning of the 
century, died 1875. In 1821 he graduated 
at Christ Church, Oxford, was appointed 
vicar of Leeds in 1837, and promoted to 
the deanery of Chichester in 1859. He 
wrote an Ecclesiastical Biography, a Church 
Dictionary, Lives of the Archbishops of 
Canterbury, &c. 

Hookah. See Pipe [Tobacco). 

Hooke, Nathaniel, an English historian, 
born about 1690, died 1763. He was a 
friend of Pope and other literary men. His 
best-known work is his Roman History, 
from the Earliest Period to the Accession 
of Augustus. 

Hooke, Robert, an English mathemati¬ 
cian and natural philosopher, born 1635, 
died 1703. In 1658-59 he invented the 
balance spring of watches, an honour other¬ 
wise ascribed to Huyghens. He partially 
anticipated the Newtonian theory of gravi¬ 
tation and the undulatory theory of light. 

Hooker, Joseph, major-general iu the 
regular army of the United States, was 
born in Massachusetts in 1815. Graduating 
at West Point in 1837, he served in the 
Florida and Mexican wars with conspic¬ 
uous gallantry. At the outbreak of the 
civil war he was made brigadier-general of 
volunteers. He distinguished himself in 
the siege of Yorktown, May 4, 1862; at 
Williamsburg and Fair Oaks ; in the seven 
days’ battle, and particularly at Malvern 
Hill, became known as ‘fighting Joe 
Hooker.’ He was made major-general for 
gallantry, his comtnission dating July 4, 
1862. At Bristoe Station, the second Bull 



HOOKER-HOOPOE. 


Run, Chantilly, and South Mountain, he 
was prominent,beingwounded atAntietam. 
Sept. 20, 1862, he was commissioned brig.- 
gen. in the regular army. In the battle of 
Fredericksburg he had command of a grand 
division ; and Jan. 26, 1863, was in com¬ 
mand of the army of the Potomac. In May 
he fought the battle of Chancellorsville, 
He took part in the battles near Chatta¬ 
nooga, and in the battle of Lookout Moun¬ 
tain he was commander. Later he com¬ 
manded the army of the Cumberland near 
Atlanta, Ga. In 1864 he had charge of the 
northern department, of the dej)artment 
of the east in 1865, and in 1866 that of the 
lakes. He died in Garden City, Long 
Island, in 1879. 

Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton, M. D., a 
British botanist, born in 1816, son of Sir 
W. J. Hooker. In 1839 he joined the ant¬ 
arctic expedition of the Erebus and Terror 
under Sir J. C. Ross, publishing on his re¬ 
turn the Botany of the Antarctic Voyage. 
In 1847-51 he travelled in the Himalayas, 
and his Himalayan Journals embody the 
results of the journey. He and George Ben- 
tham (which see) wrote the great work 
Genera Plantarum, published 1862-1883. 

Hooker, Richard, a celebrated English 
divine, born 1553, died 1600. In 1579 he 
was appointed deputy professor of Jlebrew; 
took orders in 1581, and was made preacher 
at Paul’s Cross. His Ecclesiastical Polity, 
published at various dates, and written in 
defence of the Church of England, is no 
less remarkable for learning and extent of 
research than for the richness and purity 
of its style. 

Hooker, Sir William Jackson, F. R. 
S., a celebrated botanist, father of Sir Jo¬ 
seph Hooker, born 1785, died 1865. From 
1821 to 1841 he was professor of botany at 
Glasgow University ; was knighted in 1836; 
became director of Kew Gardens in 1841. 

Hoole, John, dramatist and translator, 
born 1727, died 1803. In 1763 he published 
a translation of Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, 
and of six dramas of Metastasio in 1767. 
His tragedies of Cyrus, Timanthes, and 
Cleone were unsuccessful. In 1773-83 he 
published separate volumes of his transla¬ 
tion of Orlando Furioso. In 1792 he trans¬ 
lated Tasso’s Rinaldo, and ended his literary 
labours with a more complete collection of 
dramas from Metastasio. 

Hooley, Ernest T., a business promoter 
of London, Eng., born at Nottingham, 
whose affairs were almost on a par with 


those of the South Sea Bubble, filed a peti¬ 
tion in bankruptcy with liabilities of many 
millions, on June 8, 1898. His examina¬ 
tion revealed that numerous titled persons 
had received bonuses for the use of their 
names as directors of his enterprises. 

Hoop-ash {Celtis crassifolia), an Ameri¬ 
can tree of the order Urticaceae, found in 
the forests of Ohio and in the Western 
States. It is a fine tree, attains a height 
of 80 feet, and is employed for charcoal. 
Its fruit is round, and in size nearly equal 
to a pea. See Hackherry and Nettle-tree. 

Hooper, John, an English reformer, born 
1495, burnt 1555. Having studied at Ox¬ 
ford, he joined the Cistercian order; but by 
the year 1539 he had adopted the Reformed 
opinions, and withdrew to the Continent on 
the imposition of new articles of faith by 
Henry VIIL, and lived at Zurich. In 1547 
he returned to England, and took an active 
share in the Edwardine Reformation, In 
1550 he was nominated Bishop of Glouces¬ 
ter, but declined consecration until certain 
vestments and ceremonies were dispensed 
with in his case. On the accession of Queen 
Mary in 1553, Hooper was deprived and im¬ 
prisoned, and in 1555 burnt at Gloucester, 
near his own cathedral. His works con¬ 
sist chiefly of a Godly Confession and 
Protestation of the Christian Faith, Lec¬ 
tures on the Creed, Sermons on the Book 
of Jonah, Annotations on the Thirteenth 
Chapter of the Romans, and expositions of 
several psalms. 

Hooping-cough, or Whooping-cough, a 
disease known by a rapid series of coughs 
ending in a long-drawn breath, during which 
a shrill whistling sound, the hoop, is pro¬ 
duced. Two or three such fits of coughing 
follow one another, until some phlegm is ex¬ 
pelled, and vomiting may occur. During a 
seve.e spasm the face becomes swollen and 
purplish, as if suffocation were threatened. 
It is evidently due to a poison acting as an 
irritant on the pneumogastric nerve. It is 
contagious, and most commonly attacks chil¬ 
dren, and generally only once in their lives. 
The hooping-cough usually comes on with 
a difficulty of breathing and other slight 
febrile symptoms, which are succeeded by 
a hoarseness, cough, and difficulty of ex¬ 
pectoration. 

Hoopoe {Upllpa), a bird forming the type 
of a family generally classed with the bee- 
eaters or the honey-eaters, but also with the 
hornbills. The Eui'opean hoopoe ( U. epops) 
is about 12 inches long; it has a fine crest 
.452 


HOORN — 

of pale cinnamon-red feathers, tipped with 
black; upper surface on the whole ashy- 
brown ; wings black, the coverts having 
white bars; throat and breast pale fawn; 
abdomen white, with black streaks and 



Hoopoe (Upupa epops). 


dashes. It has a very wide range, from 
Burmah to the British Islands and Africa. 
It is a ground-feeder, preying chiefly on in¬ 
sects, and seems to delight in filth; it nests 
in cavities of trees or walls, and its eggs 
vary from four to seven. The hoopoe 
utters a loud double or treble hoop, whence 
its name. 

Hoorn (horn), a seaport of Holland, on a 
small bay of the Zuider-see, 20 miles n.n.e. 
of Amsterdam. The trade is extensive, 
more especially in cheese. Pop. 10,200. 

HoosacTunnel,the longest railway tunnel 
in America, in the western part of Massa¬ 
chusetts, on the railway from Boston to 
Troy, N. Y. It pierces the Hoosac Moun¬ 
tain, the summit range extending south¬ 
ward through Massachusettsfrom the Green 
Mountains of Vermont. It is miles long, 
and lias a double line of rails. 

Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer co., N. Y., 25 
m. N. E, Troy. Pop. 1890, 7014. 

Hop [Ilumulus Lupidus), a plant of the 
nat. order Cannabinacese (herny) family), a 
native of Europe, and perhaps of the United 
States, where it occurs wild. The root is 
perennial, giving out several herbaceous, 
rough, twining stems, with large lobed 
leaves; the fertile flowers are green; the 
fruit is a catkin, and the plant is cultivated 
for the sake of the catkins, which are em- 
nloved to communicate to beer its aromatic 

453 


-HOP-FLY. 

bitter. The young shoots are sometimes 
boiled and eaten like asyiaragus; the fibres 
of the old steins make good cords. The 
cultivation of the hop is more carefully at¬ 
tended to in England than in any other 
country, Kent 
being the chief 
county in which 
it is grown; but 
the plant is also 
extensively rear¬ 
ed in other parts 
of Europe, as 
also in N. Amer¬ 
ica, Australia, 

N. Zealand, &c. 

The use of the 
hop catkins de¬ 
pends upon a 
peculiar bitter 
substance which 
they contain, 
called lujmlin, which is a yellow powder, 
containing a bitter principle and a volatile 
oil. The lupulin constitutes from 10 to 12 
per cent by weight of the catkin, and the 
bitter principle forms from 8 to 12 per cent 
of the lupulin. Having tonic, stomachic, 
and narcotic properties hops are often used 
medicinally. Pillows stuffed with hops are 
used to induce sleep. 

Hop -clover {Trifolium procumhens), a 
plant of the order Leguminosae, distinguished 
from other species of clover by its bunch of 
yellow flowers. 

Hope, Anthony. See Hatvkins. 

Hope, Thomas, an English writer and art 
patron, born 1770, died 1831. He inherited 
great wealth, and devoted much of his time 
while young to extensive travels in various 
parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. His 
]>rincipal works are: Household Furniture 
aud Internal Decorations; The Costume of 
the Ancients; Anastasius, or Memoirs of 
a Modern Greek, a novel displaying re¬ 
markable descriptive powers and a minute 
accuracy in the accounts of eastern life; and 
An Historical Essay on Architecture. 

Hop-flea {Haltica concinna), a coleop¬ 
terous insect of the same genus with the 
turnip-fly, and which devastates hop plan¬ 
tations. The fleas eat up the young shoots, 
and even after the hop stems have grown 8 
or 9 inches long they will devour every leaf 
and head. 

Hop-fly {Aphis humuli), a species of plant- 
louse very destructive to the hoy). The 
winged female is green with a black head 





HOPKINS 


HOR.\TIUS FLA ecus. 


and bands and spots of black on the body; 
the legs and wings are long. 

Hopkins, Stephen, a signer of tlie Dec¬ 
laration of Independence, was born in 
Rhode Island in 1707 ; died 1785. He took 
an early and active part in the movements 
for independence. His tremulous signa¬ 
ture to the Declaration was owing to a 
nervous affection. 

Hopkinson, Francis, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born in 
Philadelphia in 1737. He was admitted to 
the bar in 1761. In 1776 he was delegate 
to the Continental Congress. During the 
war for independence his patriotic writings 
powerfully intiuenced public sentiment. 
He died in 1791. 

Hopkinsville, Christian co., Ky., has an 
extensive trade in tobacco. Pop. 5833. 

Horae, in classical mythology, the goddesses 
of the seasons and the order of nature. Their 
number was indefinite; in Athens two only 
were worshipped. They are represented as 
blooming maidens carrying the different 
products of the seasons. 

Horae Canonicae, or simply Hor^e, in the 
R. Cath. Ch. the canonical or appointed 
hours at which certain hymns and devo¬ 
tions, themselves termed Horce or Hours, 
are performed in monasteries. See Canoni¬ 
cal Hours. 

Horapollo, the alleged author of a work 
in Egyptian hieroglyphics pretended to have 
been translated from the Egyptian into 
Greek, By many authorities the book is 
supposed to have been written about the 
5th century and translated as late as the 
15th. 

Horatii, three Roman brothers, who, ac¬ 
cording to tradition, in the reign of Tullus 
Hostilius engaged three Alban brothers 
(the Curiatii), in order to decide the supre¬ 
macy between Rome and Alba. Victory 
went to Rome, and the sole surviving Hora- 
tius was triumphantly conducted back to 
the city. But his sister had been betrothed 
to one of the Curiatii, and her demonstrative 
grief so enraged Horatius that he stabbed 
her. For this he was condemned to death, 
but his father and the people begged him 
off. 

Horatius Codes, a hero of ancient Rome. 
The Tarquins having, after their banish¬ 
ment, sought refuge with the Etrurian king 
Porsenna, the latter advanced against Rome 
(b.c, 507) to restore them. According to tra¬ 
dition Horatius Codes, along with two com¬ 
panions, held the Sublician bridge against 


the enemy, while the Romans broke it down 
behind them. When this was nearly finished 
he sent back his two companions, and as the 
bridge fell he plunged into the Tiber with 
his armour and safely reached the opposite 
bank. 

Horatius Flaccus, Quintus, commonly 
known as Horace, the greatest of Latin 
lyric poets, was born near Venusia, in 
southern Italy, B.c. 65. His father was a 
freedman, a collector of taxes, and had pur¬ 
chased the farm at which his son was born. 
When Horace was about twelve years of 
age his father removed with him to Rome, 
where he received an excellent education. 
At the age of eighteen he went to Athens 
to complete his studies. After the assassi¬ 
nation of Julius Ceesar Brutus came to 
Athens, and Horace, along with other Ro¬ 
man youths, joined bis arm 3 ^ He was ap¬ 
pointed to a military tribuneship, was pre¬ 
sent at Philippi, and on the defeat of Brutus 
saved himself by flight. On the proclama¬ 
tion of an amnesty to the vanquished Horace 
returned to Italy, but found his father dead, 
his paternal estate confiscated, and himself 
reduced to poverty. He was, however, en¬ 
abled to purchase a clerkship in the quaestor’s 
office, which enabled him to subsist frugally 
and to cultivate his poetical talent. His 
poems procured him the friendship of Virgil 
and Varius, and to them he was indebted 
for hie first acquaintance with Maecenas, 
who was the friend and confidant of Augus¬ 
tus Caesar, and who expended his wealth for 
the encouragement of literature and the 
arts. IMaecenas received Horace among 
his intimate friends, and, after some years, 
presented him with a small estate or farm 
in the Sabine country about 15 miles from 
Tibur (Tivoli), which was sufficient to 
maintain him in ease and comfort during 
the rest of his life. He had also a cottage 
at Tibur, and at Rome or one or other 
of these country residences the latter part 
of his life was spent. Although he was ulti¬ 
mately introduced to Augustus he never 
sought favours from him, and he is said to 
have declined an offer of the management 
of his private correspondence. He died in 
B.c. 8, the same year as his friend and patron 
Maecenas. His works consist of four books 
of odes; a book of epodes or short poems^ 
two books of satires; and two books of 
epistles, one of which is often cited as a 
separate work, under the title of Ars Poetica. 
The lyrics of Horace are largely based on 
Greek models, but the exquisite beauty of 

454 





HORDE - 

his language is all his own. It is, how¬ 
ever, in his satires and epistles that he 
shows the greatest power and originality, 
wit and humour, gravity and gaiety, shrewd¬ 
ness and common sense, tender sentiment, 
and at times melancholy. His writings 
have been often translated, and into many 
languages. In English Pope and Swift 
have given free imitations of various parts 
of his writings. The poetical translation 
of Francis is well known, but is inferior to 
that of Sir Theodore Martin. 

Horde (heur'de), a town of the Prussian 
province of Westphalia on the Emscher, a 
centre of the iron manufacture, and havin<r 
large coal-mines. Pop. 14,598. 

Horde'olum. See Stye. 

Hor'deum. See Barley. 

Horeb (Arabic, Jehel MUsa, Mountain of 
Moses), a mountain belonging to the same 
ridge as Mount Sinai, where is still pointed 
out the rock from which water issued at 
the blow of Moses. 

Horehound {Marruhium 
vulgdre), a labiate plant, 
with whitish, downy leaves 
and stem; flowers small, 
nearly white, in crowded 
whorls, possessing an aro¬ 
matic smell and bitter fla¬ 
vour. It is a popular re¬ 
medy for coughs and colds, 
usually as an infusion. It 
is a native of Britain and Horehound (Jf. 
Europe generally. Black vuigare). 

horehound {Ballota nigra), also a labiate 
plant, is a malodorous and unattractive 
weed. Horehound is domesticated in U.. S. 

Horgen, a town of Switzerland, on the 
lake of Zurich, with some manufactures 
and a harbour with a considerable trade. 
Pop. 5268, 

Hori'zon, in ordinary speech the line 
where earth and sky seem to meet, or the 
circle which bounds that part of the earth’s 
surface visible to a spectator from a given 
point. This is termed the sensible, visible, 
or apparent horizon, as distinguished from 
the rational or celestial horizon, an imagi¬ 
nary great circle, parallel to the sensible 
horizon, whose plane passes through the 
earth’s centre, whose poles are the zenith 
and the nadir, and which divides the sphere 
into two equal hemispheres. In observa¬ 
tions with the sextant at sea, when the real 
horizon is invisible a small basin containing 
mercury may serve as an artificial horizon. 
The observation that is then made is the 

455 


— HORN. 

angle between the sun or star and the image 
of the sun or star in the basin of mercury, 
and it is easily seen that half this angle is 
the altitude of the object above the real 
horizon. In geology, the term is applied to 
any well-marked formation which suffices 
as a starting-point from which to study the 
rest. 

Horizon, Dip of. See Dip. 

Horizontal Parallax. See Parallax. 

Horn, a general term applied to all hard 
and pointed appendages of the head, as in 
deer, cattle, &c., but as a term denoting a 
particular kind of substance nothing should 
be called horn which is not derived from 
the epidermis or outer, layer of the integu¬ 
ment, whether on the trunk, hoofs, or head. 
Horn is a tough, flexible, semi-transparent 
substance, most liberally developed in the 
horns of bovine animals, but also found in 
connection with the ‘ shell ’ of the tortoise, 
the nails, claws, and hoofs of animals, the 
beak of bird and turtle, &c. Horn is 
softened very completely by heat, so as to 
become readily flexible, and to adhere to 
other pieces similarly softened. True horn 
consists principally of an albuminoid prin¬ 
ciple, keratin, with a small portion of 
gelatine and a little phosphate of lime. 
In some species of animals the males only 
have horns, as for instance the stag. In 
cattle both male and female have horns, 
though there are also hornless cattle. Horns 
differ widely in the case of different ani¬ 
mals. Thus the horns of deer consist of 
bone, and are deciduous; those of the giraffe 
are independent bones, with a covering of 
hairy skin; those of oxen, sheep, and ante¬ 
lopes consist of a bony core covered by a 
horny sheath. The horns of the rhinoceros 
alone consist exclusively of horny matter. 
The horns of oxen, sheep, goats, and ante¬ 
lopes are never shed, except in the case of 
the prong-horned antelope. The number 
never normally exceeds four, and in the 
case of deer the horns are branched. 

The various kinds of horns are employed for 
many purposes. The principal used in the 
arts are those of the ox, buffalo, sheep, and 
goat. Deer horns are almost exclusively 
employed for the handles of knives and of 
sticks and umbrellas. Those which furnish 
true horn can be softened by heat (usually 
in boiling water), cut into sheets of various 
thickness, which sheets may be soldered or 
welded together at the edges so as to form 
plates of large dimensions, and polished and 
dyed so as to imitate the much more expen- 




horn-HORNBLENDE. 


Bive tortoise-shell. The clippings of horn 
may be welded together in the same man¬ 
ner, and made into snuff-boxes, powder 
horns, handles for umbrellas, knives, forks, 
&c. As horn has the valuable property of 
taking on and retaining a sharp impression 
from a die, many highly ornamental articles 
may be turned out. Combs for the hair 
are made from the flattened sheets, and out 
of the solid parts of buffalo horns beautiful 
carvings are made. 

Horn, a musical instrument, originally 
formed, as the name denotes, from the horn 
of an animal. The name includes a large 
family of wind-instruments, many of which 
have fallen into disuse. The French horn, 
or simply the horn, consists of a metallic 
tube of about 10 feet in length, very narrow 
at top, bent into rings, and gradually widen¬ 
ing towards the end whence the sound 
issues, called the hell. It is blown through 
a cup-shaped mouthpiece of brass or silver, 
and the sounds are regulated by the player’s 
lips, the pressure of his breath, and by the 
insertion of the hand in the bell of the 
instrument. As a simple tube, unprovided 
with holes, the horn yields only the gener¬ 
ating note, and of course would be confined 
to one key; but by means of crooks the 
tube can be lengthened, and transposed into 
any key. By inserting the hand into the 
bell, which flattens a note, the sounds 
awanting are produced. The compass of 
the instrument is three octaves. Music for 
the horn is always written on the key of C, 
an octave higher than it is played, with the 
key of the composition marked at the begin¬ 
ning of each movement; thus ‘corni (or 
horns) in D ’ directs the performer which 
crook he must use to play the notes in the 
key indicated. The bugle, cornet-a-piston, 
and sax-horn are allied instruments. 

Horn, Cape. See Cape Horn. 

Horn, Hoorne, or Hornes, Philip, 
Count van, a Flemish soldier and states¬ 
man, born 1518. He was the son of Joseph 
de Montmorency-Nivelle, and of Anne of 
Egmont, and stepson of John, count van 
Horn, who constituted him and his brother 
his heirs on the condition of assuming his 
name. Philip gradually rose to be governor 
of Gueldres and Zutphen, admiral of the 
fleet, and councillor of state. He fought at 
St. Quentin in 1557, and at Gravelines in 
1558, and in 1559 accompanied Philip to 
Spain. On his return he joined the Prince 
of Orange and Egmont in resistance to 
Philip. On the arrival of Alva at Brussels 


he was arrested, in Sept. 1567, on a charge 
of high treason, and he and Egmont were 
beheaded in June 1568. 

Hornbeam {Carpinus Betulus, nat. order 
Cupuliferae), a small bushy tree common in 
Britain, and often used in hedges, as it stands 
cutting and in age becomes very stiff. The 
wood is white, tough, and hard, and is used 
in turnery, for cogs of wheels, &c. The 
inner bark yields a yellow dye. The Ame¬ 
rican hornbeam {Carpinus americdna) is a 
small tree sparingly diffused over the whole 
of the United States. The wood is fine¬ 
grained, tenacious, and very compact. 

Hornbills, a remarkable group of birds 
( BucerotidUe), confined to Southern Asia 
and Africa, akin to the kingfishers and the 
toucans, remarkable for the very large size 
of the bill, and for an extraordinary horny 




Rhinoceros Hombill (Buceros rhinoceros). 


protuberance by which it is surmounted, 
nearly as large as the bill itself, and of 
cellular structure within. The rhinoceros 
hornbill {Buceros rhinoceros) is almost the 
size of a turkey, of a black colour, except 
on the low’er part of the belly and tip of 
the tail, which are white. It has a sharp- 
pointed, slightly-curved bill, about 10 inches 
long, and furnished at the base of the upper 
mandible with an immense appendage in 
the form of an inverted horn. The skeleton 
though bulky is very light, being permeated 
with air to an unusual degree. During 
incubation the female is plastered up in the 
hollow of a tree and fed by the male through 
a small aperture left for the purpose. The 
hornbills are of arboreal habit, and feed on 
fruits; but in captivity they take small rep¬ 
tiles, and the Abyssinian species even attacks 
snakes. 

Hornblende (-blend), or Amphirole, one 
of the most abundant and widely diffused of 
minerals, remarkable on account of the vari¬ 
ous forms and compositions of its crystals 

456 







HORNBOOK 

and crystalline particles, and of its exceed¬ 
ingly diversified colours, thus giving rise to 
almost numberless varieties, many of which 
have obtained distinct appellations. It is 
sometimes in regular distinct crystals, more 
•generally the result of confused crystalliza¬ 
tion, appearing in masses composed of la¬ 
minae, acicular crystals, or fibres, variously 
aggregated. It enters largely into the com¬ 
position and forms a constituent part of sev¬ 
eral of the trap-rocks, and is an important 
constituent of several species of metamor- 
phic rocks, as gneiss and granite. In colour 
hornblende exhibits various shades of green, 
often inclining to brown, white, and black, 
with every intermediate shade; it is nearly 
transparent in some varieties, in others 
opaque; hardness about the same with fel¬ 
spar; specific gravity, 3’00. Its chief con¬ 
stituents are silica, magnesia, and alumina. 
The principal varieties are hornblende proper, 
divided into three sub-varieties, basaltic 
hornblende, common hornblende, and horn¬ 
blende slate: tremolite, actinolite, nephrite, 
pargasite, and asbestos. 

Hornbook, in former times the first 
book of children, or that in which they 
learned their letters: so called 
from the transparent horn 
covering placed over the single 
page of which it usually con¬ 
sisted, the whole being fixed 
to a wooden frame with a 
handle. It generally contained 
the alphabet in Roman and 
small letters, several rows of 
monosyllables, and the Lord’s 
Prayer. The alphabet was Hornbook, 
usually prefaced with a cross, 
or was printed in the form of a cross; hence 
the term Christ-cross row, corrupted into 
criss-cross row, applied to the alphabet, and 
by extension to the hornbook. 

Homcastle, a town of England, county 
of Lincoln, 21 miles east of the city of Lin¬ 
coln. There is a considerable trade in corn 
and wool, and one of the largest horse-fairs 
in the United Kingdom is held annually in 
August. Pop. 4818.—lioRNCASTLEjOr South 
Lindsey, is one of the parliamentary divi¬ 
sions of Lincolnshire. 

Horne, Richard Hengist, poet, drama¬ 
tist, and miscellaneous writer; born 1803, 
died 1884. He was educated for the army 
at Sandhurst, entered the Mexican navy, 
and served during the war between Mexico 
and Spain. In 1828 he began his literary 
career, and produced several tragi-comedies 

457 


— HORNET. 

of an ironical and satirical kind, and a large 
quantity of miscellaneous work. In 1843 
he made his historic appeal to public judg¬ 
ment by publishing his epic Orion at one 
farthing. In 1844 A New Spirit of the 
Age, a critical work in which he was assis¬ 
ted by Miss Barrett (Mrs. Browning) and 
Robert Bell, appeared. In 1852 he took to 
gold-digging in Australia, still keeping in 
touch with his literary work. Of his many 
writings, the best known are Orion, Cosmo 
de Medici, The Death of Marlowe, and 
Prometheus. 

Homed-horse, the gnu (which see). 

Horned-owl, a familiar name applied to 
several species of owls having two tufts of 
feathers on the head supposed to resemble 
horns. See Owl. 

Homed-pout. See Cat-fish. 

Horned-screamer {Palamedea cornuta), 
a South American grallatorial bird having 
a long, slender, movable horn projecting 
from its forehead. Its voice is loud and 
shrill, and is uttered suddenly and with 
such vehemence as to have a very startling 
effect. 

Homed-toad, a name given to a genus 
of lizards {Phrynosoma), of toad-like ap¬ 
pearance, found in America west of the Mis- 
sissippi. I'iiere are nine different species. 

Hornellsville, N. Y., manufactures boots 
and shoes extensively. Pop. 1890, 10,996. 

Homer, Francis, politician and econo¬ 
mist, born at Edinburgh 1778, died at Pisa 
1817. He studied for the Scottish bar, but, 
exchanging it for the English bar, took up 
his residence in London in 1803. He had 
early, with his friends Jeffrey and Brough¬ 
am, declared his preference for Whig prin 
ciples, and in 1806, when Mr. Fox came 
into office, obtained through ministerial in¬ 
fluence a seat in parliament. He became 
an authority on financial and economic 
matters; was chairman of the Bullion Com¬ 
mittee of 1810, and was mainly the means 
of checking the evils of an inconvertible 
paper currency. He was one of the origi¬ 
nators of the Edinburgh Review, for which 
he wrote many articles. 

Hornet, an insect of the genus Vespa ( V. 
crahro), much larger and stronger than the 
ordinary wasp. It is very voracious, feed¬ 
ing on fruit, honey, &c., and preying on 
other insects. They form their nest of a 
kind of paper-work in hollow trees and walls, 
and are able with their sting to inflict a 
painful wound, usually accompanied with 
considerable swelling. 

















HORNING-HORSE. 


Horning, in Scots law, a writing issuing 
at the instance of a creditor against his 
debtor, commanding him in the sovereign’s 
name to pay within a certain time under pain 
of being declared rebel and put in prison; 
so termed from the fact that the officer in 
former times proceeded to the town cross 
and blew a horn before proclaiming the 
debtor a rebel. 

Horn of Plenty. See Cornucopice. 

Horn Silver, native chloride of silver, so 
called because when fused it assumes a 
horny appearance. 

Hornstone. See Quartz, Chert. 

Horn-work, in fortification, a work with 
one front only thrown out beyond the 
glacis for the purpose of either occupying 
rising ground, barring a defile, covering a 
bridge-head, or protecting buildings. 

Horol'ogy. See Clock and Watch. 

Ho'roscope, in astrology, a scheme or 
figure of the twelve houses, or twelve signs 
of the zodiac, in which is marked the dis¬ 
position of the heavens at a given time and 
place, and by which astrologers formerly told 
the fortunes of persons, according to the posi¬ 
tion of the stars at the time of their birth. 
To each of the houses was assigned a parti¬ 
cular virtue or influence. The ascendant 
was that part of the heavens w hich was rising 
in the east at the moment; this was the first 
and most important house, or house of life, 
and contained the five degrees above the 
horizon and the tw^enty-five beneath it. 
Other houses were those of riches, marriage, 
death, &c. 

Horsa. See Hencjist. 

H orse {Equus caba/lus), a well-known 
quadruped belonging to the family Equidse, 
order Ungulata (hoofed animals), and sub¬ 
division Perissodactyla (odd-toed); charac¬ 
terized by an undivided hoof formed by the 
third toe and its enlarged horny nail, a 
simple stomach, a mane on the neck, and by 
six incisor teeth in each jaw, seven molars 
on either side of both jaws, and by two 
small canine teeth in the upper jaw of the 
male, rarely in the female. The family in¬ 
cludes also the asses and zebras, and original 
types appear to have been at one time 
common in both the Old World and the 
American continent. No horses existed in 
America when it was discovered by Colum¬ 
bus, those now found in a wild state there 
being descendants of those introduced by 
the Spaniards. But a number of fossil 
species have been described from America 
—one of them standing only two and a half 


feet in height. The descent of the present 
horse can be traced through several fossil 
forms back to an animal only about the size 
of a fox, and having four separate digits or 
toes on the feet. Subsequent forms show 
how the third toe developed at the expense 
of the others till latterly a form identical 
with the common horse appeared. It is 
doubtful whether the horse is now anywhere 
to be found in its native state, the wild 
horses of the steppes of Tartary and other 
regions of the Old World being possibly de¬ 
scendants of animals escaped from domesti¬ 
cation. The horse was probably first domes¬ 
ticated in Asia, and it varies much in form, 
size, and character with the climate and 
nature of the district it inhabits. Arabia 
produces perhaps the most beautiful breed, 
which is also swift, courageous, endurant, and 
persevering. As bred in Britain the horse 
has attained high perfection. Two breeds 
—namely, the large, powerful, black breed 
of Flanders, and the Arabian—have contri¬ 
buted more than all others to develop the 
present British varieties from the original, 
comparatively light-limbed, wiry race found 
by Csesar. The former laid the foundation 
of size, strength, and vigour for draught- 
horses and for those anciently used in war, 
while the latter conferred speed and endur¬ 
ance. The ladies’ palfrey is largely derived 
from the Spanish genet, a small, beautiful, 
fleet variety of the Moorish barb. The 
hunter, characterized by speed, strength, 
and endurance, represents the old English, 
Flanders, and Arabian breeds. The race¬ 
horse has less of Flemish and more of Ara¬ 
bian blood. Other leading varieties are the 
Suffolk Punch and Clydesdale, both chiefly 
of Flanders blood, and the best for draught 
and agriculture; and several varieties of 
ponies, as Galloway, New Forest, Shetland, 
&c. Carriage, riding, and other horses 
combine the above breeds in varying de¬ 
grees, as speed, strength, size, &c., are re¬ 
quired. Horses are said to have ‘ blood ’ or 
‘ breeding ’ in proportion as they have a 
greater or less strain of Arab blood. At 
the age of two years the horse is in a con¬ 
dition to propagate. The mare carries her 
young eleven months and some days, con¬ 
tinues to breed till the age of sixteen or 
eighteen years, and lives on an average be¬ 
tween twenty and thirty years. The vari¬ 
ous species of the horse family have been 
artificially crossed by man, and are found 
to be fertile with each other; the offspring, 
however, are generally sterile. The horse 

458 




horse-HORSE-ROWER. 


is, strictly speaking, an herbivorous animal, 
and is more scrupulous in the choice of his 
food than most other domestic quadrupeds. 
The staple diet on which horses are kept 
is oats and hay, with beans added for horses 
subjected to heavy work. As a substitute 
for, or an addition to the regular food, bran, 
linseed, and carrots are used. The age of a 
horse can be told by the marks on its teeth, 
which change a little yearly until the ani¬ 
mal is about nine 
years old, after 
which period it is 
difficult to deter¬ 
mine the age by 
mark. In some coun¬ 
tries the flesh of the 
horse is used as food; 
the hide is made 
into leather; and the 
hair of the mane 
and tail is used for 
making haircloth, 
for upholsterers’ 
stuffing, &c. 

Horse, Master 
OF THE, one of the 
great officers of the 
British Court. He 
has the manage¬ 
ment of all the royal 
stables and bred 
horses, with au¬ 
thority over all the 
equerries and pages, coachmen, footmen, 
grooms, &c. In state cavalcades he rides 
next behind the sovereio-n. 

o 

Horse - artillery, one of the mounted 
branches of the British service, forming six 
brigades of the royal regiment of artillery. 
It acts with the cavalry, the detachments 
accompanying each gun being mounted on 
horseback. 

Horse-chestnut, a handsome genus of 
trees or shrubs {jEscHlus) belonging to the 
nat. order Sapindaceae, having large oppo¬ 
site digitate leaves, and terminal panicles of 
showy white, yellow, or red flowers, 
Hippocastdnujn (the common horse-chest¬ 
nut) is familiar to every one. The seeds are 
large and farinaceous, and have been used 
as food for animals; they are bitter, and 
the bark also is bitter, astringent, and febri¬ 
fugal. The tree is said to have been brought 
from Constantinople to England in the be¬ 
ginning of the 16th century, and is supposed 
to be a native of Northern Asia. Three 
other species are found in North America, 

459 



Horse—Terms applied to different parts. 

a, Muzzle. 6, Gullet, c, Crest, d. Withers, e. Chest. 
/Loins, p ( 7 , Girth. A, Hip or ilium, i, Croup, i;, Haunch 
or quarters. Z, Thigh, m, Hock, w, Shank or cannon, o, Fet¬ 
lock. p. Pastern, q, Shoulder-bone or scapula, r. Elbow. 
8, Fore thigh or arm. Z, Knee. «, Coronet, v. Hoof. 
Ml, Point of hock, a:, Hamstring. 8 8, Height. 


where they are popularly known under the 
name of Buck-eye. 

Horse - fly, the Jlippohosca equina, a 
winged genus of the family Hippoboscidae, 
parasitical on the horse. 

Horse-guards, the name given to the 
public office, Whitehall, London, appro¬ 
priated to the departments under the com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the British army; ap¬ 
plied also to the military authorities at the 

head of the war de¬ 
partment, in contra¬ 
distinction to the 
civil chief, the secre- 
tary-at-war. The 
name was given to 
the building from a 
guard having been 
kept there by the 
horse-guards. See 
Guards. 

Horse-latitudes, 
a space in the At¬ 
lantic Ocean be¬ 
tween the westerly 
winds of higher lati¬ 
tudes and the trade- 
winds, notorious for 
baffling winds and 
tedious calms. 

Horse-mackerel. 
See Blue-fish and 
Scad. 

Horsens, a sea¬ 
port in Denmark, east coast of Jutland, on 
a fiord of the same name, 25 miles s.w. of 
Aarhuus. It has manufactures of tobacco 
and a good general trade. It is the birth¬ 
place of Vitus Behring, the discoverer of 
Behring’s Strait. Pop. 12,654. 

Horse-power, the power of a horse or its 
equivalent; the force with which a horse 
acts when drawing. The mode of ascertain¬ 
ing a horse’s power is to find what weight 
he can raise and to what height in a given 
time, the horse being supposed to pull hori- 
zontall}'. From a variety of experiments of 
this sort it is found that a horse, at an aver 


age, 


can raise 160 lbs. weight at the velo¬ 


city of 2J miles per hour. The power of a 
horse exerted in this way is made the stand¬ 
ard for estimating the power of a steam- 
engine. Thus we speak of an engine of 60 
or 80 horse-power, each horse-power being 
estimated as equivalent to 33,000 lbs. raised 
one foot high per minute. Engineers differ 
widely in their estimate of the work a horse 
is able to execute. That given above is the 




























HORSE-RACING. 


estimate of Boulton and Watt based on the 
work of London dray-horses, but it is con¬ 
sidered much too high, 17,400 foot-pounds 
per minute being generally considered nearer 
the truth. As it matters little, however, 
what standard be assumed, provided it be 
uniformly used, that of Watt has been gen¬ 
erally adopted. The general rule for esti¬ 
mating the power of a steam-engine in 
terms of this unit is to multiply together 
the pressure in pounds on a square inch of 
the piston, the area of the piston in inches, 
the length of the stroke in feet, and the 
number of strokes per minute, the result 
divided by 33,000 will give the horse-power, 
deducting one-tenth for friction. As a horse 
can exert its full force only for about six 
hours a day, one horse-power of machinery 
is equal to that of 4’4 horses. Nominal or 
calculated horse-power is a term still used, 
but of little real value, from its being cal¬ 
culated on steam at a pressure much below 
the real power exerted. Sometimes the real, 
actual, or indicated horse-poioer exceeds the 
nominal by as much as three to one. 

Horse-racing, a sport of ancient origin, 
having been practised among the Greeks 
and Romans. The institution of horse¬ 
races in England belongs to a very remote 
period. The first regular horse-races, how¬ 
ever, did not take place till the reign of 
James I. The prize then consisted of a gold 
or silver bell, whence we have the expres¬ 
sion ‘ to bear away the bell.’ The successors 
of James I. down to Queen Anne were all 
more or less attached to the sport. Under 
George I. horse-racing became more and 
more flourishing, and the sport continued to 
grow in importance during the remainder of 
the century. The two most celebrated horses 
of that period were Flying Childers (foaled 
in 1715) and Eclipse (foaled in 1764), which 
long had the reputation of being the fleetest 
horses that ever ran. The former ran four 
miles in 6 min. 48 sec., carrying 9 st. 2 lbs. 
The latter was never beaten. None of the 
English sovereigns was more devoted to 
horse-racing than George IV. Between 1784 
and 1792, while yet Prince of Wales, he 
gained 185 prizes, including the Derby of 
1788. Horse-racing was introduced into 
France from England, and during the reign 
of Louis XIV., and still more during that 
of Louis XV., was pursued with the utmost 
enthusiasm. The revoh;tion put an end to 
it for a time, but the sport was revived by Na¬ 
poleon. Horse-races, mostly upon the Eng¬ 
lish model, have also been introduced into 


various other countries. The principal varie¬ 
ties of horse-racing are flat-racing, or racing 
on level ground; steeple-chasing, or racing 
over ground not specially prepared for the 
purpose; hurdle-racing, in which the horses 
have to leap over obstacles purposely placed 
in the way; and match trotting. This last 
kind of race is a very favourite one in Ame¬ 
rica, where the best trotting horses are to 
be found, but in England it is not miich 
practised. Steeple-chases and hurdle-races 
take place in the winter months, the chief 
English event of the season being the Grand 
National Steeple-chase, run over a course of 
4 miles 1000 yards at Aintree, near Liver¬ 
pool. Formerly all races were what is 
called weight-for-age races, that is, a speci¬ 
fied difference in weight was conceded by 
the older horses. But it was found that 
when races were conducted on this plan the 
best horses came to be known, and the in¬ 
ferior ones withdrew, not venturing to com¬ 
pete with them, so that the race resulted in 
a walk-over. Hence arose the practice of 
handicapping, that is, of adjusting as nearly 
as possible the weight to be carried to the 
previously ascertained powers of the horse, 
so as to reduce the chances of all the horses 
entered to an exact equality. Since the 
introduction of this practice handicap races 
have become a very favourite sport. The 
principal weight-for-age for two-year-olds 
is the Middle Park Plate, and for the three- 
year-olds the principal for both colts and 
fillies are the Two Thousand Guineas, the 
Derby, and St. Leger, and, for fillies only, 
the One Thousand Guineas and Oaks. Tlie 
most important handicap races are the 
Great Northampton Stakes, the City and 
Suburban and Metropolitan Stakes at Ep¬ 
som, the Northumberland Plate, the Good- 
wood Stakes, the Ascot Stakes, the Ebor 
Handicap (run at York), the Great York¬ 
shire Stakes (run at Doncaster), the Liver¬ 
pool Spring, Summer, and Autumn Cups, 
the Czarewitch, Cambridgeshire, and New¬ 
market Handicaps (run at Newmarket). The 
chief racing meetings are those at Ascot in 
Berkshire, Chester, Doncaster, Epsom, near 
London, Goodwood, Sandown Park, and 
Newmarket. At these meetings the stakes 
run for exceed annually £200,000, but an 
enormous sum also changes hands in bet¬ 
ting. (See Betting.) I’he principal racing 
meetings in France are those held in spring 
and autumn at Chantilly and the Bois de 
Boulogne. The chief events are the Grand 
Prix de Paris, the Prix du Jockey Club 

460 






HORSE-RACING 

(the French Derby), and the Rrix de Diane 
(the French Oaks). The rules guiding flat¬ 
racing in Britain are framed by the Jockey 
Club, founded in 1750, and whose list of 
nieinbership includes the names of the lead¬ 
ing noblemen and gentlemen of the sport¬ 
ing world, A similar body, the Grand Na¬ 
tional Hunt Committee, govern all steeple¬ 
chasing and hurdle-racing events; while the 
rules of betting are nominally under the 
control of the Committee of Tattersall’s Sub¬ 
scription Rooms, The breeding of thorough¬ 
bred horses is often a very profitable business. 
The pedigrees of all thoroughbred horses are 
registered in the stud-book, so that if any 
particular animal is omitted in that register 
the inference is that its pedigree is not 
without some blemish more or less remote. 

In the U. States horse-racing is now a 
national sport. Morris Park, in Westches¬ 
ter county, N. Y., and Brighton Beach fair¬ 
grounds at Coney Island furnish good race¬ 
courses. At Monmouth Park near Long 
Branch,Saratoga Springs,Sheepshead Bay, 
N. Y., at Philadelphia, Lexington, Ky., 
Baltimore, New Orleans, Stockton, Cal., 
Louisville, Ky., Rochester and Buffalo, N. 
Y., Chicago, III., Boston and Springfield, 
Mass., there are excellent raco-courses. In 
running-races remarkably good time has 
been made at Butte, Montana; Lampas, 
Texas; Monmouth Park and Morris Park, 
N. Y. In heat racing good records have 
been shown at Kiowa, Kansas; Helena, 
Montana; Dallas,Texas; Washington Park, 
Chicago. Trotting-match records of re¬ 
markable speed at Terre Haute, Ind.; 
Stockton, Cal.; Detroit, Mich.; Nashville, 
Tenu.; Providence, R. I.; Evansville, Ind.; 
Cleveland, Ohio; Trenton,N. J.; in pacing, 
Springfield, Mass.; Independence, Iowa ; 
Chicago, Ill.; Terre Haute, Ind.; Nash¬ 
ville, Tenn.; Providence, R. I.; Columbus, 
Ind.; Lexington, Ky.; Oakland and Sacra¬ 
mento, Cal. The trotting-horse of America 
is really a distinct variety of the equine 
race. The best American trotters are de¬ 
scended from an imported English horse. 
Messenger. Remarkable running time, one 
mile in one minute 35i seconds, was made 
by ‘ Salvator,’ Monmouth Park, in 1890; in 
heat racing one mile was made b)' ‘ Guido,’ 
in one minute 4U seconds, Washington 
Park, Chicago, in 1891; at Galesburg, Ill., 
in 1894, ‘ Alix’ trotted a mile in two min¬ 
utes three and three-quarter seconds; the 
best pacing time for one mile at Terre 
Haute, Ind., in 1892, by ‘Mascot/ in two 


-HORTENSE. 

minutes four seconds; and in 1893 by 
‘Flying Jib’ iu same time. 

Horse-tail, among the Turks and other 
Eastern nations, the tail of a horse mounted 
on a lance, and 
used as a stan¬ 
dard of rank and 
honour. The 
three grades of 
pashas are dis¬ 
tinguished by 
the number of 
tails borne on 
their standards, 
three being al¬ 
lotted to the 
highest digni¬ 
taries or viziers, 
two to the gov¬ 
ernors of the 
more important 
provinces, and 
one to those of 
less important 
districts. 

Horsham, a Horse-tail standard of Pasha, 
town of Eng¬ 
land, in the county of Sussex, on a branch 
of the river Arun, 37 miles s.s.w. of Lon¬ 
don, and 22 miles N.w. of Brighton. It 
formerly sent a member to parliament, and 
now gives name to a pari. div. of the county. 
Pop. 6874. 

Horsley, Samuel, English bishop, born 
1733, died 1806. He was educated at Cam¬ 
bridge, and in 1759 became rector of New¬ 
ington Butts. In 1767 he was chosen a 
fellow of the Royal Society, of which he 
was appointed secretary in 1773. After 
several charges he was appointed in 1788 
Bishop of St. David’s, from which he was 
translated to Rochester in 1793, receiving 
at the same time the deanery of Westmin¬ 
ster; and finally to St. Asaph in 1802, when 
he resigned his deanery. Dr. Horsley was 
the greatest theological controversialist of 
bis day, and is famous for his controversy 
with Priestley on Unitarianism. He pub¬ 
lished numerous sermons, and several woi’ks 
on Biblical criticism, besides editing an edi¬ 
tion of Sir Isaac Newton’s works. 

Horta, a town in the Island of Fayal, one 
of the Azores, on the shores of a small bay 
between two rocky headlands. It has a 
tolerable harbour, and exports wdne, oranges, 
and grain. Pop. 7446. 

Hortense, Eugenie dk Beauharnai.\ 
See under Beauharnais. 






HORTENSIUS-HOSHANGABAD. 


Hortensius, Quintus, Eoman orator, born 
of an equestrian family B.C. 114, died B.c. 
50. He held many military and civil offices, 
and was elected consul for the year 69 B.c. 
In the previous year he had been engaged 
to defend Verres during the famous prose¬ 
cution in which Cicero acted for the accusers. 
Hortensius continued to maintain a generous 
and friendly rivalry with Cicero, acknow¬ 
ledging his superior oratorical powers with¬ 
out jealousy. His speeches are all lost. 

Horticultural Societies, societies formed 
for the encouragement of both the art and 
the science of the cultivation of garden 
plants. Horticultural societies have been 
instituted in all the principal American 
cities, and an earnest spirit manifested. 

Horticulture (from L. hortus, garden, and 
colere, to till), or Gakuening, includes, in 
its most extensive signification, the cultiva¬ 
tion of esculent vegetables, fruits, and orna¬ 
mental plants. In large gardens there are 
generally separate departments for flowers, 
fruits, and vegetables; but in small gardens 
they are usually more or less combined. 
A garden should be either on a level, but 
admitting of effectual drainage, or on a 
gentle slope, preferably on the lower por¬ 
tion of a slope facing the sun. It should be 
well sheltered, either naturally from situa¬ 
tion, or artificially by means of plantations, 
walls, &c. The character of the soil is of 
much importance. A good loam, or a sandy 
loam mixed with humus, is the best. The 
former is better fitted for fruit-trees, but 
for early crops the sandy loam is desirable. 
Whilst the greater part of a garden should 
consist of such soil, either naturally or arti¬ 
ficially formed, it is useful to have a portion 
stronger and another much lighter in order 
to suit the requirements of different plants. 
The nature of the subsoil is also important. 
The best is a dry bed of clay overlying 
sandstone. Digging, ploughing, and pul¬ 
verizing the soil, and exposing the surface 
to the action of the summer sun and the 
winter’s frost are highly useful operations, 
by which the tenacity of stiff soils is over¬ 
come, weeds and insects are destroyed, 
and a quantity of air is admitted into the 
ground. Nutritive matter is frequently 
supplied to plants in the form of manure, 
either organic or inorganic. After the 
soil is properly dry and pulverized, the 
seeds are deposited, and this should always 
be done in dry weather, for a dry soil is 
especially requisite for covering in the seeds. 
Watering is often necessary as a means of 


nourishment to growing plants, especially 
as a support to newly transplanted vege¬ 
tables, and for cleaning the leaves and de¬ 
stroying insects. The methods of propagat¬ 
ing plants are various. For an account of the 
processes of budding and grafting see these 
articles. Another mode of propagation is 
that by means of cuttings, or shoots cut off 
and planted in the soil, where they take 
root. This process is exceedingly simple 
and easy in the case of many trees, as the 
willows and poplars; but requires some 
management in the heaths, myrtles, and 
other shrubs. In growing ornamental plants 
and flowers and exotic fruits, plant-houses 
of various kinds are necessary. These com¬ 
prise the numerous forms of conservatory, 
plant-stove, greenhouse, pits, and frames. 
Horticultural tools, instruments, implements, 
and machinery are very various. 

Hortus Siccus. See Herbarium. 

Horus, the Latinized form of Har, the 
day, or the sun’s path, an Egyptian divinity. 
Two gods were latterly recognized under 
the name. The elder Horus was the son of 
Seb (identified by the Greeks with Kronos) 
and Nu (Khea) and brother of Osiris. The 
other Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis, 
and is supposed to have come into the world 
soon after the birth of his parents. On the 
death of Osiris he was his avenger, defeat¬ 
ing the serpent Typho, and enabling Isis to 
thwart his wicked designs. Both the elder 
and younger Horus were regarded as sym¬ 
bols of the sun. 

Horus Apollo. See Horai^oUo. 

Hosanna, a word composed of two Hebrew 
words occurring in Psalm cxviii. 25, signi¬ 
fying ‘save now,’ The psalm was sung on 
joyful occasions, and particularly at the feast 
of Tabernacles, The phrase is used as an 
exclamation of praise to God, or an invoca¬ 
tion of blessings. 

Ho'sea, the first in order among the minor 
prophets of the Old Testament, but pro¬ 
bably the third in order of time, flourishing 
about 750 b.c. Nothing is known of his 
life, except that he was the son of Beeri, 
and that his ministry belonged to the 
reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Heze- 
kiah, kings of J udah. The nation generally 
and the ten tribes in particular are reproved, 
exhorted, and threatened in his prophecy. 
He predicts the approaching exile of his 
countrymen, and the consoling promise of 
the final return of an improved people. 

Hoshangabad, chief b^wii and headquar¬ 
ters of district of the same name, Central 

462 







HOSHIARPUR 

Provinces of India, on the Nerbudda. It is 
a chief seat of the British piece-goods trade, 
and does business in cotton, grain, &c. Pop. 
15,863. The district has an area of 4437 sq. 
miles, and a pop. of 488,787. 

Hoshiarpur, chief town and seat of ad¬ 
ministration of district of same name, Pun¬ 
jab, India. Pop. 21,363. The district has 
an area of 2180 sq. miles, and a pop. of 
901,381. 

Hosiery, a general term for all kinds of 
knitted articles, including drawers, petti¬ 
coats, night-dresses, &c., and fancy articles 
such as head-dresses, hoods, shawls, necker¬ 
chiefs, watch-guards, cravats, &c. The 
materials used for the purpose are cotton, 
linen, and wool, the last of which is some¬ 
times mixed with cotton or silk. Silk is 
also frequently used alone. Nearly all ar¬ 
ticles of hosiery, except some fancy articles, 
are now made by a knitting-frame of some 
kind or other. 

Hosmer, Harriet, American sculptor, 
born at Watertown, Mass., 1831. She 
studied at Rome, and among her best- 
known works are ideal heads of Daphne 
and Medusa, Puck, the Sleeping Faun, 
Waking Faun, Beatrice Cenci, &c. 

Hospice signifies either a little convent 
belonging to a religious order, occupied by 
a few monks, and destined to receive and 
entertain travelling monks; or houses of re¬ 
fuge and entertainment for travellers on 
some difficult road or pass, as the Hospice 
of the Great St. Bernard. 

Hospital, any building appropriated for 
the reception of any class of persons who 
are unable to supply their own wants, and 
are more or less dependent upon public help 
to have those wants supplied. Hence hos¬ 
pitals are of various kinds, according to the 
nature of the wants they supply and the 
class of persons for whom they are intended. 
A large number of hospitals are medical; 
others are for the reception of incurables; 
others for the aged and infirm; others for the 
education of children of people in reduced 
circumstances; others for the reception of 
the wounded in battle; and so on. The first 
establishments of this nature are believed 
to belong to the 4th century after Christ. 
Their primary object was to afford a shelter 
to strangers and travellers, and it was only 
occasionally that the sick and infirm were 
admitted. One of the earliest hospitals of 
which we have any satisfactory information 
was that established by the emperor Valens 
at ('lesarea about the end of the 4th cen- 

463 


— HOSPITAL. 

tury, and which was conducted on a very 
large scale. The Arabs in Spain, at an 
early period of their occupation of that 
country, founded a magnificent hospital at 
Cordova, where physicians were trained, 
who did a vast deal to advance the study of 
medicine. The Arabs have also the credit 
of having founded the first lunatic asylum 
in Europe, which was erected in the city of 
Granada. The majority of hospitals every¬ 
where are medical, often called infirmaries. 
These may be divided into general and spe¬ 
cial hospitals, the former class admitting 
cases of all kinds; the latter class admitting 
only patients suffering from some special 
trouble. Thus there are lying-in hospitals, 
cancer, consumption, ophthalmic, lock (for 
venereal diseases), fever, and small-pox hos¬ 
pitals. There are also hospitals for children, 
and for persons suffering from incurable dis¬ 
eases. Such institutions serve a double pur¬ 
pose, inasmuch as they not only afford the 
best medical advice and treatment to the 
poor, who would otherwise be unable to ob¬ 
tain it, but also supply the best means of 
giving instruction in medicine and surgery, 
as in them students have the opportunity of 
witnessing cases of nearly every variety of 
disease, and observing how they are treated 
by the most skilled physicians and surgeons. 
For this reason a good infirmary or medical 
hospital is an indispensable adjunct to every 
school of medicine and surgery. Hospitals 
for the sick and hurt are usually divided into 
wards, each containing a larger or smaller 
number of beds. Medical and surgical wards 
are usually kept separate, and all contagious 
diseases are treated by themselves in dis¬ 
tinct buildings. Each hospital has a matron, 
house surgeon, and apothecary resident 
within its walls. The duties of the matron 
consist in regulating the night and day 
nurses, and the washing and laundry de¬ 
partment, as well as the purchase of the 
necessary supplies of provisions, and keep¬ 
ing a general superintendence over the kit¬ 
chen and messes of the sick. The house 
surgeon takes care of all casualties and acci¬ 
dents in the absence of the principal sur¬ 
geons. The apothecary takes care of the 
pharmacy and prepares all the medicines 
prescribed from time to time by the sur¬ 
geons and physicians. There is a well- 
lighted room set apart for the performance 
of operations, and a mortuary for the recep¬ 
tion of corpses previous to interment. The 
nurses relieve each other day and night in 
a regular manner. Particular wards are set 



HOSPITAL 


HOT-BED. 


aside for the reception of persons labouring 
under various and peculiar denominations 
of disease. It has been objected to the pre¬ 
sent plan of constructing large edifices for 
hospital purposes, that the benefit they con¬ 
fer is greatly diminished by the risk of 
being attacked by hospital diseases, fever, 
erysipelas, pyaemia, &c., to which the patients 
are exposed; and the cottage or hut system 
of construction has been strongly advocated. 
This form of hospital consists of temporary 
detached huts or cottasres which could be 
easily removed or replaced. Diflficulties in 
connection with expense and administration 
have made this system impracticable. The 
pavilion system of construction is a compro¬ 
mise between the large blocks and the cot¬ 
tages or huts. According to this system 
the wards should be separated from the 
administrative part of the establishment, 
and should be arranged in pavilions of one 
story where practicable, but never more 
than of two. The pavilions should always 
surround the administrative blocks. This 
mode of construction is equally applicable 
to large and small establishments. The 
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the Herbert 
Hospital of Woolwich, and the New York 
Hospital are among the best examples of 
the pavilion style. Convalescent homes, 
where patients are reinvigorated by a short 
stay after being cured in the infirmary, 
may be regarded as supplementary to medi¬ 
cal hospitals, and among subsidiary institu¬ 
tions are dispensaries (which see) and schools 
for the training of nurses. The subject of 
the proper training of nurses has received 
great attention. Training schools have been 
organized in connection with nearly all 
the larger American hosf)itals, especially 
in New York and Philadelphia; and good 
results have followed in the largely dimin¬ 
ished mortality of the hospitals where 
these trained nurses have been em})loyed. 
Hospitals or asylums for inebriates have 
also been organized ; likewise hos})itals for 
opium habitues, and those addicted to the 
use of other forms of narcotics, in many 
parts of the United States. 

^ Military and Naval Hospitals, or estab¬ 
lishments for the reception and care of sick 
and woundedsoldiers and seamen,have been 
in existence in all civilized countries for a 
long period. Military hos{)itals are either 
permanent or temporary establishments. 
Temporary hospitals are any available 
buildings in the immetliate vicinity of the 
scene of operations. Hospital ships are 


ships fitted out as hospitals in all expedi¬ 
tions beyond the sea. They serve either 
as stationary hospitals or, if the sick 
accumulate, can sail home, or to the nearest 
station. Among the few institutions yet 
established for the special, care of sick 
children may be mentioned the Sheltering 
Arms, Philadelphia. By intelligent treat¬ 
ment the mortality has rapidly decreased. 
Another numerous class of hospitals are 
those for the reception of aged men and 
women. Many of these are reserved for 
decayed members of particular professions. 
Among the other kinds of non-medical hos¬ 
pitals the only ones which it is necessary to 
mention here are foundling hospitals and 
orphan hospitals. On the subject of hospi¬ 
tals for the insane, see Lunatic Asylums. 

Hospital Fever is a malignant form of 
typhus fever, so called from its being most 
frequently met with in military and other 
large hospitals. See Typhus Fever. 

Hospitallers, charitable brotherhoods who 
devote themselves to tend the sick in hos¬ 
pitals. The name is specially ajjplied to an 
order of knights, the Knights of St. John. 
See John, Knights of St. 

Hos'podar, a title of dignity formerly 
borne by the vassal princes of Moldavia and 
Wallachia, and in earlier times by the 
princes of Lithuania and the kings of Po¬ 
land. 

Host (Latin hostia, a sacrificial victim), 
a term used for the bread (or wafer) and 
wane in the eucharist, as containing the 
body and blood of Christ. As the w’afer 
alone is given to laymen in the R. Catholic 
Church, as containing both the body and 
blood of tlie Redeemer, the term host is 
usually applied to the consecrated wafer. 
See Elevation, Mass. 

Hostage, a person left as pledge or surety 
for the performance of the articles or condi¬ 
tions of a treaty. The taking or giving of 
hostages is now scarcely known in the rela¬ 
tions of modern communities, but was for¬ 
merly almost universal, and many questions 
in the law of nations arose out of the prac¬ 
tice. If the stipulated terms were observed 
the hostages were returned on each side, but 
if the terms were violated or evaded the 
hostages might be put to death. 

Hostilius. See Tullus Hostilius. 

Hot-bed, in gardening, a bed of earth 
heated by fermenting substances, such as 
fresh stable dung, tanners’ bark, leaves of 
trees, &c., and covered witli glass to defend 
it from the cold air, intended for raising 

iQi 








HOTHOUSE-HOUNSLOW. 


early plants, or for nourishing exotic plants 
of warm climates, which will not thrive in 
cool or temperate air. 

Hothouse, a building for the cultivation 
of plants too delicate to grow in the open 
air. It is built chiefly of glass, and re¬ 
sembles a greenhouse in its structure and 
arrangements, except that artificial heat is 
kept up all the year round. 

Hot Springs, Ark., a noted health re¬ 
sort. The springs number 60, some dis¬ 
charging water 150° temp. Pop. 8086. 

Hotspur. See Percy. 

HoUtentots, a peculiar African race, sup¬ 
posed to be the aboriginal occupants of the 
south end of that continent, at and near the 
Cape of Good Hope. Their limits may be 
said to have been the river Orange on the 
north and north-east, and the Kei on the 
east. When young they are of remarkable 
symmetry; but their faces are ugly, and 
this ugliness increases with age. The com¬ 
plexion is a pale olive, the cheek-bones pro¬ 
ject, the chin is narrow and pointed, and 
the face consequently is triangular. The 
lips are thick, the nose flat, the nostrils 
wide, the hair woolly, and the beard scanty. 
When the Dutch first settled at the Cape in 
the middle of the 17th century the Hotten¬ 
tots were a numerous nation, of pastoral 
and partially nomadic habits, and occupied 
a territory of 100,000 square miles. At the 
present day this race is nearly extinct within 
the wide territory which formerly belonged 
to it, having been entirely hunted out and 
dispersed by the Boers. Amongst the off¬ 
shoots of the Hottentot race are the Griquas, 
descended from Hottentot mothers and 
Dutch fathers, living to the north of the 
Orange river. They are semi-civilized, and 
have some towns and villages. The Koras 
or Korannas, higher up the river Orange or 
Gariep, still remain a favourable specimeh 
of the Hottentot race. They are taller, 
stronger, and more cleanly than the tribes 
further west. Other tribes are the Gonas or 
Gonaquas, much mixed with the Amakosa 
Kaffres; the Namaquas, dwelling towards 
the mouth of the river Orange; the Hill 
Damaras, farther north. The Bosjesmen or 
Bushmen are a degraded tribe of Hottentots. 
The language of the Hottentots is peculiar, 
consisting of a system of clicks or eludes. 

Hottentot’s Bread. See Testudinaria. 

Houghton (ho'tun), Richard Monck- 
TON Milnes, Lord, only son of Robert 
Pemberton Milnes, of Fryston Hall and 
Great Houghton, was born in Yorkshire in 
VOL. IV. 465 


1809, and educated at Cambridge. He made 
some reputation as a writer of verse, essays, 
memoirs, &c., but it was rather his social 
and conversational powers, and his kindly 
patronage of literary aspirants, than the 
merit of his writings which gave him his 
prominent position in London society. In 
1837 he entered parliament as member for 
Pontefract, at first as a Tory, but after¬ 
wards as a supporter of Russell and Palmer¬ 
ston. He was an active member of numer¬ 
ous learned societies and institutions, presi¬ 
dent of the Royal Society of Literature, 
trustee of the British Museum, foreign sec- 
retary of the Royal Academy, &c. He died 
in 1885. 

Houghton-le-Spring, a market town of 
England, in the county of Durham, 6^ miles 
N.E. of Durham. The prosperity of the town 
depends on the numerous coal-mines in the 
neighbourhood. Pop. 6041. 

Hound {Canis sagax), a name given gener¬ 
ally to hunting dogs; but restricted by 
scientific writers to such as hunt by scent, 
a definition which excludes the greyhound. 



Deer-hound {Canis sagax). 


Amongst the varieties are the bloodhound, 
staghound, foxhound, harrier, and beagle. 
Hounds are distinguished not only by their 
fineness of scent, but by docility and saga¬ 
city. Of the rough-haired and smooth¬ 
haired varieties the former manifest the 
greatest affection for man. 

Hounds-tongue, a plant, so called from 
the shape of its leaves. See Cynoglossum. 

Hounslow, a town of England, in Middle¬ 
sex, 9 miles south-west of Hyde Park Cor¬ 
ner, London. The adjoining Hounslow 
Heath, once notorious for the highway rob¬ 
beries committed on it, is now entirely in¬ 
closed, and is the site of large cavalry bar¬ 
racks and extensive powder-mills. Pop. 
10,459. 


126 


HOU-PE-HOUSSA. 


Hou-Pe, Hu-Peh, or Hoo-Pe (North of 
the Lakes), a central province of China. It 
is intersected by the Han-kiang and the 
Yang-tse-kiang, and is considered one of 
the most fertile parts of the empire. Pop. 
33,365,005. 

Hour, the twenty-fourth part of a day 
(see Day). In most countries the hours are 
counted from midnight to mid-day, and 
twelve hours are twice reckoned. But in 
some parts of Italy twenty-four hours are 
counted, beginning with sunset, so that 
noon and midnight are every day at differ¬ 
ent hours. Each hour is divided into sixty 
minutes, and each minute into sixty seconds. 

Hour-circle. See Globe. 

Hour-glass, an instrument for measuring 
time, consisting usually of two hollow bulbs 
placed one above the other, and having a 
narrow neck of communication through 
which a certain quantity of dry sand, water, 
or mercury is allowed to run from the upper 
to the lower bulb, the quantity of sand being 
adjusted so as to occupy an hour in passing 
from one bulb to the other. The hour-glass 
was commonly used in churches during the 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to regu¬ 
late the length of the sermon. 

Houris (^liou'riz or ho'riz), the ‘black- 
eyed’ nymphs of Paradise, whose company, 
according to the Koran, is to be one of the 
rewards of the faithful. They are described 
as most beautiful virgins, endowed with per¬ 
petual youth, and subject to no impurity. 
They dwell in beautiful gardens, by flowing 
streams, and the very meanest of the faith¬ 
ful will have at least seventy-two of them. 

Hours. See Mores. 

Hours, Canonical. See Mores canonicce. 

House. In point of law, the common 
expression, ‘an Englishman’s house is his 
castle,’ is in most instances true. Except 
where there has been a criminal offence, an 
Englishman can hold his house against all 
comers. No bailiff can break open his door 
to arrest him, or seize his goods for debt, 
nor can any court give him this power; but 
if a bailiff is once permitted to enter he 
cannot be expelled. Scottish law does not 
give the householder such a strong position. 
A Scottish court can give a messenger per¬ 
mission to force a door, and arrest or dis¬ 
train as may be wished. Breaking into a 
house by night with the intent to rob is 
burglary. 

House-breaking. See Burglary. 
House-fly. See Fly. 

Household Gods, amongst the Romans, 


deities known as the Lares and Penates, 
and presiding over the fortunes of the house 
or family. 

Household Suffrage, suffrage based on 
the occupancy of a house or a distinct part 
of a house for not less than a year. In Bri¬ 
tain it was established in boroughs by the 
Reform Act of 1867, and extended to the 
counties in 1884. liodgers occupying lodg¬ 
ings which would let unfurnished for £10 
a year are also entitled to rank under this 
suffrage. 

Household Troops. See Guards. 

Household Words, a weekly periodical 
started in 1850 by Charles Dickens. The 
title is from Shakspere, Henry V., act iv. 
sc. 3. It was discontinued in 1859 on ac¬ 
count of a dispute between Dickens and the 
publishers. 

Houseleek {Sempervivum tectorum, nat. 
order Crassulaceae), a succulent plant, com¬ 
monly to be met with on old walls, the 
roofs of cottages, &c. The stem rises 
to the height of 8 or 10 inches, and bears a 
few purplish flowers, which have twelve or 
fifteen petals. The leaves are applied by 
the common people to bruises and old ulcers. 

Housemaid’s Knee, an acute inflamma¬ 
tion of the bursa or sac between the knee- 
pan and the skin, so called because it is 
common amongst housemaids from their 
kneeling on hard damp stones. It is treated 
like other local inflammations by fomenta¬ 
tions, and if necessary leeches. Mild pur¬ 
gatives are also useful, and the limb ought 
to have complete rest. 

House of Commons. See Britain —sec¬ 
tion Parliament; also Parliament. 

House of Correction, a prison for idle 
and disorderly persons, and certain classes 
of criminals, such as prisoners convicted of 
felony or misdemeanour, vagrancy, &c., or 
oommitted on charge of such. Originally 
vagrants, trespassers, and convicted persons 
were detained in these houses that they 
might be compelled to work. They are 
sometimes called bridewells. In England 
every county must have one. They have 
been adopted in the U. States to advantage. 

House of Lords. See Britain; also Par¬ 
liament. 

Houssa, or Haussa (hous'sa), a region of 
Africa, in Central Soudan, between lat. 11** 
and 14° N. ; and Ion. 4° and 11° E. This coun- 
try, though yet little known, is represented 
as extremely fertile, and skilfully cultivated. 
It is under the rule of the Eellatahs, who 
have subjected the native inhabitants, the 

466 




HOUSTON 


HOWARD. 


Haussana or Haussas, a race intermediate 
between the negroes and the Berbers, but 
generally ranked with the latter. They are 
intelligent and lively, expert weavers as 
well as agriculturists, and well actpiainted 
with tanning and worl.ing in iron. Their 
language is rich and sonorous, and has be¬ 
come the general medium of commercial in¬ 
tercourse in Central Africa. They are Mo¬ 
hammedans. There are two large towns in 
Houssa—Sokoto and Kashna. 

Houston, a city of the United States, 
in Texas, the seat of Harris county, at the 
head of steamboat navigation on Buffalo 
Bayou, 48 miles north-west of the important 



The Vicinity of 

Houston. 


seaport of Galveston, and the great railway 
centre of the state. It stands in an excellent 
grazing district, and contains iron-foundries, 
cotton-presses, machine-shops, and other in¬ 
dustrial establishments. It is a great ship¬ 
ping port for cotton. Pop. 1890, 27,557. 

Houston, Samuel, President of Texas 
and U. S. Senator, was born in Virginia in 
1793. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. In 
1818 he began the study of law. In 1823 
and 1825 was elected to Congress, and 
in 1827 Governor of Tennessee. On re¬ 
moving to Texas in 1832 he was made 
General. In 1836 he defeated the Mexi¬ 
cans at San Jacinto, which resulted in the 
independence of Texas, and he was elected 
President. In 1845 Texas entered the 
Union, and Houston was chosen U. S. 
Senator. He was elected Governor of Texas 
in 1859. In 1861 he was deposed for ad¬ 
herence to the Union. He died in 1863. 

How'ard, the patrician house that has 
467 


been for centuries at the head of the Eng¬ 
lish nobility. The first of the family of 
whom anything is certainly known is Sir 
William Howard, chief-justice of the com¬ 
mon pleas under Edward I. and Edward II. 
His grandson. Sir John Howard, possessed 
extensive property in Norfolk, and was also 
sheriff of the county. His grandson. Sir 
Robert Howard, by marrying the co-heiress 
of the Mowbrays, dukes of Norfolk, greatly 
increased the family possessions, and en¬ 
hanced the family importance. Their only 
son. Sir John Howard, distinguished himself 
in the wars with France in 1452-53, and in 
1470 was created Lord Howard, and made 
captain-general of the royal forces at sea. 
Adhering to the fortunes of Richard III. he 
was in 1483 created Duke of Norfolk, and 
elevated to the high dignity of Earl-marshal 
of England, but two years after he was killed 
at Bosworth Field, and his blood and honours 
were attainted by parliament, 1485. A 
like attainder was decreed against his son 
Thomas, who had been created Earl of Sur¬ 
rey by Richard. Thomas, however, was re¬ 
stored to his titles and possessions, mani¬ 
fested high military talent, and distinguished 
himself, especially by his defeat of James 
IV. of Scotland at Flodden in 1513. His 
son Thomas, third duke of Norfolk, ob¬ 
tained distinction both as a naval and mili- * 
tary commander, and became High-admiral 
of England. But in spite of his services 
both at home and against the Scots and the 
French, Henry VIII. at last condemned him, 
on slight grounds, to suffer the death of a 
traitor. The death of Henry prevented the 
execution, and he was reinstated in his rank 
and property by Queen Mary, and died in 
August, 1554. By his marriage with a 
daughter of Edward IV. he became the 
father of the ill-fated and accomplished 
Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, the best Eng¬ 
lish poet of his age. (See Surrey, Earl of.) 
Thomas, fourth duke of Norfolk, enter¬ 
tained the project of marrying Mary Queen 
of Scots, which led to him being convicted 
of high treason, and beheaded in 1572. The 
attainder was reversed and the family 
honours restored, partly by James I. and 
partly by Charles II. The ducal house of 
Norfolk has thrown out many branches 
which have enjoyed, or still enjoy, the earl¬ 
doms of Carlisle, Suffolk, Berkshire, Nor¬ 
thampton, Arundel, Wicklow, Norwich, and 
Effingham, and the baronies of Bindon, 
Howard de Walden, Howard of Castle Ris¬ 
ing, and Howard of Glossop. As connected 









HOWARD 


HOWITT. 


with this noble f'lmily we may mention Jjord 
Howard of Effingham, who defeated the 
Spanish Armada in 1588; Catherine Howard, 
one of the ill-fated consoi’ts of Henry VIII,; 
and Sir Thomas Howard, who died in the 
Tower a prisoner, for having aspired to the 
hand of the I^ady Margaret Douglas, daugh¬ 
ter of Margaret, queen-dowager of Scotland, 
and niece of Henry VIIL ‘The blood of 
the Howards’ has become proverbial, as ex¬ 
pressive of ancient lineage combined with 
high rank. 

Howard, J ohn, English philanthropist, was 
born in 1726, and died in 1790, His father, 
a wealthy London tradesman, died when his 
son was about 19 years of age, and left him 
an independent fortune. In 1756 Howard 
undertook a voyage to Lisbon to view the 
effects of the recent earthquake. The vessel 
in which he embarked being captured, he 
was consigned to a French prison. The 
hardships he suffered and witnessed pre¬ 
viously to his release first roused his atten¬ 
tion to the subject of his future researches. 
In 1773 he resolved to devote his time to 
the investigation of the means of correcting 
the existing abuses in the management of 
prisons. With this view he visited most of 
the English county jails and houses of cor¬ 
rection, and in March, 1774, he laid the 
result of his inquiries before the House of 
Commons, for which he received a vote of 
thanks. In 1775 and 1776 he visited many 
of the continental prisons, as well as those 
of Scotland and Ireland; and the substance 
of his investigations appeared in a work he 
published in 1777. This work was supple¬ 
mented by his experiences of foreign prisons 
(1778-1783). In 1789 he published an 
Account of the Principal Lazarettos in Eu¬ 
rope, with notes on Continental and Bri¬ 
tish prisons and hospitals. In the same year 
he made a final journey through (4 many 
and Russia, when prisons and hospitals were 
everywhere thrown open for his inspection 
as a friendly monitor and public benefactor. 
He died of fever at Cherson in South 
Russia. 

Howe, Elias, an American inventor, was 
born in Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1819, died 
at Brooklyn in 1867. He constructed a 
sewing-machine in 1846, and was for several 
years involved in expensive and harassing 
lawsuits to establish his right to reap the 
benefits of his own ingenuity. Immense 
numbers of the Howe sewing-machine are 
now manufactured and sold in America, 
Great Britain, and elsewhere. 


Howe, Julia Ward, author and poet, 
was born in New York city in 1819. She 
received a careful education. At an early 
age Miss Ward wrote plays and poems. 
She was married to Dr. Samuel G. Howe, 
philanthropist, in 1843. She afterward 
continued her studies; writing philosophi¬ 
cal essays. In 1861 she composed the popu¬ 
lar “ Battle-Hymn of the Republic.’’ She 
espoused the woman-suffrage movement in 
1869, and has been President since 1872 of 
the New England Women’s Club, and has 
presided over the Woman-Suffrage Asso¬ 
ciation. Mrs. Howe has published two 
volumes of poems, besides other writings, 
including “ Life of Margaret Fuller.” 

Howe, Richard, Earl Howe, English 
admiral, was the second son of Emanuel 
Scrope, second Viscount Howe, and was 
born in 1725, died 1799. He joined the 
navy at the age of fourteen, and in 1745 
obtained the command of the Baltimore 
sloop of war. In 1758 he reduced Cher¬ 
bourg. Having greatly distinguished him¬ 
self on many occasions, he was in 1782 
created an earl. In 1783 he accepted the 
post of first lord of the admiralty. In 1797 
Lord Howe exerted himself with great 
success to quell the mutiny among the 
seamen at Portsmouth. 

Howells, William Dean, an American 
novelist, born at Martinsville, Ohio, in 1837. 
He learned the printer’s trade with his 
father; was afterwards assistant editor on 
the Ohio State Journal; published a life of 
Abraham Lincoln and a volume of poems; 
was appointed in 1861 U.S. consul at Venice. 
On his return to America in 1865 he joined 
the staff of the Nation, became afterwards 
editor of the Atlantic Monthly (1871-81), 
but made himself known chiefly as a writer 
of novels. Amongst his works are Venetian 
Life (1866), Italian Journeys (1867), A 
Chance Acqaintance (1873), A Foregone 
Conclusion (1874), The Lady of the Aroos¬ 
took (1879), Dr. Breen’s Practice (1883), A 
Modern Instance (1883), The Rise of Silas 
Lapham (1885), Indian Summer (1886). 

Howitt, Mary, English writer, born 1805, 
the daughter of Mr. Botham, a Quaker; 
was married in 1823 to Mr. William Howitt 
(see next article). Mary Howitt wrote a 
number of hymns and ballads, several vol¬ 
umes in prose and verse for children, and 
translated Miss Bremer’s works and H. C. 
Andersen’s Improvisatore. Amongst her 
writings for the young may be mentioned 
The Children’s Year, The Dial of Love, A 

468 







HOWTTT- 

Treastiry of Tales for the Young, &c. In 
conjunction with her husband she also wrote 
The Literature and Romance of Northern 
Europe, and Ruined Abbeys of Great Brit¬ 
ain. She died in 1888. Shortly before her 
death she joined the R. Catholic Church. 

Howitt, William, born in 1792 of a 
Quaker family; began early to publish 
verses, and in conjunction with his wife (see 
above article) published shortly after their 
marriage a volume of poems—The Forest 
Minstrel (1823). In 1831 appeared his Book 
of the Seasons, in 1834 his History of Priest¬ 
craft, and in 1838 his popular Rural Life in 
England. In 1840 the Howitts settled at 
Heidelberg, and devoted themselves to in¬ 
troducing the literature of the north, espe¬ 
cially of T^wcden, to English readers. Stu¬ 
dent Life in Germany appeared in 1841, 
Rural and Domestic Life in Germany in 
1842. In 1847 Mr. Howitt published his 
Homes and Haunts of the British Poets, and, 
after a visit to Australia, his Land, Labour, 
and Gold; and The History of Discovery in 
Australia. He also wrote a History of Eng¬ 
land. Latterly both Mr. Howitt and his 
wife became converts to spiritualism. He 
died in 1879. 

Howitzer, a short piece of ordnance, usu¬ 
ally having a chamber for the powder nar¬ 
rower than the bore, specially designed for 
the horizontal firing of shells with small 



Brass Howitzer (24 pounder). 


charges, combining in some degree the ac¬ 
curacy of the cannon with the calibre of the 
mortar, but much lighter than any gun of 
the same capacity. The rifled gun, throw¬ 
ing a shell of the same capacity from a 
smaller bore, and with much greater power, 
has superseded ; e howitzer for general 
purposes. 

Howler Monkey {MycUes), a genus of 
South American monkeys, characterized by 
a remarkable loudness of voice, which is due 
to the presence of a large chamber within 
the hyoid bone and the enlargement of the 
ventricles of the larynx. In the tropical 
forests of America their hideous howls, 
probably a kind of amorous concert, may 

m 


-HUBER. 

be heard during the night more than a mile 
away. They are prehensile-tailed, large, 
and heavy of body, with a high pyramidal 
head flattened on the summit. 

Howrah, a town of India, on the right 
bank of the Hugli, opposite Calcutta, of 
which it is practically a suburb, and with 
which it communicates by a floating bridge. 
It has large dockyards, jute and saw mills, 
and various manufactories. Pop. 116,606. 

Howth, a small town in Ireland, county 
of Dublin, 9 miles e.n.e. of Dublin, on the 
north side of the^Hill of Howth, a peninsula 
at the entrance of Dublin Bay. Pop. 
909. 

Hbxter (heuk'ster), a town of Westphalia, 
Prussia, on the left bank of the Weser, once 
a Hanse town. Pop. 6036. 

Hoy, a small vessel, usually rigged as a 
sloop, and employed in carrying goods and 
passengers short distances coastwise, and 
sometimes in conveying goods to and from 
lartjer vessels and the shore. 

Hoy, an island of the Orknej’s, Scotland, 
separated from the mainland of Scotland by 
the Pentland Firth, and from the largest 
island of the Orkneys, known as Mainland, 
by the Sound of Hoy. It is about 13 miles 
long and 6 broad; mountainous and heathy, 
but with fertile tracts. It has an excellent 
harbour. Long-Hope. At the south-west 
of the island there is a detached pillar of 
rock 450 feet high, known as the Old Man 
of Hoy. Pop. 1380. 

Hoya, a genus of Asclepiadacese, common 
in tropical Asia, and cultivated in hot¬ 
houses on account of their ornamental ap¬ 
pearance. 

Huamanga. See Guamanga. 

Huana'co. See Guanaco. 

Huanu'co Bark, the grey or silver cin¬ 
chona bark imported in the form of quills 
from around Huanuco in Peru. It is the 
produce of Cinchona micrantha. 

Hubble-bubble. See Narghileh. 

Huber, Francois, a Swiss naturalist, born 
in 1750, died in 1831. Notwithstanding the 
loss of his eyesight, he was able, by the he! p 
of his wife and his reader and amanuensis, 
to make observations and deductions which 
constitute decidedly the most important 
contribution by any one man to our know¬ 
ledge of bees. His first work was published 
in 1792 under the title of Lettres a Oh. 
Bonnet. Four years after his Nouvelles 
Observations sur les Abeilles, practically a 
new edition, enlarged and amended of the 
other, appeared. His son Pierre also as- 




















HUBERT-HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY. 


Bisted his father, and himself published 
important observations on ants, 

Hubert, St., the Apostle of Ardennes, a 
saint of the Roman C’atholic Church, the 
patron of huntsmen. He was of a noble 
family of Aquitaine. While hunting in the 
forests of Ardennes he had a vision of a stag 
with a shining crucitix between its antlers, 
and heard a warning voice. He was con¬ 
verted, entered the church, and eventually 
became Bishop of Maestricht and Liege. 
He worked many miracles, and is said to 
have died in 727 or 730. 

Hubertsburg, formerly a hunting seat of 
the electors of Saxony, in the Leipzig dis¬ 
trict, now enlarged and divided into por¬ 
tions, used respectively as a public prison, a 
hospital, a lunatic asylum, &c. Here the 
Peace of Hubertsburg, which put an end to 
the Seven Years’ war, was signed February 
15, 1763. 

Hue (uk), fivAKiSTE Regis, French mis¬ 
sionary and traveller, born in 1813. After 
studying theology, about 1837 he entered 
the order of the Lazarist Fathers, was or¬ 
dained priest in 1838, in 1839 went to China 
as a missionary, and in company with Phre 
Gabet made a journey of exploration in the 
interior of the empire and of Thibet. After 
this he returned in broken health to France, 
where he published Souvenirs d’un Voyage 
dans la Tartarie le Thibet et la Chine pen¬ 
dant les Ann^s 1844, 1845, et 1846; 
L’Empire Chinois (1857); Le Christianisme 
en Chine (1857). Hue died in Paris in 1860. 

Huckleberry, an American name for the 
whortleberry (which see). 

Huddersfield, a flourishing manufactur¬ 
ing town, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 
England, 16^ miles south-west of Leeds. 
The plan of the town is very regular, and 
the houses are well though somewhat uni¬ 
formly built. Some of the public buildings 
are elegant structures. Amongst its insti¬ 
tutions are two colleges for higher educa¬ 
tion, a technical school, &c. The town is 
the chief centre of the fancy woollen trade. 
Broadcloths, doeskins, trouserings are also 
manufactured, and there are manufactories 
of steam-engines, machinery, &c. It returns 
one member to parliament. Pop. 95,422. 

Hudson, a town and port, United States, 
in the state of and 116 miles north of New 
York, on the left bank of the Hudson. It 
is regularly built, and has large iron-smelt¬ 
ing works, foundries, breweries, &c. Pop. 
' 1890, 9970. 

Hudson, Henry, English navigator, date 


of birth unknown. He sailed from London 
in the year 1607 in a small vessel, with only 
ten men and a boy, to discover the North¬ 
east Passage, and proceeded beyond the 80th 
degree of latitude. In a second voyage he 
landed at Nova Zembla, but could get no 
further eastward. In 1609 he sailed for N. 
America, and discovered the Hudson River, 
which he ascended about 50 leagues. In 
1610 he sailed in an English ship named the 
Discovery, and discovered Hudson Strait and 
Hudson’s Bay, where he wintered; but his 
crew, after suffering many hardships, muti¬ 
nied and set him adrift in a boat along with 
his son John and seven of the most infirm 
of the crew, none of whom were ever again 
heard of. Hudson published Divers Voy¬ 
ages and Northern Discoveries (1607), and 
a Second Voyage (1608). 

Hudson Bay, or Hudson’s Bay, an exten¬ 
sive bay, or rather an inland sea. Dominion 
of Canada, extending between lat. 51° and 
64° N., and Ion. 77° and 95° w.; length, north 
to south, about 800 miles; greatest breadth, 
about 600 miles. Hudson Bay is navigable 
for 4^ months in summer (from middle of 
June to end of October), being obstructed by 
drift-ice during the rest of the year. There 
are many islands, reefs, and sand-banks. 
The shores on the east are high and bold; 
but those on the west, especially towards 
the south, are Ljw and level, and much of 
the land here is favourable for stock and 
dairy farming. The white whale is found 
in its waters, and there is a considerable 
summer fishery. 

Hudson River, a river in the United 
States. It rises, by two branches, in the 
northern part of the state of New York, in 
the Adirondack Mountains, about lat. 44° N. 
Two small streams unite to form the river, 
which is afterwards joined by the Schroon 
and Sacondaga. At Glen’s Falls it has a 
fall of 50 feet, after wLich it runs almost due 
south to its mouth in New York Bay. Its 
whole course is over 300 miles; it is navi¬ 
gable as far us Albany, 145 miles, for the 
largest vessels. The banks of the Upper 
Hudson are high and rocky; and the scenery 
very picturesque. 

Hudson’s Bay Company, an English trad¬ 
ing company, chartered May 2, 1670. It 
had long a monopoly of the trade throughout 
the whole territory of N. America whose 
streams flow into Hudson’s Bay, and at one 
time as far westward as the Pacific, with 
rights of governing and making war. In 
1870 its authority was ti*ansferred by act of 

470 







HUDSON’S BAY TERRITORY-HUGHES. 


parliament to the crown, and its territories 
incorporated in the Dominion of Canada. 
Its trade in furs is still very large. See 
Fur Trade. 

Hudson’s Bay Territory. See North¬ 
west Territories. 

Hue, the capital city of Anam, on the 
river Hu^, which is here navigable for small 
craft, 10 miles from its mouth in the Gulf 
of Tonquin. It was fortified in the present 
century iu European style by French officers 
in the service of the king of Cochin-China. 
The circumference of the walls is upwards 
of 5 miles. The city has a considerable 
trade. Pop. 50,000. 

Hue and Cry, in English law, the pursuit 
of a felon or offender, with loud outcries or 
clamour to give an alarm. This procedure 
is taken by a person robbed, or otherwise 
injured, to pursue and get possession of the 
culprit’s person. At common law, a private 
person who has been robbed, or who knows 
that a felony is committed, is bound to raise 
hue and cry under pain of fine and im¬ 
prisonment. This is generally done by in¬ 
forming the nearest constable; and this 
process is still recognized by the law of 
England as a means of arresting felons 
without the warrant of a justice of the 
peace. The same name is also applied to 
a paper circulated by the secretary of state 
for the home department announcing the 
perpetration of offences. 



Huelva (u-eTva), a seaport town of South¬ 
western Spain, capital of the province of 
same name in Andalusia. It has wide and 

471 


well-built streets. There are manufactures 
of matting, ropes, sails, &c., a large trade in 
the exportation of copper ore; also in fruits 
and wine. The fisheries, mainly sardine 
and tunny, are of considerable value. Pop. 
13,517.—The province of Huelva is moun¬ 
tainous and well wooded in the north, and 
contains celebrated copper mines. In the 
south it is comparatively level, and has a 
rich alluvial soil. Pop. 1887, 254,831. 

Huesca (u-es'ka; ancient, Osca), a town 
of Spain, capital of the province of Huesca, 
on the Isuela. It is beautifully situated on 
an eminence in a fertile plain, has well- 
paved streets, a magnificent Gothic cathe¬ 
dral dating from the 13th century, an 
ancient royal palace, and a circus for bull¬ 
fights. Pop. 10,477.—The province of Huesca 
is rugged and mountainous in the north, 
but has much fertile and comparatively 
level land in the south. Pop. 1887, 254,958. 

Huet (u-a), Pierre Daniel, a French 
critic and classical scholar, was born at Caen, 
Normandy, in 1630, and educated at the 
Jesuits’ college there; afterwards went to 
Paris; accompanied Bochart to the court 
of Queen Christina of Sweden; was ap¬ 
pointed in 1670 sub-preceptor under Bossuet 
to the dauphin, and superintended the cele¬ 
brated Delphin series (ad usum Delphini) of 
the Latin classics. After the completion of 
his tutorship, having taken holy orders, he 
was made Abbot of Aulnai, and subse¬ 
quently nominated Bishop of Soissons, which 
see he exchanged for that of Avranches, 
but latterly retired to an establishment of 
the Jesuits at Paris, where he died in 1721. 
Amongst his writings are Carmina Latina 
et Grseca, De Interpretatione, a treatise on 
translation; Sur I’Origine des Romans, Cen- 
sura Philosophise Cartesian se, Histoire du 
Commerce et de la Navigation des Anciens, 
a book still of great value. 

Hugh Capot. See 

Hughes, Thomas, an English barrister, 
author, and philanthropist, born at Uffington, 
Berkshire, in 1823. He was educated at 
Rugby under Dr. Arnold, and afterwards 
at Oxford, In 1848 he was called to the 
bar, and in 1869 became a queen’s counsel. 
He is widely known by his novel, Tom 
Brown’s School-days, a picture of school 
life at Rugby, published in 1856. It was 
followed by Tom Brown at Oxford (1861), 
A Layman’s Faith (1868), Alfred the Great 
(1869), The Manliness of Christ, and other 
writings. He has devoted much of his time 
to the work of social elevation of the work- 













HUGLI- 

ing-class, encouraging in particular tlie co¬ 
operative system. In 1865 he was returned 
as member for Lambeth, and in 1868 for 
Frome, which he continued to represent 
till 1874. 

Hugli, or Hooghly (hogli), a river of Hin¬ 
dustan, in Bengal, formed by the junction of 
the Bhagirathi and the Jalangi at Nadij a, 
about 55 miles above Calcutta. It is 15 miles 
wide at its mouth, but much encumbered 
by shoals. At Calcutta it is about a mile 
wide, and has rapid and violent tides. The 
south-west monsoons produce a ‘ bore ’ in 
the Hugli, that is, a tidal wave which 
rushes up the river at the rate of 15 or 20 
miles an hour. Ships drawing 17 feet 
ascend as far as Calcutta. Total course 
about 200 miles. 

Hugli, a town of Hindustan, in Bengal, 
on the Hugli river, 22 miles north from 
Calcutta. Hugli is said to have been founded 
by the Pox'tuguese in 1537. It was made 
the seat of a British factory in 1676, but 
declined in importance as Calcutta rose. 
An important iron railway bridge connect¬ 
ing the East India railway system with 
that of the Eastern and Northern Bengal 
railway crosses the river near the town. 
Pop. 31,177. 

Hugo (ti-go), V ICTOR Marie, a F rench poet 
and novelist, born February 26, 1802, at Be- 
san^on, where his father, then Major Hugo, 
was stationed in command of a brigade. 
His father having entered the service of 
Joseph Bonaparte, king of Italy, and after¬ 
wards of Spain, Victor’s earlier years were 
partly spent in those countries, but in 1812 
he went with his mother to Paris. At the 
age of twelve he was already writing verses, 
and in 1823 his first novel, Han d’Islande, 
appeared, followed in 1825 by Bug Jargal. 
In 1828 a complete edition of his Odes et 
Ballades appeared. In these productions 
Hugo’s anti-classical tendencies in style and 
treatment of his subject had been very visible, 
but the appearance of his drama Cromwell 
(1827), with its celebrated preface, gave the 
watchword to the anti-classical or romantic 
school. Cromwell was too long for represen¬ 
tation, and it was only in 1830 that Hernani, 
over which the great contest between Classi¬ 
cists and Romanticists took place, was brought 
on the stage. Other dramas followed— 
Marion Delorme (1831), Le Roi s’amuse 
(1832), Lucrfece Borgia (1833), Marie Tudor 
(1833), Angelo (1835), Ruy Bias (1838), 
Les Bourgraves (1843). During those years 
he had also published a novel, Notre Dame 


-HUGO. 

de Paris (1830), and several volumes of 
poetry, Les Feuilles d’Automne (1831), Les 
Chants du Crepuscule (1835), Les Voix 
Int^rieures (1837), Les Rayons et Les Om¬ 
bres (1840). The poetry of this period has 



Victor Hugo. 


a melody and grace superior perhaps to any 
that he afterwards wrote, but wants that 
deep and original sense of life which is 
characteristic of his later poems. During 
the same period he also wrote his critical 
essays on Mirabeau, Voltaire, and a number 
of articles for the Revue de Paris. In 1841, 
after having been twice previously rejected, 
he was elected a member of the French 
Academy; made shortly afterwards a tour 
in the Rhineland, of which he wrote a bril¬ 
liant and interesting account in Le Rhin, 
published in 1842. In 1845 he was made a 
peer of France by Louis Philippe. The re¬ 
volution of 1848 threw Hugo into the thick 
of the political struggle. At first his votes 
were decidedly Conservative, but afterwards, 
whether from suspicion of Napoleon’s de¬ 
signs or from other reasons, he became one of 
the chiefs of the democratic party. After the 
coup d'etat, December 2, 1851, he was one of 
those who kept up the struggle in the streets 
against Napoleon to the last. He then fled 
to Brussels, where he published the first of 
his bitter satires on the founder of the 
Second Empire, Napolt^on le Petit. In the 
following year (1853) the second, the famous 
volume of Les Chatiments, a wonderful 
mixture of satirical invective, lyrical pas¬ 
sion and pathos appeared. Hugo now went 
to live in Jersey, was expelled along with 

472 







HUGUENOTS. 


the other French exiles in 1855 by the Eng¬ 
lish government, and finally settled in Guern¬ 
sey. It was in the comparative solitude 
and quietness of the Channel Islands that he 
wrote most of the great works of his later 
years, Les Contemplations (1856), La L6- 
gende des Sihcles, 1st series (1859), Chansons 
des Rues et des Bois (1865), and his cele¬ 
brated series of social novels, Les Misc%- 
ables (1862), Les Travailleurs de la Mer 
(1866), and L’Homme qui Rit (1869). In 
1870, after the fall of the Empire, Victor 
Hugo returned to Paris, where he spent 
the remaining years of a remarkably vigor¬ 
ous old age in occasional attendances at 
the senate, and in adding to the already 
long list of his literary works. Amongst 
these latest productions we may mention 
Quatre-vingt-treize (1872), L’Art d’etre 
Grand-phre (1877), L’Histoire d’un Crime 
(1877), Le Pape (1878), La Pitie Supreme 
(1879), Religions et Religion (1880), Les 
Quatre Vents de I’Esprit (1881), La Ld- 
gende des Sihcles (last series 1883), Torque- 
mada (1882). He died on May 2, 1885. 

Huguenots (hu'ge-nots), a term of un¬ 
known origin,applied by the Roman Catholics 
to the Protestants of France during the reli- 

o 

gious struggles of the 16th and 17th cen¬ 
turies. During the early part of the 16th cen¬ 
tury the doctrines of Calvin, notwithstanding 
the opposition of Francis L, sfiread widely 
in France. Under his successor Henry II., 
1547-59, the Protestant party grew strong, 
and under Francis II. became a political 
force headed by the Bourbon family, espe¬ 
cially the King of Navarre and the Prince 
of Condd. At the head of the Catholic 
party stood the Guises, and through their 
influence with the weak, young king, a 
fanatical persecution of the Huguenots com¬ 
menced. The result was that a Huguenot 
conspiracy, headed by Prince Louis of 
Condd, was formed for the purpose of com¬ 
pelling the king to dismiss the Guises and 
accept the Prince of Condd as regent of the 
realm. But the plot was betrayed, and 
many of the Huguenots were executed or 
imprisoned. In 1560 Francis died, and 
during the minority of the next king, 
Charles IX., it was the policy of the queen 
mother, Catharine de Medici, to encourage 
the Protestants in the free exercise of their 
religion in order to curb the Guises. But 
in 1562 an attack on a Protestant meeting 
made by the followers of the Duke of Guise 
commenced a series of religious wars which 
desolated France almost to the end of the 

473 


century. Catharine, however, began to fear 
that Protestantism might become a perma¬ 
nent power in the country, and suddenly 
making an alliance with the Guises be¬ 
tween them they projected and carried out 
the massacre of St. Bartholomew’s (August 
25, 1572). The Protestants fled to their 
fortified towns and carried on a war with 
varying success. On the death of Charles 
IX., Henry III., a feeble sovereign, found 
himself compelled to unite with the King of 
Navarre, head of the house of Bourbon and 
heir-apparent of the French crown, against 
the ambitious Guises, who openly aimed at 
the throne, and had excited the people against 
him to such a degree that he was on the point 
of losing the crown. After the assassina¬ 
tion of Henry III. the King of Navarre 
was obliged to maintain a severe struggle 
for the vacant throne; and not until he had, 
by the advice of Sully, embraced the Catho¬ 
lic religion (1593), did he enjoy quiet pos¬ 
session of the kingdom as Henry IV. Five 
years afterwards he secured to the Hugue¬ 
nots their civil rights by the Edict of Nantes, 
which confirmed to them the free exercise 
of their religion, and gave them equal claims 
with the Catholics to all offices and digni¬ 
ties. They were also left in possession of 
the fortresses which had been ceded to them 
for their security. This edict afforded them 
the means of forming a kind of republic 
within the kingdom, which Richelieu, who 
regarded it as a serious obstacle to the 
growth of the royal power, resolved to 
crush. The war raged from 1624 to 1629, 
when Rochelle, after an obstinate defence, 
fell before the royal troops; the Huguenots 
had to surrender all their strongholds, al¬ 
though they were still allowed freedom of 
conscience under the ministries of Richelieu 
and Mazarin. But when Louis XIV. and 
Madame de Maintenon set the fashion of 
devoutness, a new persecution of the Protes¬ 
tants commenced. They were deprived of 
their civil rights, and bodies of dragoons were 
sent into the southern provinces to compel 
the Protestant inhabitants to abjure their 
faith. The Edict of Nantes was revoked 
in 1665, and by this act more than 500,000 
Protestant subjects were driven out to carry 
their industry, wealth, and skill to other 
countries. In the reign of Louis XV. a new 
edict was issued repressive of Protestantism, 
but so many voices were raised in favour of 
toleration that it had to be revoked. The 
revolution first put the Protestants on 
an equality with their Catholic neighbours. 


HUIA-BIRD 

Huia-bird, the native name of a genus of 
New Zealand starlings, Hetcralocha acuti- 
rostris or Neomorpha Gouldii, comprising a 
single species of birds, occupying a very 
limited space in a few densely-wooded moun¬ 
tain ranges. The plumage is a very dark 
green, appearing to be black in some lights, 
the tip of the tail white. The most striking 
peculiarity about this bird is that the male 
has a stout, straight beak; the female a long, 
slender, curved bill. 

Hulk, the name applied to old ships laid 
by as unfit for further sea-going service, 
and used as depots for coals, sailors, &c. 

Hull, Province of Quebec, Canada, on 
the Canadian Pacific Railway. Pop. 1891, 
11,265. 

Hull, or Kingston-on-Hull, a river port, 
municipal and parliamentary borough of 
England, and a county of itself, locally 
situated in the East Riding of York at the 
influx of the Hull into the estuary of the 
Humber. The town stands on a low and 
level tract of ground, and stretches along the 
banks of the Humber, from the inundations 
of which it is secured by strong embankments. 
Amongst the notable public buildings and 
institutions are the town-hall, the new ex¬ 
change, the corn exchange, dock offices, &c., 
the royal institution, the public rooms, Hull 
and East Riding College, Reckitt free library, 
the infirmary, dispensary, children’s hospital, 
&c. There are three well-laid-out public 
parks. The industries of the town are varied, 
comprising flax and cotton mills, ship-build¬ 
ing, rope and sail works, iron-foundries, ma¬ 
chine-making, seed-crushing, colour-making, 
oil-boiling, &c.; but its importance arises 
chiefly from its shipping commerce, Hull 
being one of the busiest seaports in the king¬ 
dom. The docks are amongst the largest in 
the kingdom. The railway communications 
are excellent, not fewer than five railway 
companies running into the town. It is an 
ancient town, and was of some importance 
long before it received its charter from Ed¬ 
ward I. It played a conspicuous part dur¬ 
ing the civil war, being held by the Parlia¬ 
mentary forces, and twice besieged without 
success. It has three parliamentary divisions. 
East, Central, and West, each of which re¬ 
turns one member. Pop, 1891, 199,991. 

Hullah, John Pyke, an English musician, 
born in 1813, died in 1884. He entered 
the Royal Academy of Music in 1832, and 
attracted some attention by his comic opera. 
The Village Coquettes (1836), which was fol¬ 
lowed by the Barber of Bassora in 1837, and 


— HUMBER. 

The Outpost in 1838. About this time he 
began to work for the establishment of popu¬ 
lar singing-schools. He became professor 
of music at King’s College and other in¬ 
stitutions in London, and in 1874 inspector 
of training schools. He wrote some educa¬ 
tional and historical works on music, amongst 
which are the Grammar of Harmony, Gram¬ 
mar of Counterpoint, A History of Modern 
Music, &c. 

Hulse'an Lectures, a series of discourses 
delivered annually at Cambridge, under a 
bequest by the Rev. John Hulse, who died 
in 1789, The lectures must not be less than 
four or more than six. The subject pre¬ 
scribed is the evidences of revealed religion, 
or the explanation of the most difficult texts 
or obscure parts of Holy Scripture. The 
persons eligible as lecturers are Masters of 
Arts of the University of Cambridge. 

Hu'manists, a party which, during the 
Renaissance of the sixteenth century, culti¬ 
vated literature, especially classical litera¬ 
ture. Their influence was decidedly in 
favour of progress and reform, and in this 
way they may be considered as heralding 
and co-operating with the great religious 
reformers. Erasmus is the great type of 
the humanist, as Luther is of the religious 
reformer. 

HumanitaTians, a term sometimes ap¬ 
plied to the various classes of anti-Trini¬ 
tarians, who regard Christ as a mere man. 
Their opinions must not be confounded with 
Arianism, which admits the pre-existence 
of Christ, and his pre-eminence among God’s 
creatures. The term is also applied to the 
followers of St. Simon, who maintained the 
perfectibility of human nature without the 
aid of supernatural grace. 

Humanities (Latin, literce humaniores), 
a term for humane or polite literature, in¬ 
cluding the study of the ancient classics, in 
opposition to philosophy and science. In the 
Scotch universities humanity is applied to 
the study of the Latin language and litera¬ 
ture alone. 

Humber, a large river, or rather estuary, 
on the east side of England, between the 
counties of York and Lincoln. At its 
western extremity it is joined by the Ouse, 
after the latter has been augmented by the 
Derwent and Aire; below Goole it receives 
the Don, lower down the Trent, and still 
lower the Hull from the opposite side. It 
is about 35 miles long, and varies in breadth 
from 1 to 7 miles. There is at all times a 
considerable depth of water in the fair way 

474 





HUME. 


HUMBERT 1. 


of the channel, and the navigation is safe 
and easy. 

Humbert I., Umberto, King of Italy, 
born March 14, 1844, eldest son of Victor 
Emmanuel. In the war of 1866, in which 
Italy joined Prussia against Austria, he 
took the field in command of a division, 
and distinguished himself by his bravery in 
the disastrous battle of Custozza. In 1868 
he married his cousin, Margherita, daughter 
of Duke Ferdinand of Genoa. He succeeded 
his father on January 9, 1878. 

Humble-bee. See Bee. 

Humble-plant, a species of sensitive plant 
(which see). 

Humboldt (hum'bolt), Friedrich Hein¬ 
rich Alexander, Baron von, a German 
traveller and naturalist, was born Sept. 14, 
1769, at Berlin, where his father held the 
post of royal chamberlain. He studied at 
the Universities of Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 
Berlin, and Gottingen, and also at the com¬ 
mercial academy in Hamburg. His first 
work was Observations on the Basalt of the 
Rhine (1790). In 1791 he studied mining 
and botany at the mining school in Freiberg, 
and subsequently became overseer of the 
mines in Franconia. In 1797 he resolved to 
make a scientific journey in the tropical zones 
along with a friend, Aimd Bonpland. They 
landed at Cumana, in South Amei’ica, in July, 
1799, and spent five years in exploring scien¬ 
tifically the region of the Orinoco and the 
upper part of the Rio Negro, the district 
between Quito and Lima, the city of Mexico 
and the surrounding country, and the island 
of Cuba. In 1804 they arrived at Bordeaux, 
bringing with them an immense mass of 
fresh knowledge in geography, geology, 
climatology, meteorology, botany, zoology, 
and every branch of natural science, as well 
as in ethnology and political statistics. 
Humboldt selected Paris as his residence, 
no other city offering so many aids to scien¬ 
tific study, and remained there arranging 
his collections and manuscripts till March, 
1805, after which he visited Rome and 
Naples in company with Gay-Lussac, but 
eventually returned to Paris in 1807, when 
the first volume of his great work. Voyage 
aux Regions equinoxiales du Nouveau Con¬ 
tinent, appeared; the thirtieth and last was 
published in 1827. In 1827 Humboldt, 
who had been offered several liigh posts by 
the government of Prussia, and had accom¬ 
panied the king on several journeys as part 
of his suite, was persuaded to give up his 
residence at Paris and settle at Berlin, 

475 


where he combined the study of science 
with a certain amount of diplomatic work. 
In 1829, under the patronage of the Czar 
Nicholas, he made an expedition to Siberia 
and Central Asia, which resulted in some 
valuable discoveries, published in his Asie 
Centrale. In 1835 he published at Paris his 
Examen Critique de la Gdographie du Nou¬ 
veau Continent. In 1845 appeared the first 
volume of the Cosmos, his chief work, a vast 
and comprehensive survey of natural pheno¬ 
mena, in which the idea of the unity of the 
forces which move below the variety of 
nature is thoroughly grasped. Humboldt 
died in 1859. 

Humboldt, Karl Wilhelm, Baron von, 
brother of the preceding, was born at 
Potsdam in 1767, and studied at Berlin, at 
Frankfort-on-the-Oder, and at Gottingen. 
After travelling in France and Spain, and 
acting as Prussian minister at Rom’e, he was 
called to fill the office of minister of the 
interior in connection with ecclesiastical and 
educational matters, and had a most im¬ 
portant share in the educational progress 
which Prussia has since made. In 1810 he 
became minister plenipotentiary to Vienna 
took an active part in the conclusion of the 
Peace of Paris (1814), and at the Congress 
of Vienna (1815), and other great diplomatic 
transactions. In 1819 he was an active 
member of the Prussian ministry, but re¬ 
signed and retired to his estate at Tegel, 
where he died in 1835. His works include 
poems, literary essays, &c., but by far the 
most valuable are his philological writings, 
such as Additions and Corrections to Ade- 
lung’s Mithridates; Researches Regarding 
the Original Inhabitants of Spain in Con¬ 
nection with the Basque Language; on the 
Kawi Language of Java; on the Diversity 
of Language and its Influence on the De¬ 
velopment of Speech; &c. 

Hume, David, an eminent historian and 
philosopher, was born at Edinburgh on the 
26th April, 1711. He was destined for the 
law, but was drawn away by his love of 
literature and philosophy; and retired to 
France, where dining three years of quiet 
and studious life he composed his Treatise 
upon Human Nature. The work was pub¬ 
lished at London in 1738, but, in his own 
words, ‘fell dead-born from the press.’ Hia 
next work. Essays, Moral, Political, and 
Literary (Edinburgh, 1742), met with a 
better reception. In 1745 he became com¬ 
panion to the insane Marquis of Annandale; 
and he accompanied General Sinclair ia 



HUME 


HUMMING-BIRDS. 


1746 and 1747 in his expedition against 
France and in a military embassy to Vienna 
and Turin. He now published a recasting 
of his Treatise upon Human Nature, under 
the title of an Inquiry Concerning the Human 
Understanding (1747). In 1752 he published 



David Hume. 


his Political Discourses, which were well re¬ 
ceived, and his Inquiry Concerning the Prin¬ 
ciples of Morals. The same year he ob¬ 
tained the appointment of librarian of the 
Advocates’ Idbrary at Edinburgh, and began 
to write his history of England, of which the 
first volume appeared in 1754. It was, like 
most of the succeeding volumes, severely 
attacked both for its religious and political 
tendencies; but, in spite of adverse criticism, 
his History of England, after its completion 
in 1761, was recognized as a standard work. 
Its merits are chiefly clearness and force of 
narrative and philosophical breadth of view 
in the judgment of men and events. In 
1763 he accepted an invitation from the 
Earl of Hertford, then proceeding as am¬ 
bassador to Paris, to accompany him, and 
was enthusiastically received by Parisian 
circles in his character of philosopher and 
historian. After the departure of Lord 
Hertford in 1756, he remained as charge 
d’affaires, and returned to England in 1766, 
bringing with him Rousseau, for whom he 
procured a pension and a retreat in Derby¬ 
shire. But the morbid sensitivity of Rous¬ 
seau brought about a disagreement which 
put an end to the friendship. In 1767 he 
was appointed under-secretary of state, a 
post which he held till 1769, when he re¬ 


tired to Edinburgh. Here he lived till his 
death on August 25, 1776. Asa philoso¬ 
pher, in which quality his reputation is 
perhaps greatest, Hume’s acute sceptical 
intellect did great service by directing re¬ 
search to the precise character of the funda¬ 
mental conceptions on which our knowledge 
and our beliefs are based. His acute nega¬ 
tive criticism of these conceptions (e.g. his 
reduction of the ideas of personal identity, 
conscience, causalitv, to mere effects of 
association) compelled philosophy either to 
come to a dead halt or to find, as Kant did, 
a new and profounder view of the nature 
of human reason. 

Hume, Joseph, politician and economist, 
born at Montrose in 1777. After studying 
medicine at Edinburgh he was appointed 
marine assistant-surgeon in the service of 
the East India Company. Having qualified 
himself by a diligent study of the native lan¬ 
guages he obtained several lucrative posts 
connected with the commissariat and the 
pay-office, and in 1808, w’hen only in his 
thirty-first year, he was able to return to 
Europe with a considerable fortune. After 
making a tour in Southern Europe and 
Egypt he became in 1812 Tory member for 
the ‘ rotten borough ’ of Weymouth; but 
losing his seat in 1813 began to take an 
active part in reganl to l..ancasterian schools, 
savings’-banks, and other measures of social 
reform. In 1818 he was again returned to 
parliament as member for the Aberdeen dis- 
district of burghs. He represented Mon¬ 
trose from 1842 till his death in 1855. 

Hu'merus, the long cylindrical bone of 
the arm, situated between the shoulder and 
the fore-arm; also the corresponding bone 
in the lower animals. 

Humidity, in meteorology, the amount 
of moisture in the atmosphere. A given 
space can only contain one certain amount 
of water; containing less it will fill up 
with evaporation, if more by condensation. 
When it contains all the moisture it is 
capable of holding, it is said to be saturated. 
If the air contains one-half of the water 
necessary to saturate it the relative humid¬ 
ity is 50; 100 being the point of saturation, 
after which precipitation ensues. 

Humming-birds, the name given to a 
family (Trochilidse) of minute and beautiful 
birds, so called from the sound of their wings 
in flight. The beak is slender, generally long, 
sometimes straight and sometimes curved; 
the tongue is long, filiform, bifid at the point, 
and capable of being protruded to a oon- 

476 





HUMUS 


HUNGARY. 



siderable distance. In size humming-birds 
vary from that of a wren to that of a humble- 
bee. They never light to take food, but 
feed while on the wing, hovering before a 
flower, supported by a rapid vibratory 
movement of the 
wings which pro¬ 
duces the hum¬ 
ming noise. In¬ 
sects form a great 
proportion of 
their food. These 
beautiful birds 
are peculiar to 
America, and al¬ 
most exclusively 
tropical. One spe¬ 
cies, the ruby- 
throated hum¬ 
ming-bird (7Vo- 
chilus coluhris), 

IS pretty common Omismya omotta . 

in the north-east 

of the United States. The only note of the 
humming-bird is a single chirp, not louder 
than that of a cricket. It is very fearless 
and irascible, two males scarcely ever meet¬ 
ing without a contest. Among the more re¬ 
markable of these birds is the tufted-necked 
humming-bird {Ornismya orndta) of Guiana 
and Northern Brazil. In this species the 
crest, outer tail-feathers, and neck-plumes 
are reddish chestnut, the latter tipped with 
green, the throat and upper part of the 
breast are emerald green, the back bronze 
green. Pei'haps four hundred species of 
humming-birds are now known. 

Humus, a substance which occurs in vege¬ 
table mould, and in liquids containing de'- 
composing vegetable matter. Humus as it 
exists in the soil is a product of the decay 
of vegetables. It is a mixture of various car¬ 
bon compounds, which slowly undergo com¬ 
bustion with the production of carbon di¬ 
oxide, water, and ammonia, which are again 
taken up by plants. 

Hundred, in England, a division of a shire 
or county. It was so called, according to 
some writers, because each hundred found 
100 sureties of the king’s peace, or 100 able- 
bodied men of war. Others think it to have 
been so called because originally composed 
of 100 families. Hundreds are said to have 
been first introduced into England by Alfred. 
Formerly if a crime was committed, such 
as robbery, arson, killing or maiming cattle, 
destroying turnpikes or works on navigable 
rivers, the hundred had to make it good; 

477 


but hundreds are now only liable for damage 
done by rioters acting feloniously. 

Hungary (Hungarian name, Magyar- 
Orszdg, Land of the Magyars), a kingdom 
in the south-east of Europe, forming, to¬ 
gether with Austria, the Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy. It includes Hungary Proper, 
with Transylvania, Slavonia, Croatia, the 
Croato-Slavonian Military Frontiers, &c.; 
total area, 125,039 sq. miles, with a pop. of 
16,355,686. Hungary Proper (including 
Transylvania), area, 108,258 sq. miles ai. 
a pop, (1891) of 15,122,514, may be con¬ 
sidered as a large basin surrounded by moun¬ 
tains on every side except the south. Of 
these the principal are the Carpathians, 
which cover the northern and eastern parts 
of the country with their ramifications. 
The Danube and the Theiss, with their af¬ 
fluents, are the chief rivers. The Poprad, 
in the north, is tributary to the Vistula, 
being the only Hungarian river not belong¬ 
ing to the basin of the Danube. The Drave 
forms the south-west frontier on the side of 
Croatia and Slavonia. Between the Danube 
and the Drave lie the two principal lakes, 
the Platten See or Balaton Lake and the 
Neusiedler See, from which the water occa¬ 
sionally disappears. Hungary is one of the 
healthiest countries in Europe, and generally 
has a fertile soil. All kinds of grain, espe¬ 
cially excellent wheat, wines, fruits, tobacco, 
hemp, flax, hops, saffron, woad, madder, su¬ 
mach, cotton, are among the products of 
Hungary. Horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, game 
(in the north bears), poultry, fish (especially 
the sturgeon and salmon), bees, and silk¬ 
worms are among the productions of the 
animal kingdom. Among the minerals are 
gold, silver, cojDper, iron, lead, zinc, cobalt, 
antimony, sulphur, arsenic, salt, &c., with 
coals and peat. The situation of Hungary, 
which occupies an area where the various 
races of Europe meet and interlace, accounts 
for the variety of nationalities it contains. 
These comprise, besides the Hungarians or 
Magyars (over 6,000,000 in number), Rou¬ 
manians, Slovacks, Germans, Servians, Ru- 
thenians, &c. The Magyars, who are the 
dominant race, are located for the most part 
compactly in the centre of the kingdom. 
They are brave, high-spirited, and sincere, 
in many respects resembling their kinsmen 
the Turks. A decided majority are Roman 
Catholics, the rest Protestants, chiefly Cal¬ 
vinists, with a few Greek Catholics, I’lie 
Germans have settled all over the country, 
and there is scarcely a town of Hungary 



HUNGAEY. 


which is not at least partly inhabited by Ger¬ 
mans, while some are essentially German. 
Science, literature, the press, trade and in¬ 
dustry, are for the greater part in their hands. 
The Hungarian has a natural inclination to 
agriculture and the breeding of cattle, and 
the fertility of the soil making up for some 
deficiencies in methods has made Hungary 
one of the chief corn-growing countries of 
Europe. It is also celebrated for its wines, 
the finest variety of which is the Tokay. 
There are few extensive manufactures in 
Hungary. Iron and steel works, potteries, 
glass manufactories, sugar-refineries, soap 
and tallow works, are amongst the principal. 
The production of coal and iron is increasing; 
and the annual value of the mining products 
is about £2,500,000. With regard to popular 
education Hungary is behind the Austrian 
part of the empire, but education was made 
compulsory in 1868. There are universities 
at Budapest, Klausenburg, and Agram. The 
Hungarian language is nearly allied to the 
Turkish and Finnish, but not to any other 
tongue spoken in Europe. It has latterly 
been carefully cultivated, and Hungarians 
have distinguished themselves in all branches 
of literature. Among modern names we can 
only mention those of Andrew Horvath, Eot- 
vos, A. and C. Kisfaludy, Garay, Vorosmarty, 
Petofi, Ker^ny, Arany, Josika, and Jokay. 
Besides its representation in the controlling 
body of Delegations (see A ustrici) Hungary 
since 1867 has an independent Diet, con¬ 
sisting of an Upper and Lower House, the 
first composed of hereditary and life peers, 
church dignitaries and state dignitaries; the 
second of representatives elected by vote.v 
The Austrian emperor is only king of Hun¬ 
gary. Croatia and Slavonia have a common 
diet of their own for the management of in¬ 
ternal affairs. 

History .—The Magyars, an Asiatic people 
of Turanian race, allied to the Finns and 
the Turks, dwelt in what is now Southern 
Kussia before they descended under Arpad 
into the plain of the Danube, towards the end 
of the 9th century, and conquered the whole 
of Hungary and Transylvania. During the 
first half of the 10th century their inva¬ 
sions and incursions spread terror through¬ 
out Germany, France, and Italy; but at 
length their total defeat by 0th o I. of Ger¬ 
many put an end to their maraudings, and 
under their native dynasty of Arpads they 
settled down to learn agriculture and the 
arts of peace. Stephen I. (997-1030) was 
the first who was successful in extending 


Christianity generally amongst the Hun¬ 
garians, and was rewarded by a crown from 
Pope Sylvester II. and with the title of 
apostolic king (1000). Stephen encouraged 
learning and literature, and under him Latin 
became not only the official language of the 
government, but the vehicle of Hungarian 
civilization, which it unfortunately continued 
to be for the next 800 years. In 1089 King 
Ladislaus extended the boundaries of Hun¬ 
gary by the conquest of Croatia and Sla¬ 
vonia, and King Coloman by that of Dalma¬ 
tia in 1102. During the 12th century the 
Hungarians first attained, through French 
connections, a certain refinement of life and 
manners. About the middle of the 13th 
century King Bela induced many Germans 
to settle in the country which had been de¬ 
populated by the Mongol invasions. With 
Andrew III. (1290-1301) the male line of 
the Arpfid dynasty became extinct, and the 
royal dignity now became purely elective. 
Charles Eobert of Anjou was the first 
elected (1309). Louis I. (1342-82) added 
Poland, Eed Eussia, Moldavia, and a part of 
Servia, to his kingdom. The reign of Sigis- 
mund (1387-1437), who was elected Em¬ 
peror of Germany, is interesting from the 
invasion of Hungary by the Turks (1391), 
and the war with the Hussites. Sigismund 
introduced various reforms, and founded 
an academy at Buda. Matthias Corvinus 
(1458-90), combining the talents of a diplo¬ 
matist and general, was equally successful 
against his enemies at home and abroad, 
and is even yet remembered by the popu¬ 
lar mind as the ideal of a just and firm 
ruler. He founded a university at Press- 
burg. During the reigns of Ladislaus II. 
(1490-1516) and Louis II. (1516-26) the 
rapacity of the magnates and domestic 
troubles brought the power of Hungary low, 
and the battle of Mohacs (1526) made a 
great part of the country a Turkish province 
for 160 years. The rest was left in dis¬ 
pute between Ferdinand of Austria and 
John Zapolya; but eventually by the help 
of the Protestants passed to the former, and 
has since remained under the sceptre of the 
Hapsburgs. In 1686 Leopold 1. took Buda 
and recovered most of Hungary and Tran¬ 
sylvania. In 1724 Charles VI. secured by 
the Pragmatic Sanction the Hungarian 
crown to the female descendants of the 
house of Hapsbxirg, and the loyalty of the 
Hungarians to his daughter, Maria Theresa, 
saved the dynasty from ruin. Maria Theresa 
did much for the improvement of Hungary 


HUNGARY-HUNS. 


by the promulgation of the rural code called 
Ur barium, aud by the formation of village 
schools. On the advent of the French re¬ 
volution, and during the wars which ensued, 
the Hungarians once more played a pro¬ 
minent part in support of the Hapsburg 
crown. Napoleon fell, but the revolution 
had given an impetus to ideas of national 
and popular rights which the Hungarians, 
long stifled under the Germanic traditions 
and tendencies of their rulers, were amongst 
the first to feel. For a time Francis I. and 
Metternich stood stiffly out against all con¬ 
cessions, and tried to govern by pure absolut¬ 
ism, but ended by summoning in 1825 a 
new diet. The diet distinguished itself by 
adopting the Magyar language in its uebates 
instead of the Latin to which it had been 
accustomed. Succeeding diets in 1830 and 
1832 made new demands in the direction of 
religious equality, a popular suffrage, and 
abrogation of the privileges of the nobles. 
The Austrian government attempted to re¬ 
press the Hungarian national movement by 
imprisoning Deak, Kossuth, and others of 
the leaders. The struggle continued till 
1848, when the French revolution of that 
year gave the impulse for a similar rising 
in Vienna. Prince Metternich fled to Lon¬ 
don, and the Viennese court made a formal 
concession of all important demands; but 
these had no sooner been granted than the 
government began secretly to work against 
their being put in operation. The depen¬ 
dencies of the Hungarian crown, the Croats 
and the Wallachians of Transylvania were 
privately encouraged to revolt, and in De¬ 
cember of the same year an Austrian army 
took the field with the avowed object of 
annihilating the independence of Hungary; 
but a series of pitched battles resulted on 
the whole so much in favour of the Hun¬ 
garians that Austria was obliged to call in 
the aid of Russia, which was at once granted. 
After a heroic struggle the Hungarians had 
to succumb. The nation was reduced to 
the position of a province, and some of the 
greatest statesmen and soldiers of Hungary 
perished on the scaffold. But the struggle 
was continued by the Hungarians in the 
form of a constitutional agitation, and at 
last, when the battle of Sadowa in 1866 
separated Austria from Germany, Austria, 
left face to face with a nation almost as 
powerful and numerous as itself, felt com¬ 
pelled to submit. In 1867 a separate con¬ 
stitution and administration for Hungary 
was decreed, and on 8th June the emperor 

479 


and empress were crowned king and queen 
of Hungary with the utmost pomp, accord¬ 
ing to the ancient ceremonies of a Hun¬ 
garian coronation. The dualism of the Aus¬ 
trian empire was thus finally constituted. 
It was indeed but the partial recognition of 
the fact that the empire was a heterogeneous 
assemblage of communities differing widely 
in race, language, social habits and customs, 
and bound together only by the accident of 
having fallen to the house of Hapsburg. 

Hungary-balsam, a kind of turpentine 
procured horaPinusPumilio, the mountain- 
pine of Hungary. 

Hungary-water, a distilled water con¬ 
sisting of dilute alcohol aromatized with the 
tops of flowers of rosemary or other aroma¬ 
tic substances, used as a perfume: so called 
because first made for the use of a queen of 
Hungary. 

Hunger, a craving for food. It is a sen¬ 
sation partly arising in the stomach, since 
it may be relieved temporarily by the in¬ 
troduction into the stomach of material 
which is incapable of yielding any nutri¬ 
ment to the body. It may be due to a con¬ 
dition of fulness of the vessels of the sto¬ 
mach, relieved by any stimulus which, acting 
on the lining membrane, induces a flow of 
fluid from the glands. But it also arises 
from a condition of the system since the 
introduction of nutriment into the blood, 
apart altogether from the stomach, will 
relieve it. This is also evident from the 
fact that hunger may be experienced even 
when the stomach is full of food, and when 
food is supplied in abundance, if some dis¬ 
ease prevents the absorption of the nourish¬ 
ment, or quickly drains it from the blood. 
Hunger may be partially allayed by sleep 
or by the use of narcotics, tobacco, and al¬ 
cohol, all of which tend to diminish the dis¬ 
integration of tissue, 

Huningen (hu'ning-en), a town of Ger¬ 
many, in Upper Alsace, formerly fortified. 
It has a famous fish-breeding establishment. 
Pop. 1704. 

Huns, a noniadic and warlike people of 
Asia, of Mongolian race, part of whom 
entered Europe, probably in the 4th cen¬ 
tury after Christ, conquered the Alans, 
and drove the Goths out of Dacia. They 
continued to extend their dominion along 
the Danube till the time of Attila (434 
A.D.), who, uniting the whole Hunnish 
power in one hand became the most power¬ 
ful prince of his time. (See Attila.) His 
defeat near Chalons was the commencement 



HUNT 


HUNTER. 


of the decline of the power of the Huns, 
and within a generation after his death in 
453, the great Hunnish empire had com¬ 
pletely disappeared, and the race been 
absorbed amongst other barbarous peoples. 
The term Huns was used by ancient and 
mediaeval writers in a very vague way to 
indicate barbarous hordes invading Europe 
from the north-east. The Huns are de¬ 
scribed as a race of dark complexion with 
small black eyes, flat noses, and broad shoul¬ 
ders. 

Hunt, James Henky Leigh, an English 
poet and essayist, born in 1784. He was 
educated at Christchurch Hospital, where 
he attained some distinction, entered the 
office of his brother, an attorney, and after¬ 
wards obtained a situation in the war office. 
In 1808, in conjunction with his brother 
John, he started the Examiner newspaper, 
which soon became prominent for the fear¬ 
lessness with which public matters were 
discussed. Ere long official resentment took 
shape in two prosecutions of the brothers, 
the second of which, occasioned by an article 
in the paper of *22d March, 1812, reflect¬ 
ing on the character of the prince regent, 
resulted in the brothers being sentenced to 
pay a fine of £500 each, and to suffer two 
years’ imprisonment. During his confine¬ 
ment he wrote several works, amongst which 
are the Feast of the Poets, the Descent of 
Liberty, and the Story of Rimini. In 1818 
appeared Foliage, a collection of original 
poems and translations from Homer, Theo¬ 
critus, Bion, &c.; and in 1819 the Indicator 
was started, a weekly journal on the model 
of the Spectator, which contained some of 
his best essays. In 1822 he proceeded to 
Italy, having received an invitation thither 
from Byron and Shelley, and, in conjunction 
with the former, carried on a newspaper 
called the Liberal; but it proved unsuccess¬ 
ful. On his return to England Hunt pub¬ 
lished Recollections of Lord Byron and 
some of his Contemporaries (two vols., 1828), 
which provoked somewhat the indignation 
of the noble poet’s friends. Among his 
subsequent w'orks may })e mentioned, A 
legend of Florence, a play represented wdth 
some success at Covent Garden in 1840; 
Stories from the Italian Poets (two vols. 
1846); Men, Women, and Books (1847); 
A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla (1847); 
the Town, its IVIeraorable Characters and 
Events (1848); Autobiography (three vols. 
1850); Table Talk (1850). In 1842 Mrs. 
Shelley settled an annuity of £120 upon 


Leigh Hunt, and in 1847 a government 
pension of £200 a year was bestowed on 
him. 

Hunt, William Holman, an English pain¬ 
ter, born in 1827 at London. He was trained 
in the Royal Academy school, and began to 
exhibit in 1846. He belongs to the so-called 
Pre-Raphaelite school of English artists. 



W. Holman Hunt. 


(See Pre-Raphaelite School.) In 1853 his 
Claudio and Isabella first attracted public 
attention, followed next year by the Light 
of the World (Christ teaching in the temple). 
Mr. Hunt then made a journey to the 
East, the fruits of which are observable in 
the local colouring and strength of realiza¬ 
tion in his succeeding pictures of Eastern 
life, amongst which w'e may mention The 
Scapegoat (1856); The Finding of the Sav¬ 
iour in the Temple (1860); Shadow of the 
Cross (1873); Plains of Esdraelon (1877); 
Triumph of the Innocents (1885). Outside 
of Biblical subjects Mr. Hunt has painted 
some notable pictures: Isabella and the Pot 
of Basil, The After-Glow, The Festival of 
St. Swithin, &c. 

Hunter, John, surgeon and physiologist, 
was bora at Long Calderwmod, Lanarkshire, 
in 1728. He assisted his brother-in-law, 
a carpenter in Glasgow, for some time in 
his trade, but afterwards went as assistant 
to his brother William, a prosperous surgeon 
in London. In 1756 he was appointed 
house-surgeon at St. George’s Hospital, and 
also lectured in his brother’s school of ana¬ 
tomy. In 1760, his health needing a change 
of climate, he became staff-surgeon and went 
with the army to Portugal. Three years 

480 





HUNTER-HURDY-GURDY. 


afterwards he returned to London, and, in 
1768, was appointed surgeon to St. George’s 
Hospital; in 1790 surgeon-general to the 
army, and inspector-general of hospitals. 
He died in 1798. Hunter contributed 
greatly to the high development of English 
surgery, as well as to the advance of anatomy 
and physiology. One of his chief works was 
on the Blood, Inflammation, and Gun-shot 
Wounds (1794). His valuable museum of 
surgical and anatomical subjects was pur¬ 
chased by the government and presented to 
the Royal College of Surgeons. 

Hunter, William, M.D., physician and 
anatomist, elder brother of the preceding, 
was born at Long Calderwood, Lanarkshire, 
in 1718; studied at Glasgow with a view to 
entering the church, but abandoned theology 
for medicine. In 1741 he went to London, 
where he became a member of the College of 
Surgeons; acquired a large practice in sur¬ 
gery and midwifery; was appointed accou¬ 
cheur to the British Lying-in Hospital, and 
in 1764 physician-extraordinary tothequeen; 
in 1767 a fellow of the Royal Society; in 
1780 foreign associate of the Royal Medical 
Society at Paris, &c. In 1770 he established 
a theatre of anatomy for his own lectures 
and a splendid museum for his anatomical 
preparations, objects of natural history, pic¬ 
tures of ancient coins and medals, &c. He 
was the author of some important works, 
in particular the Anatomy of the Human 
Gravid Uterus, published in 1774. He died 
in 1783, bequeathing the whole of his splen¬ 
did museum, valued at £150,000, to the Uni¬ 
versity of Glasgow, with the sum of £8000 
in cash to be expended in a building for its 
reception, and a further sum of £500 per 
annum to bear the charges of its preserva¬ 
tion. 

Hunting. See Fox-hunting. 

Huntingdon (contracted Hunts), a small 
county of England; area, 229,515 acres. The 
north-eastern portion is included within the 
great fen district and is princij)ally devoted 
to grazing. The soil has been much im¬ 
proved by scientific farming. Pop. 57,772. 

Huntingdon, Selina, Countess of, 
was born in 1707, died in 1797. Celebrated 
as the founder of a religious sect. 

Huntingdon, Huntingdon co.. Pa. A 
manufacturing borough. Pop. 5729. 

Huntington, Huntington co., Ind. 
Celebrated for inexhaustible quarries of 
limestone. Pop. 1890, 7328. 

Huntington, Cabell co,, W. Va. The 
seat of Marshall College. Pop. 10,108, 
VOL. IV. 481 


Huntington, Suffolk co., N. Y., 38 m. e. 
of New York city. Bricks are here made 
in large quantity. Pop. 1890, 8277. 

Huntington, Daniel, artist and Presi¬ 
dent of the National Academy, was born 
in New York in 1816. He studied at 
Hamilton College. In 1836 he spent some 
months in the Highlands of the Hudson, 
and painted several views. After a visit to 
Europe in 1839 he returned to New York 
and devoted himself to ])ortraits, but 
has executed a great number of genre and 
historical pieces. In 1862-69 was Presi¬ 
dent of the National Academy, and again 
in 1877. Among his later works are 
“Philosophy and Christian Art” (1878), 
and “Goldsmith’s Daughter” (1884), 
Among his portraits are those of President 
Lincoln and U. S. Senator John Sherman. 

Huntly, a town of Scotland in Aberdeen¬ 
shire, 41 m. N. w. of Aberdeen. Pop. 3519. 

Huntsville, the seat of Madison co., Ala. 
A handsome city, with rnagnificentscenery. 
It has fine public buildings, and is an 
educational centre. Pop. 1890, 7995. 

Hura, a genus of 
tropical American 
plants, nat. order 
Euphorbiaceae. H. 
crepitans,the sand¬ 
box tree, is remark¬ 
able for the loud 
report with which 
its seed - vessel 
bursts. It is a large 
branching tree 
with glossy poplar¬ 
like leaves, incon¬ 
spicuous* dioecious 
flowers, and large, 
furrowed, roundish 
fruits of the size of 
an orange. 

Hurdles, frames 
formed of perpen¬ 
dicular stakes with horizontal bars, and 
braced with diagonal pieces for the purpose 
of forming temporary fences. In fortifica¬ 
tion the name is given to a collection of 
twigs or sticks closely interwoven and sus¬ 
tained by long stakes, and serving to render 
works firm, or to cover traverses and lodge¬ 
ments for the defence of workmen against 
fireworks or stones. 

Hurdwar. See HardvMr. 

Hurdy-gurdy, a stringed instrument, 
played by turning a handle. Its tones are 
produced by the friction of a wheel acting 

127 



HURON- 


HUSKISSON. 


the part of a bow against four strings, two 
of which are pressed by the fingers or by 
keys. The other two strings are tuned a 
fifth apart to 
produce a drone 
bass, and are 
not stopped by 
the fingers or 
keys. 

Huron, Lake, 
one of the five 
great lakes on 
the frontiers of 
the -United 
States and Ca¬ 
nada. It is the 
third in size, be¬ 
ing 218 miles 
long north and 
south, and (including Georgian Bay) 180 
miles broad at its widest part, with an area 
of about 21,000 miles. It lies 578 feet above 
sea-level. The lake contains several thou¬ 
sand islands, varying in size from a few 
square feet to huge islands like the Great 
Manitoulin, which is about 107 miles long 
and from 4 to 25 miles wide, and is the only 
one inhabited. The waters are very clear 
and pure, abound in fish, and have a depth 
averaging from 800 to 1000 feet. 

Huronian-rocks, in geology, a term ap¬ 
plied to certain rocks on the banks of Lake 
Huron, consisting of quartzite, with masses 
of chloritic schist. They occupy the same 
relative position as the upper parts of the 
Archaean rocks of Britain. 

Hurons. See Wyandots. 

Hus (hos), John. See Huss. 

Husband and Wife. Recent legislation 
in most countries has been in the direction 
of putting husband and wife on an equality, 
whereas formerly the wife to a great extent 
lost her separate status on marriage. Thus, 
for instance, by the English common law 
her personal property passed at once to her 
husband on marriage, though this might be 
obviated by special settlements, &c. But 
the law no longer stands so, especially since 
the act of 1882. By this statute a married 
woman can acquire, hold, and dispose by 
will or otherwise, of property as if she were 
an unmarried woman, and may enter into 
any contract, and sue or be sued without 
the participation of her husband. A wo¬ 
man carrying on a business separately from 
her husband is subject to the bankruptcy 
laws as if she were unmarried. Every mar¬ 
ried woman has, even against her husband, 


the same civil remedies, and also the same 
remedies by way of criminal proceedings for 
the protection and security of her own 
property as if she were unmarried; but she 
cannot take criminal proceedings against 
her husband while they are living together. 
Generally a husband is not bound by the 
contracts of his wife unless they are made 
by his express or implied authority. In 
the United States, likewise, the tendency 
has been in the direction of ptitting hus¬ 
band and wife on a plane of equality. Each 
State has its laws governing the subject. 

Hushiarpur. See Hoshiarpur. 

Hus'kisson, William, English statesman, 
born in 1770. In 1790 he was appointed 
secretary to Lord Gower, the British ambas¬ 
sador at Paris, and in 1795 became under¬ 
secretary for war and the colonies. In 1796 
he became member of parliament for Mor 
peth, and in 1804 secretary of the treasury in 
the Pitt administration. In 1814 he was 
appointed chief commissioner of woods and 
forests; he was returned for Liverpool in 
1823, and made president of the board of 
trade. In 1827 he became secretary of 



William HuskissoD. 


state for the colonies, under I-iord Goderich. 
He had now come to be a recognized autho¬ 
rity on all questions of trade and commerce. 
In 1828 a misunderstanding with the Duke 
of Wellington, then at the head of the 
cabinet, led to his withdrawing, along with 
other Tories, from the administration. He 
was accidentally killed at the opening of 
the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 
15th September, 1830. 

482 



Hurdy-gurdy. 



HUTCHESON. 


HUSO 


Huso {Acipenser huso), the great or white 
sturgeon. See Sturgeon. 

Huss, or Hus, John, Bohemian religious 
reformer, born about 1373. He studied at 
the University of Prague, took the degree 
of Master of Arts in 1396, and in 1398 began 
to lecture on theology and philosophy. In 
1401 he was made dean of the faculty of 
philosophy, became the leader of the Bohe¬ 
mian in opposition to the German professors 
and academicians, and after the withdrawal 
of the latter to Leipzig, was made rector of 
the university (1409). Since 391 he had 
been acquainted with the writings of Wick- 
liffe, and his denunciation of the papal in¬ 
dulgences, of masses for the dead, of auricu¬ 
lar confession, &c., alarmed Archbishop 
Sbynko of Prague, who had 200 volumes of 
Wickliffe’s writings burned (1410) in the 
archiepiscopal palace, and the preaching in 
Bohemian prohibited. Huss appealed to 
the pope, John XXIII,, who summoned 
him to appear at Rome. Huss refused to 
appear, and was in consequence excom¬ 
municated, and Prague laid under an inter¬ 
dict as long as Huss should remain in it. 
The people of Prague, however, stood by 
their preacher, and the pope was compelled 
to acquiesce. But the quarrel broke out 
again when Huss and his friend Jerome 
publicly condemned the papal indulgences 
granted for the crusade against Ladislaus 
of Naples. Huss was again excommunicated 
and Prague interdicted. The reformer now 
retired to Hussinatz to the protection of his 
feudal lord, and here he wrote his books 
On the Six Errors and On the Church, in 
which he attacks transubstantiation, the 
belief in the pope and the saints, the efficacy 
of the absolution of a vicious priest, uncon¬ 
ditional obedience to earthly rulers, and 
simony, which was then extremely preva¬ 
lent, and makes the Scriptures the only 
' rule of matters of religion. The approba¬ 
tion with which these doctrines were re¬ 
ceived, both among the nobility and com¬ 
mon people, increased the party of Huss in 
a great degree, and emboldened him to 
comply with the summons of the Council 
of Constance to defend his opinions before 
it. The Emperor Sigismund, by letters of 
safe conduct, became responsible for his 
personal safety; and John XXIIL, after 
his arrival at Constance, November 4, made 
promises to the same effect. Notwithstand¬ 
ing this, he was thrown into prison, No¬ 
vember 28, and after several public examina¬ 
tions, conducted with little regard to justice 

483 


and the rights of the accused, he was sen¬ 
tenced to death on July 6, 1415, and burned 
alive the same day, and his ashes thrown 
into the Rhine. See also Hussites. 

Hussars', originally the name of the Hun¬ 
garian cavalry, raised by Matthias I. in 
1458. Every twenty houses were obliged 
to furnish a man, and thus from the Hun¬ 
garian word husz (twenty) was formed the 
name Huszar, Hussar, afterwards applied 
generally to light cavalry, similarly dressed 
and armed, of other European armies. 

Hussites, the followers of John Huss. 
After the death of Huss, his adherents took 
up arms for the defence of their principles, 
and under the leadership of Johann Ziska, 
captured Prague, fortified Mount Tabor, and 
repeatedly defeated the -troops sent against 
them by the Emperor Sigismund, who had 
succeeded to the crown of Bohemia. Ziska 
died in 1424, and was succeeded by Pro¬ 
copius, who also distinguished himself by 
many victories. The excesses of this party, 
however, who were called the Taborites, 
alienated the moderate Hussites, who called 
themselves Calixtines, and who finally united 
with the Catholics by the Compact of Prague 
in 1433 to acknowledge Sigismund as king, 
certain concessions, especially the use of the 
cup for the laity, having been made to them 
by the Council of Basel. The Taborites 
thus weakened were totally defeated at 
Bomischbrod on 31st May, 1434, and after¬ 
wards declined as a political party, finally 
becoming merged in the Bohemian Brethren. 
See Bohemia, Bohemian Brethren. 

Hustings, (1) a name given to a court 
formerly held in many cities of England, as 
York, Winchester, Lincoln, but especially 
applied to the county court of the city of 
London held before the lord- mayor, recorder, 
and sheriffs. (2) The platform from which 
candidates for seats in parliament addressed 
the constituency on their nomination pre¬ 
vious to the Ballot Act of 1872. 

Husum (ho'zum), a seaport of Prussia in 
Schleswig-Holstein, with a good trade. Pop. 
6267. 

Hutch'eson, Francis, LL.D., philoso¬ 
phical writer, born in Ireland in 1694. He 
studied at the University of Glasgow from 
1710 to 1716, was licensed to preach, but 
set up a private academy in Dublin. In 
1725 his celebrated Inquiry into the Ideas 
of Beauty and Virtue appeared, followed 
in 1728 by his Treatise on the Passions. In 
1729 he was called to the chair of moral 
philosophy at Glasgow. The main features 



HUTCHINSON 


HUXLEY. 


of his philosophical teaching are the theory 
of a distinct moral sense or conscience pecu¬ 
liar to man, and his view of virtue as bene¬ 
volence. Hutcheson’s moral philosophy is 
strongly opposed to the empiricism of Locke, 
and in this respect he may be considered as 
the precursor of Reid and the Scottish school 
of philosophy. Tn 1755 a System of Moral 
Philosophy was published from his MSS. 

Hutch'inson, John, an English officer of 
the parliament, and governor of Notting¬ 
ham Castle during the great civil war, was 
born at Nottingham in 1616, studied at 
Cambridge, and afterwards went to London 
to study law. In 1638 he married I^ucy, 
the daughter of Sir Allan Apsley. On the 
outbreak of the civil war he joined the 
popular party, and was appointed governor 
of Nottingham Castle, which he defended 
against the royalists with great skill and 
gallantry. On the termination of the war 
he was returned to parliament for his native 
town, and was a member of the high court 
of justiciaVy which condemned the king to 
death, but subsetpiently retired from public 
life, because he disapproved of Cromwell’s 
arbitrary conduct as ruler. After the Re¬ 
storation Colonel Hutchinson was arrested 
and died in prison in 1664. 

Hutchinson, Reno co., Kansas, 33 m. W. 
of Newton, situated in a healtliy, fertile 
region. Pop. 1890, 8682. 

Hutten, IJlkich von, a German knight, 
distinguished for the influence which his 
writings exercised upon the Reformation, 
was born at the family castle of Steckel- 
berg on the Main, in 1488, and educated at 
the famous monastic school of Fulda. He 
led a wandering and unsettled life, some¬ 
times appearing as the man of letters and 
controversialist, at other times as the sol¬ 
dier. His first attacks on the Roman 
Church were in connection with his defence 
of the persecuted Reuchlin, and with the 
issuing of the Epistolae Obscurorum Viro- 
rum (which see). In 1517 he was crowned 
laureate at Augsburg, and knighted by the 
emperor. A year or two after he retired to 
his paternal castle to write work after work, 
addressing the people, like Luther, in their 
native German, and denouncing the arro¬ 
gance and corruption of Rome. The Roman 
authorities at length began to move against 
him, and he fled to the castle of his friend 
Franz von Sickingen, and from that again 
to Switzerland, where he died in 1523. 

Hutiton, Charles, LL.D., an English 
mathematician, born in 1737. He was first 


a teacher of mathematics at Newcastle, but 
having published in 1772 a small work on 
the Principles of Bridges, which attracted 
attention, he was next year appointed pro¬ 
fessor of mathematics at Woolwich College. 
In 1785 he published his Mathematical 
Tables, followed not long after by his Tracts, 
Mathematical and Philosophical, and Ele¬ 
ments of Conic Sections. His Mathematical 
and Philosophical Dictionary appeared in 
1795-96; his Course of Mathematics in 1798, 
with an additional volume in 1811. In 1812 
he published another collection of Tracts on 
mathematical and philosophical subjects. 
He died in 1823. 

Hutton, James, Scottish geologist, born 
at Edinburgh in 1726. He studied at the 
university there and at Leyden, where he 
graduated as M.D. in 1749. Returning to 
Scotland he settled for a time on a farm of 
his own in Berwickshire, but about 1768 
went to Edinburgh, and devoted himself to 
scientific researches. His name is especially 
connected with a geological system, the chief 
features of which are his recognition of the 
similarity of processes in the past and pre¬ 
sent, and his theory of igneous fusion as 
accounting for most geological phenomena. 
Among his numerous works are an Investi¬ 
gation of the Principles of Knowledge, 
Theory of Rain, Theory of the Earth, with 
Proofs and Illustrations (1795). He died 
in 1797. 

Huxley, Thomas Henry, English natu¬ 
ralist, born May 4,1825. He graduated M. B. 
at the University of London in 1845, and 
entered the royal navy as assistant-surgeon 
in 1846. He sailed with H.M.S. Rattlesnake 
on a surveying expedition to Australasia, 
during which he sent a number of valuable 
papers to the Royal Society. He has been 
professor of natural history in the school of 
mines, Fullerian professor of physiology to 
the Royal Institution, Hunterian professor 
in the Royal College of Surgeons, presi¬ 
dent of the British Association meeting 
held at Liverpool in 1870, lord-rector of 
Aberdeen University in 1872, secretary of 
the Royal Society, substitute professor of na¬ 
tural history for Professor Wy ville Thomp¬ 
son at Edinburgh in 1875 and 1876, a mem¬ 
ber of various royal commissions on fisheries, 
vivisection, universities, &c., and inspector 
of salmon fisheries, but resigned this and al¬ 
most all his other offices in 1885 on account 
of ill health. Amongst his works are The 
Oceanic Hydrozoa (1857), On the Theory of 
the Vertebrate Skull, Man’s Place in Nature 

484 




HYBRID. 


HUY 


(1863), On our Knowledge of the Causes of 
the Phenomena of Organic Nature, a series 
of lectures to working-men delivered in 1862, 
Elements of Comparative Anatomy (1864), 
Elementary Physiology (1866), Introduc¬ 
tion to the Classification of Animals (1869), 



Thomas Henry Huxley. 


Lay Sermons, Addresses, and Reviews 
(1870), Critiques and Addresses (1873), 
American Addresses (1877), Physiography 
(1877), Anatomy of Invertebrate Animals 
(1877), The Crayfish (1879), Science and 
Culture (1882). Professor Huxley has re¬ 
ceived numerous distinctions. Died 1895. 

Huy (we), a town of Belgium, province 
of and 18 miles south-west of Liege. It 
has a strongly-fortified citadel. Pop. 13,114. 

Huygens (hoi'gens), Christian, Dutch 
mathematician and physicist, born in 1629. 
He studied at Leyden, and at Breda, where 
he went through a course of civil law from 
1646-48. He made several journeys to Den¬ 
mark, France, and England; in 1666 settled 
at the invitation of Colbert in Paris, where 
he remained till 1681, when he returned to 
Holland on account of his health. He died 
at the Hague in 1695. Among his most 
important contributions to science are his 
investigations on the oscillations of the pen¬ 
dulum, and his System of Saturn, in which 
he first proved that the ring completely sur¬ 
rounds the planet, and determined the in¬ 
clination of its plane to that of the ecliptic. 
In 1690 he published important treatises 
on light and on weight. His Traite de la 
Lumiere was founded on the undulation 
theory, but in consequence of the prevalence 

485 


of the Newtonian theory it was long ne¬ 
glected till later researches established its 
credit. 

Huysum (hoi'sum), Jan Van, distin¬ 
guished Dutch flower and fruit painter, born 
at Amsterdam in 1682. He worked at first 
with his father Justus Huysum, a picture- 
dealer and painter, but afterwards set up 
on his own account, devoting himself to the 
painting of fruit and flowers, in which he 
reached the highest perfection, surpassing 
all his predecessors in softness and delicacy 
of colour, fineness of pencilling, and exqui¬ 
site finish. He was extremely jealous of 
rivalry, and kept his methods of working, 
preparation of colours, &c., a deep secret. 
He died at Amsterdam 1749. His brother 
Justus was a battle painter, and died at the 
age of twenty-two years. Another brother, 
Jakob, copied his brother’s flower and fruit 
pieces so perfectly that they have been mis¬ 
taken for that master’s work. He died in 
England in 1740. 

Hwaiig-ho. See Hoang-ho. 

Hy'acinth, a genus of liliaceous bulb¬ 
ous plants, including about thirty species, 
amongst which the garden hyacinth {Ili/a- 
cinthus orientdlis) is celebrated for the im¬ 
mense varieties which culture has produced 
from it. It is a native of the Levant, and 
was first cultivated as a garden flower by 
the Dutch about the beginning of the 16th 
century. 

Hy'acinth, or Jacinth, a variety of the 
mineral zircon, whose crystals, when dis¬ 
tinct, have the form of a four-sided prism, 
terminated by four rhombic planes, which 
stand on the lateral edges. Its prevailing 
colour is a red, more or less tinged with 
yellow or brown. The name hyacinth is 
also given to varieties of the garnet or cin¬ 
namon stone, the sapphire, and topaz, 

Hy'ades, a cluster of five stars in the 
constellation Taurus, supposed by the an¬ 
cients to indicate the approach of rainy 
weather when they rose with the sun. 

Hyaena. See Hyena. 

Hya-hya ( Taherncemontanautilis), amilky 
plant of South America. See Cow-trees. 

Hy'alite, a pellucid variety of opal, re¬ 
sembling colourless gum or resin. 

Hybernation. See Dormant State. 

Hybla, a mountain in Sicily, where thyme 
and odoriferous flowers of all sorts grow in 
abundance. It was famous in ancient times 
for its honey. 

Hybrid, the produce of a female animal or 
plant which has been impregnated by a male 



H YCSOS-HYDERABAD. 


of a different but nearl}’^ allied species or genus. 
Much uncertainty prevails respecting the 
productive crossing of species, but it seems 
to be estah'lished that while the crossing of 
different genera may result in offspring, 
that of different orders will not. Hybrids 
are obtained amongst fishes from different 
species of carp; amongst birds, from the 
goldfinch and canary, the swan and the 
-goose, &c.; amongst niammals, from the 
horse and the zebra, the horse and the ass, 
the produce of the last two being the mule 
proper; from the lion and tiger, the dog and 
wolf, the dog and fox, the goat and ibex. 
Instances of hybrids between animals of dif¬ 
ferent genera have been furnished by the 
union of the goat and the antelope, and of 
the stag and the cow. It used formerly to 
be considered that the propagative power of 
hybrids was either absolutely null, or that 
they propagated only with an individual of 
the pure breed; but the experiments of Mr. 
Darwin and other recent researches have 
shown that although infertility to some de¬ 
gree generally attends sexual intercourse 
between different species, yet in such inter¬ 
course every degree of difference from abso¬ 
lute sterility up to complete fertility is 
found. The results hitherto obtained may 
be summarized as follows:—I'he crossing of 
species of different families is in almost 
every case infertile; allied species are cap¬ 
able of producing offspring, and this capa¬ 
bility is in indefinite ratio to the degree of 
their likeness; hybrids are frequently fertile 
with their parents, but more rarely among 
themselves; there is no fixed relation be¬ 
tween the degree of fertility manifested by 
the parent species when crossed and that 
which is manifested by their hybrid pro¬ 
geny. In many cases two pure species can 
be crossed with unusual facility, while the 
resulting hybrids are remarkably sterile; 
and, on the other hand, there are species 
which can only be crossed with extreme 
difficulty, though the hybrids when pro¬ 
duced are very fertile. 

Hycsos, or Hykshos, or Shepherd Kings, 
wandering tribes of Semitic descent, who 
conquered the whole of Egypt about 2100 
B.C., and were driven out some five hun¬ 
dred years afterwards. The only detailed 
account of them in any ancient writer is a 
passage of a lost work of Manetho, cited by 
Josephus. Their epoch covers the 13th to 
the 17 th dynasties. 

Hydaspes, ancient name of a river of 
India, the modern Jehlam or Jhilam. 


Hyd'atid, a term applied to a kind of 
bladder-worm, which is the larval stage of 
a small tape-worm, the Tcenia echinococcus, 
found in the dog and wolf. The hydatid 
consists of an external sac, which is derived 
from the tissue of the organ in which it is 
situated, and which is filled with buds or 
capsules containing the larvae of the worm. 

Hydo, a town of England, in Cheshire, 
about 7 miles e.s.e. of Manchester. The 
inhabitants are largely employed in cotton 
manufacture and coal mines. There are 
also iron-foundries and engineering works. 
Pop. 1891, 31,682. 

Hyde, or Hide, a measure of land, fre- 
cpiently mentioned in Domesday-book and 
in old English charters, and variously esti¬ 
mated as equivalent to 60, 80, and 100 acres 
—a fact which may be accounted for on the 
supposition that tlie quantity was always 
determined by local usage. It was such a 
portion of land as might be ploughed with 
one plough. The hyde at present is reck¬ 
oned at 100 acres. 

Hyde Park, Norfolk co.. Mass.,residence 
of Boston business men. Po}>. 10,193. 

Hyde Park,a London park containing about 
400 acres, and having on the west Kensington 
Gardens. It abounds with fine ti’ees, and is 
the great fashionable promenade and public 
lounge of western London. It contains the 
Rotten Row, a piece of road set apart for 
equestrians; the Serpentine, a large sheet 
of ornamental water, much frequented in 
summer for bathing, and during frosts for 
skating; and the Albert Memorial, a struc¬ 
ture in memory of the Prince Consort. 

Hyderabad, or Haidarabad (hi-dar-a- 
bad'), a state of Hindustan, which compre¬ 
hends the greater pai't of that central plateau 
of Southern India known as the Deccan, and 
is in possession of a Mohammedan prince, 
the Nizam; area, 80,000 sq. miles, exclu¬ 
sive of the Berar or Hyderabad Assigned 
Districts under British administration. The 
country is intersected or bounded by the 
Godavery, Kistnah, and their tributaries. 
The soil is fertile, though much good land is 
not yet brought under cultivation. The 
chief products are rice, wheat, maize, sugar^ 
cane, tobacco, cotton, indigo, fruits, and 
timber. Pop. 11,537,040. The ruler of Hy¬ 
derabad belongs to a dynasty founded by 
Asaf Jah, a distinguished soldier, whom the 
Emperor Aurungzeb made viceroy of the 
Deccan in 1713, with the title of Nizam or 
Regulator. Mir Mahbub Ali, the present 
Nizam, was born in 1866, and is in point of 

486 





ttYDERABAD-HYDRAULIC CRANE. ’ 


rank the first Mohammedan ruler in India, 
with a regular army of about 15,000, besides 
numerous irregulars. —Hyderabad, the capi¬ 
tal, is situated on the river Musi, at an ele¬ 
vation of 1672 feet above the sea. It is 
surrounded by a stone wall flanked with 
bastions, forming an irregular quadrangle 
about 2f miles long upon the river and 2 
miles broad. Amongst the chief buildings 
are the extensive palace of the Nizam, the 
British residency, the Char Minar, or Four 
Minarets, built about 1590 as a Mohamme¬ 
dan college, b\it now used for warehouses; 
the Jama Ma»jid, or cathedral mosque, de¬ 
signed after the one at jMecca. There are 
manufactures of silks, trinkets, and tur¬ 
bans. Po}). of city, with suburbs, by the 
census of 1891, was given as 415,039. 

Hyderabad, or Haidarabad, a town of 
Hindustan, capital of Hyderabad District, 
Sind. It is situated on a rocky eminence 
about 3 miles from the eastern bank of 
the Indus. The streets are narrow and 
dirty, and the houses mere hovels. 'I'he fort 
contains the arsenal of the province of Sind 
and the palace of the Emirs. The principal 
manufactures are arms, silks, cottons, and 
lacquered ware. Pop. 58,048.—The district 
has an area of 9030 sq. miles; the pop. is 
754,624. 

Hyderabad Assigned Districts. SeejBemr. 



Hyder Ali. 


Hyder Ali, a distinguished Indian prince, 
born in 1728, son of a general in the service 
of the Rajah of Mysore. By his military 

487 


talents he became the actual ruler of Mysore, 
and in 1762 deposed Kandih Rao, and had 
himself chosen Rajah. He encouraged 
agriculture and commerce, reorganized the 
army, and so greatly extended his dominions 
that in 1766 they contained 84,000 sq. miles, 
and afforded an immense revenue. In 1780 
he formed an alliance with the Mahrattas 
against the English, took Arcot, but was 
defeated by Sir Eyre Coote, June 1, 1781. 
The Mahrattas now joining in a league 
against him, he carried on a disadvantageous 
war, during the continuance of which he 
died, in 1782. He was succeeded by his 
son, Tippoo Saib. 

Hydra, in Greek mythology, a celebrated 
monster, which infested the neighbourhood 
of Lake Bern a in the Peloponnesus. Some 
accounts give it a hundred heads, others 
fifty, others nine. As soon as one of these 
heads was cut off two immediately grew up 
if the wound was not stopped by fire. It 
was one of the labours of Heracles to de¬ 
stroy this monster, and this he effected with 
the assistance of lolaus, who applied a 
burninor iron to the wounds as soon as one 

o 

head was cut off. See Heracles. 

Hydra, an island of Greece, on the east 
coast of the Morea; length, 12 miles; 
breadth, about 3. Its surface, though not 
very elevated (highest point 1939 feet), is 
almost entirely composed of bare sterile 
rocks; and the inhabitants, most of whom 
live in the town of Hydra, on the north¬ 
western shore, are engaged in trade and 
commerce. During the war of independence, 
the security which the island afforded raised 
its population for a time to 40,000; and the 
Hydriotes, with their fleet, played an im¬ 
portant part in the struggle. Pop. of island, 
7342; of the town, 6446. 

Hydra (in zoology). See Hydrozoa. 

Hydrangea (hl-dran'j e - a),a genus of shrubs 
or herbs of the nat. order Saxifragacese, con¬ 
taining about thirty-three species, natives of 
Asia and America. The garden hydrangea 
(//. hortensis) is a native of China, and was 
introduced into Britain by Sir J. Banks in 
1790. It is a favourite for the beauty and 
size of its flowers. 

Hydraulic Crane, a crane wrought by 
the pressure of water applied on the prin¬ 
ciple of the hydraulic or hydrostatic press 
(which see). The mechanism consists of 
one or more such presses, with sheaves or 
pulleys and chains for the purpose of ob¬ 
taining an extended motion in the chain 
from a comparatively short stroke of the 





HYDRAULICON-HYDROCHLORIC ACID 


piston. The power is applied not only for 
lifting the load, but also for swinging the 
jib, which latter object is effected by means 
of a rack or chain operating on the base of 
the movable part of the crane, and connected 
either with a cylinder and piston having al¬ 
ternate motion, like that of a steam-engine, 
or with two presses applied to produce the 
same effect by alternate action. 

Hydraulicon, an ancient musical instru¬ 
ment played by means of water; a water- 
organ. 

Hydraulic Press, known also as Hydro¬ 
static Press or Bramah's Press. See Hydro¬ 
static Press. 

Hydraul'ic Ram, a machine for raising 
water, and depending for its action on the 
impulse of flowing water. The water falling 
from a reservoir passes into a pipe or cham¬ 
ber (6), at the end of which there is a ball 


e 



Hydraulic Ram. 


valve (c). The rush of supply water at first 
closes this, and the water finding no exit 
there acquires pressure enough to open an¬ 
other valve {d) and pass into an air-vessel 
placed over it (/). The cessation of pres¬ 
sure at valve c allows it to fall again; an 
outrush of water takes place there, relieving 
valve d, which again closes. The pressure 
of the flowing water upon valve c once more 
closes this valve, and valve d again opens, 
and an additional quantity of water is forced 
into the air-vessel; and so on by a series of 
pulsations which send the water along the 
service pipe, and, in properly arranged ma¬ 


chines, raise it to a very considerable height, 
although the impulse is derived only from 
the fall of a few feet. 

Hydraulics, that part of mechanical science 
which has to do with conducting, raising, 
and confining water, or of applying it as a 
motive power. It thus has to do with the 
flow of water in pipes or channels, and with 
the various machines in which water is util¬ 
ized, such as water-wheels, pumps, turbines, 
the archimedean screw, the Barker’s mill, 
the hydraulic ram, the hydraulic crane, the 
hydraulic or hydrostatic press, &c, 

Hy'dride, in chem., a substance consisting 
of hydrogen combined with a metal, or some 
base which plays the part of a metal. 

Hydrocarbons, in chem., a series of com¬ 
pounds which consist of carbon and hydro¬ 
gen only. They are produced chiefly by the 
decomposition of organic substances, either 
slowly by natural causes, or by artificial 
means, as in the case of the destructive dis¬ 
tillation of coal for the purpose of making 
gas. Certain of the hydrocarbons are also 
found in the gums which exude from trees. 
Among the best known are paraffin, benzine, 
turpentine. 

Hydrocele (hi'dro-sel), a collection of ser¬ 
ous fluid in some of the coverings of the tes¬ 
ticle or spermatic cord, or in the areolar 
texture of the scrotum. It is generally the 
result of a strain or an inflammation of the 
testes. A large tumour is formed, filled with 
fluid, which has often to be drawn off three 
or four times a year. A radical cure may 
be effected by setting up an inflammation 
which brings the opposite surfaces of the sac 
into adhesion, and thus obliterates the cavity. 

Hydroceph'alus, an accumulation of fluid 
within the cavity of the cranium; dropsy of 
the brain. See Dropsy. 

Hydrocharidacese, a nat. order of mono- 
cotyledonous floating and creeping plants, 
inhabiting ditches, rivers, and lakes in vari¬ 
ous parts of the world. The genus Anach- 
aris belongs to it. See AnacAaWs. 

Hydrochloric Acid, or Muriatic Acid 
(H Cl), a gaseous compound of equal volumes 
of hydrogen and chlorine. It is evolved 
during volcanic eruptions, and is found in 
the water which collects in the crevices of 
mountains, as well as in rivers which take 
their rise in volcanic formations, especially 
in South America. It may be produced by 
decomposing common salt with sulphuric 
acid, or by bringing equal volumes of chlo¬ 
rine and hydrogen together and exposing 
the mixture to diffused daylight without 

488 


























































HYDROCHLORIC ETHER-HYDROKINETICS. 


condensation. It explodes in direct sun¬ 
light. Hydrochloric acid is colourless, has 
a pungent odour, and an acid taste. It is 
quite irrespirable, extinguishes flame, and 
dissolves very readily in water. The chief 
use of hydrochloric acid in the arts is to 
supply chlorine to the bleaching - powder 
manufacturer. It is also used in the pre¬ 
paration of glue, phosphorus, carbonic acid, 
artificial waters, &c. In medicine it is used 
diluted as a tonic and astringent. In a con¬ 
centrated form it is a powerful caustic. 

Hydrochloric Ether. See Chloric Ether. 

Hydrocyanic Acid. Same as Prussic 
Acid (which see). 

Hydrodynamics, a branch of the general 
science of dynamics, treating specially of 
the laws of force as applied to fluids. It is 
divided into hydrostatics, which is concerned 
with forces applied to fluids at rest, and 
hydrokinetics, which treats of the applica¬ 
tion of forces so as to produce motion in 
fluids. The term hydrodynamics is, how¬ 
ever, very often used in the latter sense, 
being thus opposed to hydrostatics. The 
name Hydraulics is given to the subject 
when considered with respect to its practical 
bearing on engineering science. 

Hydro-electric Machine, a machine in 
which electricity is generated by the friction 
of steam against the sides of orifices through 
which it is allowed to escape under high 
pressure. 

Hydrofluoric Acid (HF), or Fluohydric 
Acid, an acid which may be obtained either 
in the liquid form or in the anhydrous form, 
as a colourless gas. Both the dry and the 
liquid form act upon the skin with great 
virulence. Hydrofluoric acid is used chiefly 
for etching upon glass. The glass is covered 
with a thin coating of etching wax, and the 
design is traced through the wax down to the 
glass with a fine-pointed instrument. The 
plate is then treated either with an aqueous 
solution of the acid or is exposed to the gas 
itself. After a sufficient length of time the 
wax is dissolved away and the design becomes 
visible. In chemistry hydrofluoric acid is 
used to decompose and dissolve silicates in 
mineral analysis. 

Hy'drogen, an important elementary sub¬ 
stance, one of the elements of water and a 
component of all vegetable and animal pro¬ 
ducts. It may be obtained by passing the 
vapour of water over red-hot iron filings, or 
by submitting water to the action of an 
electric current, whereby it is decomposed 
into its elements hydrogen and oxygen. 

489 


Pure hydrogen is a colourless, tasteless, in¬ 
odorous gas; it is very inflammable, burning 
with a pale, very slightly luminous, but 
intensely hot flame; it is a powerful refrac¬ 
tor of light; the least dense and the most 
rapidly diffusible of all the gases and the 
lightest body in nature, being about 14| 
times lighter than atmospheric air, vvith a 
specific gravity of ‘0693. In consequence of 
its extreme lightness it is the recognized 
standard of unity in referring to the atomic 
weight of bodies, and it has also been as¬ 
sumed as the unit in speaking of the specific 
gravity of gases, although common air is 
the more generally received standard. Hy¬ 
drogen cannot support respiration, but is 
not directly poisonous, death ensuing from 
mere absence of oxygen. Two volumes of 
hydrogen with six of air form an explosive 
mixture. The most intense heat that can 
be produced is caused by the burning of 
hydrogen in oxygen gas, and this principle 
has been applied to increase the temperature 
of blast-furnaces in iron-works by making 
the gases pass separately through heated 
tubes to the furnace. Hydrogen is only 
slightly soluble in water, nor is there any 
other liquid which is capable of dissolving it 
in great quantity. Hydrogen gas can be 
liquefied by exposure to 650 atmospheres 
pressure and - 140° C., but remains liquid at 
320 atmospheres pressure, the temperature 
remaining the same. It unites with all 
other elementary gaseous bodies, and forms 
with them compounds, not only of great 
curiosity, but of vast importance and utility; 
with nitrogen it forms ammonia; with 
chlorine, hydrochloric acid; with fluorine, 
hydrofluoric acid, &c. 

Hydrog'raphy,that branch of geographical 
science which has for its object the descrip¬ 
tion and natural phenomena of the water on 
the surface of the globe, whether in seas, 
lakes, or rivers. It may deal with the rivers, 
watersheds, lakes, &c., of a particular coun¬ 
try; and it also embraces the determination 
of winds, currents, and other departments of 
marine-surveying. In Britain, France, the 
United States, &c., there are hydrographic 
departments kept up by government, which 
publish accurate charts of coasts, issue sail¬ 
ing directions, &c. 

Hydrokinet'ics, that branch of hydro¬ 
dynamics which treats of the application of 
forces producing motion in fluids, having 
thus to do with the flow of liquids in pipes, 
its issue from orifices under certain pres¬ 
sures, &c. See Hydrodynamics. 



HYDROMETER - 

Hydrom'eter, an instrument primarily for 
determining the specific gravity of fluids, 
though some of them can also determine the 
specific gravity of solids. The hydrostatic 
principle on which the use of the hydrometer 
depends is the well-known one that when a 
solid body floats in a liquid, and 
thus displaces a quantity of the 
liquid, the weight of the solid 
body is equal to the weight of the 
liquid that it displaces. The den¬ 
sity of the liquid is determined 
either by observing the depths to 
which the hydrometer sinks in 
the liquid (the hydrometer of va¬ 
riable immersion) or the weights 
required to make it sink to a 
given depth (the hydrometer of Hydrometer, 
constant immersion). Of the sec¬ 
ond kind of hydrometer Nicholson’s is a good 
example. It consists of a hollow cylinder of 
metal, surmounted with a very fine metallic 
stem, to the top of which there is attached a 
plate or pan for weights. From the bottom 
of the metallic cylinder hangs a kind of cup 
or basket. The whole instrument is weighted 
so as to float upright. On the fine metallic 
stem there is a marked point: and by put¬ 
ting weights on the upper pan the hydro¬ 
meter is always made to sink precisely to 
this point. Thus the volume immersed is 
always the same. From what was said 
above, it is seen at once that different 
weights are required to sink it to the marked 
point in different liquids, the denser the 
liquid the greater being the weight required ; 
and if the weight of the instrument itself is 
known, and also the standard weiyht, or 
weight required to sink it to the marked 
point in distilled water, the calculation of 
the specific gravity of any liquid from an ob¬ 
servation with the instrument is very easy. 
But the specific gravity of solids can also be 
found by means of Nicholson’s hydrometer, 
for which purpose the instrument is placed 
in distilled water and the solid bod}' is put 
on the upper pan. Weights are then added 
till the hydrometer sinks to the marked point. 
But the standard weight of the instrument 
being known, it is plain that the difference 
between it and the weights that must be 
added on the \ipper pan to the weight of the 
body whose specific gravity is to be deter¬ 
mined must be the weight in air of that body. 
I’he body is now transferred to the basket 
below the instrument, and the additional 
weights which must now be placed in the dish 
represent the weight of water displaced by 


- HYDROPHOBIA. 

the solid; and the weight of the solid itself 
divided by this weight is the specific gravity 
required. Hydrometers of variable immer¬ 
sion are usually made of glass. Each of them 
has a large hollow bulb, below which there 
is a smaller bulb weighted with mercury to 
make the instrument float upright. The stem 
is cylindrical and is graduated, the divisions 
being frequently marked on a piece of paper 
inclosed within the stem. The depth to 
which the hydrometer sinks in the liquid 
gives the density. 

Hydrop'athy, a method of treating diseases 
by the use of pure water both internally and 
externally, which has come extensively into 
practice. The system was originated by 
Vincent Priessnitz, a Silesian peasant, who 
in 1829 established at his native village of 
Grafenberg an institution for the hydro¬ 
pathic treatment of diseases, and invented 
a variety of forms in which the water cure 
might be applied, such as the wet-sheet 
pack, the dry blanket or sweating pack, the 
sitz, douche, plunge, wave, &c., baths. The 
new system soon acquired popularity, and 
the original establishment expanded into an 
extensive suite of buildings. Other hydro¬ 
pathic institutions soon sprung up in other 
parts of Germany. In 1842 a hydropathic 
society was formed in London, and ere long 
numerous establishments were erected all 
over the United Kingdom. Before Priess- 
nitz’s death in 1851 he had the satisfaction 
of seeing his system adopted extensively 
throughout Europe, as well as in the L^nited 
States of America, where it was introduced 
in 1843. In many cases there can be no 
doubt of patients having received great and 
lasting benefit by a sojourn at a hydropathic 
institution, and the free use of water in its 
various, forms of appliance; but it may 
well be doubted whether these advantageous 
results are not as much to be attributed to 
the ablutions, exercise, and diet to which in 
such circumstances the patients readily con¬ 
form themselves as to the wet bandages, 
douches, and other forms of hydropathic 
treatment. 

Hydrophane, a variety of opal, made 
transparent by immersion in water. See 
Opal. 

Hydropho'bia (Greek hijdor, water, and 
phobos, fear), a specific disease arising from 
the bite of a rabid animal. The' animals 
most liable to be aflfiicted with madness are 
dogs; but cats, wolves, foxes, &c., are also 
subject to it. The early symptoms of rabies 
in the dog are such as restlessness and 

490 












HYDROPHOBIA-HYDROSTATIC PRESS. 


general uneasiness, irritability, sulleiuiess, 
an inclination for indigestible and unnatural 
food, and often a propensity to lap its own 
urine. As the disease proceeds the eyes 
become red, bright, and fierce, with some 
degree of strabismus or squinting; twitch- 
ings occur round the eye, and gradually 
spread over the whole face. After the 
second day the dog usually begins to lose 
perfect control over the voluntary muscles. 
He catches at his food, and either bolts it 
almost unchewed, or, in the attempt to chew 
it, suffers it to drop from his mouth. This 
want of power over the muscles of the jaw, 
tongue, and throat increases until the lower 
jaw becomes dependent, the tongue pro¬ 
trudes from the mouth, and is of a dark, 
and almost black colour. A peculiar kind 
of delirium also comes on, and the animal 
snaps at imaginary objects. His thirst is 
excessive, although there is occasionally a 
want of power to lap. His desire to do 
mischief depends much on his previous dis¬ 
position and habits. He utters also a pe¬ 
culiar howl, and his bark is altogether dis¬ 
similar from his usual tone. In the latter 
stages of the disease a viscid saliva flows 
from his mouth, and his breathing is at¬ 
tended with a harsh, grating sound. The 
loss of power over the voluntary muscles 
extends, after the third day, throughout his 
whole frame, he staggers in his gait, and 
frequently falls. On the fourth or fifth day 
of the disease the dog dies, sometimes in 
convulsions, but more frequently without a 
struggle. In regard to man the rabid virus 
seems to be more violent when it proceeds 
from wolves than from dogs. It appears to 
be contained solely in the saliva of the 
animal, and does not produce any effect on 
the healthy skin. But if the skin is de¬ 
prived of the epidermis, or if the virus is 
applied to a wound, the inoculation will 
take effect. The developnient of the rabid 
symptoms is rarely immediate ; it seldom 
takes place before the fortieth or after the 
sixtieth day, but in some cases has occurred 
after six months or even longer. It begins 
with a slight pain in the scar of the bite, 
sometimes attended with a chill; the pain 
extends and reaches the base of the breast, 
if the bite was on the lower limbs, or the 
throat, if on the upper extremities. The 
patient becomes dejected, morose, and taci¬ 
turn. He prefers solitude, and avoids bright 
light; frightful dreams disturb his sleep; 
the eyes become brilliant; pains in the neck 
and throat ensue. These symptoms precede 

491 


the rabid symptoms two or three days. 
They are followed by a general shuddering 
at the approach of any liquid or smooth 
body, attended with a sensation of oppres¬ 
sion, deep sighs and convulsive starts, in 
which the muscular strength is much in¬ 
creased. A foamy, viscid slaver is discharged 
from the mouth; the deglutition of solid 
matters is difficult; the respiration hard; 
the skin warm, burning, and afterwards 
covered with sweat; the pulse strong; the 
fit is often followed by a syncope; the fits 
return at first every few hours, then at 
shorter intervals, and death takes place 
generally on the second or third day. No 
means have yet been found of arresting the 
progress of the poisonous virus after it has 
once developed in the system. The treat¬ 
ment, therefore, consists in preventing its 
development, which may be effected by ap¬ 
plying a ligature, where possible, to impede 
the circulation from the wound, by sucking 
it, and thoroughly cauterizing it either with 
nitrate of silver or with iron heated to a 
white heat, the pain of cautery being less 
as the temperature is greater. If these 
means are not available, any burning sub¬ 
stance and most acids may be used. Within 
the last few years M. Pasteur has discovered 
a method of preventing the development of 
the disease by a system of successive inocu¬ 
lations with rabid virus of greater and greater 
intensity; the inoculation being made the 
first day with marrow which has been ex¬ 
tracted from the rabid animal 12, 10, and 
8 days; then the second day with marrow 
extracted 6, 4, and 2 days; the third day 
with one day’s marrow, &c. M. Pasteur’s 
method has been favourably reported on by 
an English commission (1886-7), but there 
is perhaps some room for doubts regarding 
the number of cures really performed. As 
a sharp critic of the Pasteur system has re¬ 
marked, every one who is bitten and inocu¬ 
lated is counted in M. Pasteur’s list, though 
there is nothing to prove that he ever con¬ 
tracted the rabies. 

Hydroph'ora, one of the three divisions 
into which Huxley and other authors di¬ 
vide the Hydrozoa, the other two being the 
Discophora and the Siphonophora. 

Hydrostatic Press, or Bramah’s Press, 
a hydrostatic apparatus which in its practi¬ 
cal application was invented by Bramah in 
1796. It will be understood from the 
accompanying figure. By means of a suc¬ 
tion and force pump a a, worked by the 
lever or handle L turning about the point o, 



HYDROSTATICS 


water is drawn from the reservoir B B and 
forced along the tube c c into the cistern v 
through the top of which a heavy metal 
plunger a a works. On the upper end of 





the plunger is a large plate b' b' upon which 
the goods to be pressed are placed. When 
water is pumped from the reservoir B B into 
the cistern v, the pressure exerted by the 
plunger of the pump is transmitted accord¬ 
ing to the well-known hydrostatic principle 
(see Hydrostatics) to the bottom of the 
plunger A, which accordingly rises and car¬ 
ries the objects placed on plate b' b' up 
against the top of a fixed frame D D. It was 
the invention by Bramah of a water-tight 
leather collar surrounding the piston that 
made the use of the press practicable; be¬ 
fore his invention not much power could 
be developed from the escape of the water 
round the piston. The collar consists of a 
leather ring bent so as to have a semi¬ 
circular section (as seen in cut), so that the 
water passing between the piston and cylin¬ 
der fills the concavity of the collar, and 
by pressure produces a packing which fits 
the tighter as the pressure on the piston 
increases. The hydrostitic press may be 
constructed to give pressures of two or 
three hundred tons, and is extensively em¬ 
ployed where very great force is required, 
as in testing anchors or raising very heavy 
weights. 

Hydrostatics is that part of the general 
science of hydrodynamics that treats of the 
application of forces to fluids at rest. Among 
the chief principles of hydrostatics may be 
mentioned the following: (1) The inten¬ 
sity of pressure at any point of a fluid is 
the same in all directions; it is the same 


whether the surface that receives the pres¬ 
sure faces upwards, downwards, horizon¬ 
tally or obliquely, (2) When a fluid is con¬ 
fined, if the intensity of pressure In one 

part be increased, 
as by forcing in a 
piston or by any 
other means, an 
equal increase will 
be produced in the 
intensity of pres¬ 
sure at all other 
parts: in other 
words, pressure ap¬ 
plied to any one 
part is transmitted 
without any change 
in its intensity to 
all other parts. The 
diagram will aid in 
the understanding 
of this. If pressure 
is applied to P it 
will be transmitted in all directions through 
the liquid. If other openings are made, and 
if they are fitted with pistons, the pressure 
that must be applied to any piston equal in 
area to the area of P is equal to the pressure 
on p; and if the area of one of the other 
pistons is greater or less than the area of P, 
the pressure required to keep it in its place 
is proportionately greater than or less than 
the pressure that is applied to P. This 
principle, which is known as Pascal’s prin¬ 
ciple from being distinctly formulated by 




Section of Hydrostatic Press. 



him, is the most important in hydrostatics, 
and finds a practical application in the Hy¬ 
drostatic, or Bramah’s Press (see above). (3) 
Not only is pressure transmitted out to the 
surface or envelope of the liquid, but within 
the fluid itself the particles are all pressed 
together. When a solid is immersed in the 
liquid it is pressed at every point of its sur¬ 
face in the direction perpendicular to the 

492 






























































































HYDROSULPHURIC ACID-HYENA. 


surface at that point. (4) In every horizon¬ 
tal layer throughout the liquid the pressure 
per unit area is the same; and this is the 
case independently of the shape of any ves¬ 
sel in which the liquid may be contained. 
The pressure per unit area in any horizontal 
layer depends only on the height of the free 
surface of the liquid above the layer con¬ 
sidered, and the specific gravity of the 
liquid: and it is equal to the weight of a 
column of the liquid of unit sectional area 
whose height is the height of the free sur¬ 
face. Hence whatever be the shape or size 
of several vessels, if all have the same area 
of base, and if in all the water stands at the 
same height, the pressure on each of the 
bases is the same. (5) When a solid is im¬ 
mersed either partially or wholly in a liquid 
a portion of the liquid is displaced. The 
solid is at the same time pressed at every 
point by the liquid. But the upward pres¬ 
sure on the solid is greater than the down¬ 
ward by an amount equivalent to the weight 
of the liquid displaced by the solid. Hence 
we obtain what is called the principle of 
Archimedes, namely, that a body immersed 
either wholly or partially in a fluid loses a 
portion of its weight equal to that of the 
fluid which it displaces. This principle is 
of great importance as regards the floatation 
of bodies, and the determination of specific 
gravity, &c. In regard to the sinking or 
floating of bodies three different cases may 
thus arise: First, the weight of the body 
may exceed the weight of the liquid it dis¬ 
places, in which case the body sinks in the 
liquid; Second, the weight of the body may 
be less than that of the liquid displaced, in 
which case the body will not remain sub¬ 
merged unless forcibly held down, but will 
rise to the top and partly out of the liquid 
until the weight of the liquid displaced is 
equal to its own weight; Third, the weight 
of the body may be equal to the weight of 
the liquid displaced, in which case it will 
have little or no tendency either to sink or 
rise. 

Hydrosulphu'ric Acid, or sulphuretted 
hydrogen or hydrothionic acid (Ha S) is a 
colourless inflammable gas produced by the 
putrefaction of sulphurous organic matters. 
Many mineral waters contain it naturally. 
It may be artificially produced by burning 
sulphur vapour in hydrogen, or by passing 
hydrogen through sulphur. It has a sweet 
taste but a very nauseous odour as of rotten 
eggs. It has poisonous effects when breathed, 
;^nd experiments have shown that birds per¬ 

493 


ished in air which contained xrVij^h part of 
the gas. 

Hydrothor'ax, a dropsical condition of the 
pleura, in which the pleural cavity contains 
a serous fluid exuded from the blood-vessels, 
not due to inflammation. It may be the re¬ 
sult of organic disease in the heart or kid¬ 
neys, or of pressure on vessels obstructing 
the return of blood. 

Hydrozo'a, a class of animals of the sub¬ 
kingdom Ccelenterata, in which the walls 
of the body inclose a simple undivided 
cavity which acts both as a body cavity 
and a digestive cavity. The body is essen¬ 
tially composed of two layers, an outer 
layer or ectoderm and an inner or entoderm. 
Reproductive organs are developed as exter¬ 
nal processes of the body-wall, but repro¬ 
duction also takes place by fission. The 
Hydrozoa are all aquatic and almost all 
marine. The fresh-water hydra is a very 
good type of the class. The body is quite soft, 
and when fully contracted appears like a par¬ 
ticle of matter resting on the surface of a 
plant or stone; but when expanded it shows 
a long slender body of a bright green or light- 
brown colour. One end of the body deve¬ 
lops into a number of long slender tentacles, 
within which, near their bases, the mouth 
of the animal is found. This is the distal 
or free-growing end. The other and more 
slowly growing end is known as the ■proxi¬ 
mal, and ends in a kind of disc or foot by 
which the hydra attaches itself to objects. 
The body is hollow from one end to the 
other. It is found most in semi-stagnant 
waters, where, hanging from its foot-disc, 
with its long tentacles expanded, it seizes 
on the small crustaceans or other suitable 
prey which comes in contact with it. Its 
tentacles have a stinging power which soon 
paralyses its prey. Under favourable con¬ 
ditions one or more hydrse are usually found 
attached to the parent form. Such are pro¬ 
duced by a process of budding from the 
parent. Each of these ultimately separates 
from the parent stem and becomes an inde¬ 
pendent hydra. The Hydrozoa are divided 
by Prof. Nicholson into six sub-classes, viz. 
the Hydroida, the Siphonophora, the Lu- 
cernarida, the Graptolitoidea, the Hydro- 
corallinae, and the Stromatoporoidea. 

Hye'na, a genus of digitigrade carnivorous 
quadrupeds, constituting a family w'hich 
unites the skull characters of the Felidae (cats) 
with the skeleton and gregarious habits of 
the Canidae (dogs). The characters of this 
genus are five molars above, an4 five or four 



HYERES 


HYGROMETER. 


below, on each side, the three anterior mo¬ 
lars being conical, smooth, and remarkably 
large, adapted for breaking the bones of 
their prey; the tongue is rough; the legs 



striped Hyena (Hyomia slriuta). 


are each terminated by four claws; the fore¬ 
legs are longer than the hind legs; the eyes 
large and prominent; the ears long and 
acute; the jaws are remarkable for the 
strength of their muscles, and can crush the 
hardest and most massive bones with ease. 
The genus is confined to Africa and Asia. 
There are three species known—the striped 
hyena (Hycena striata), the spotted {H. 
crocuta), and the brown hyena [H. brunnea). 
They are nocturnal animals, extremely vora¬ 
cious, feeding chiefly on carrion, and thus 
being of great utility in the countries where 
they live; to obtain dead bodies they will 
even dig up graves. Along with the true 
hyenas, the aardwolf of South Africa is also 
included in the family of Hysenidae. An 
extinct species, the cave hyena {H. sj^elf”''^ 
was abundant in England, France, and Gci- 
many anterior to the 
glacial epoch, and has 
left its remains in 
many caves of these 
countries, 

Hyeres (e-ar), a 
town of Southern 
France, dep. Var, 10 
miles east of Toulon, 
beautifully situated 
on a declivity facing 
the Mediterranean. It 
is much frequented 
by patients suffering 
from chest or nervous 
disorders. Pop. 7730. 

Hyeres Islands, a 
group of islands in the 
Mediterranean, on the 
coast of France a little 
south of the town of Hyeres. Pop. 5755. 

Hygieia (hi-ji-e/ya), the Greek goddess of 
health, daughter of Asclepius, or .^sculapius. 


Her temple was placed near that of .^Flscula- 
pius, and her statues were even erected in 
it. She is represented as a blooming maid 
with a bowl in her hand, from which she is 
feeding a snake, the symbol of health. 

Hygiene (hi'ji-en), the department of me¬ 
dicine which treats of the preservation of 
health, and the duration of life prolonged by 
a due attention to physiological or natural 
laws. It is usually divided into public and 
private hygiene, the former having to do with 
measures for excluding causes of disease (see 
Quarantine and Vaccination), methods of 
securing cleanliness in the streets and dwell¬ 
ings (see Sanitary Science and Sewage), me¬ 
thods of maintaining the purity of the supply 
of food and drink (see Adulteration)-, the 
latter maj" be considered to embrace such 
subjects as alimentation {see Aliment, DigeS’ 
tion, and Dietetics), clothing (see Clothing), 
exercise and muscular development (see 
Gymnastics), &c. 

Hygrom'eter, an instrument for measuring 
the degree of moisture of the atmosphere. 
The chief classes of hygrometers depend 
either upon absorption or upon condensa¬ 
tion. Of the former kind is the hygrometer 
of Saussure, in which a hair, that expands 
and contracts in length according as the air 
is more or less moist, is made to move an 
index. Of the 
latter sort is Da- 
niell’s hygrome¬ 
ter. This in¬ 
strument con¬ 
sists of a bent 
glass tube, ter¬ 
minating in two 
bulbs, the bulb a 
being two-thirds 
filled with sul¬ 
phuric ether, and 
the bulb B being, 
at the com¬ 
mencement of Daniell’s Hygrometer, 
an experiment, 

empty. Thelatter is covered with muslin. In 
process of construction the tube is exhausted 
of air, and is thus filled with vapour of ether 
through its entire length. A thermometer {t) 
whose bulb is immersed in the ether of the 
lower arm, is inserted in the tube to register 
variation of temperature, and a second ther¬ 
mometer {t') is attached to the stand of the 
instrument, to show the temperature of the 
outer air. If sulphuric ether be dropped on 
the bulb B, as it evaporates the bulb is cooled, 
and the vapour of ether is condensed within 

494 



Hygieia, from antique 
statue. 





































HYKSHOS 


HYPATIA. 


it from the bulb a; while owing to the eva¬ 
poration from A into b the temperature of 
the former gradually falls. The operation is 
carried on till the temperature of A is so far 
reduced that dew from the surrounding air 
just begins to condense upon it. By means _ 
of the thermometer contained in A the tem¬ 
perature is read off at the instant at which 
vapour begins to condense, and the dew¬ 
point is thus obtained. The Imgrometric 
condition, that is, the ratio between the 
quantity of moisture that the air actually 
contains and the quantity which it is ca¬ 
pable of containing at the existing tempera¬ 
ture, is then easily deduced. Eegnault’s hy¬ 
grometer is a modification of the principle 
of Daniell’s instrument, the ether being 
evaporated by forcing air through it. 

Hykshos. See Hycsos. 

Hylseosau'rus, a gigantic fossil lizard dis¬ 
covered in the Wealden formation of Tilgate 
Forest. Its probable length was about 25 
feet. It is one of the Ornithoscelida, the 
group which presents a structure inter¬ 
mediate between that of existing birds and 
reptiles. 

Hy'men, Hymen^'us, the god of marriage 
in Grecian mythology. No marriage took 
place without his being invoked to sanction 
it. He is described as having around his 
brows the flowers of marjoram, in his left 
hand the flame-coloured nuptial veil, in his 
right the nuptial torch, and on his feet 
golden sandals. He is a taller and more 
serious Eros, and is accompanied by song 
and dance. 

Hymenop'tera (Gr. hymen, a membrane, 
djoiX‘pteron, a wing), an extensive order of in- 



Hymenoptera (Ichneumon grosBarius). 
o. Ovipositor of female. 


sects, comprising bees, wasps, ants, ichneu¬ 
mon-flies, gall-flies, saw-flies, and allied in¬ 
sects. They are characterized by four mem¬ 
branous naked wings which have com para- 

495 


tively few veins. The second pair of wings 
is always smaller than the first. The mouth 
parts are provided with biting jaws and a 
suctorial organ. The head is freely mov¬ 
able, and besides the lateral compound eyes 
there are usually three ocelli on the top of 
the head. The Hymenoptera undergo com¬ 
plete metamorphosis. Females have the 
extremity of the abdomen furnished either 
with an ovipositor, forming a boring organ 
(terebra), or a sting {aculeus). Hence the 
two sub-orders into which Hymenoptera are 
divided: Terehrantia, comprising the saw- 
flies, gall-flies, ichneumon-flies, &c., and the 
Aculedta, which include the bees, wasps, 
ants, hornets, &c. 

Hymet'tus, a mountain in Attica, now 
called Trelovouni, south-east of Athens, dis¬ 
tinguished among the ancients for the ex¬ 
cellence of its marble and its honey. The 
latter is still in repute. 

Hymn, originally a song of praise sung in 
honour of gods and heroes on festivals, with 
the accompaniments of music and dancing. 
Amongst the Hindus the hymns of the Rig- 
Veda, amongst the Hebrews the psalms, 
and amongst the Greeks the so-called Or¬ 
phic and Homeric hymns are good examples. 
The early Christian hymns are full of de¬ 
votional feeling. Their use dates from the 
first days of the church; but the names of 
the authors even of the more modern hymns 
cannot be discovered with certainty, though 
Prudentius, Paulus Diaconus, and 'J’'homas 
Aquinas are known to have composed some 
of the most esteemed. The use of hymns 
was sanctioned by the fourth council, at 
Toledo, in 633. Several of them have names 
derived from the words with which they 
begin, as the Te Deum, the Gloria Patri, &c. 

Hyoid Bone, in anat., a bone shaped some¬ 
what like the letter U, but with a wide bend 
and shorter limbs in proportion to the body, 
and having two pairs of upward projections 
or cornwrt (horns). It is suspended horizon¬ 
tally in the substance of the soft parts of 
the neck between the root of the tongue and 
the larynx. 

Hyoscy'amus. See Henbane. 

Hypa'tia, a Greek female philosopher of 
the eclectic school, the daughter of Theon, 
a celebrated astronomer and mathematician 
of Alexandria towards the close of the 4th 
century after Christ, at which period she was 
born. Her father taught her not only all the 
branches of polite learning, but also geome¬ 
try, astronomy, and finally philosophy. She 
acquired a great reputation in the latter 




HYPEREMIA 


a 


study, and as a preceptress in the school of 
Plotinus gathered a numerous auditory of 
students from all parts of the East. She was 
as virtuous and beautiful as she was learned. 
But the jealousy and intolerance of Cyril, 
the Patriarch of Alexandria, were aroused 
at the influence exercised by Hypatia; the 
lower and more ignorant clergy in particular 
were stirred against her, and at length a 
number of them, having excited a popular 
tumult, seized her as she w’as returning from 
the schools, dragged her through the streets 
of Alexandria, stripped her naked, and 
finally murdered her with circumstances of 
the greatest barbarity (415). The Rev. C. 
Kingsley has chosen the story of Hypatia 
as the subject of a romance. 

Hyperae'mia, an excessive flow of blood 
to any structure of the body. 

Hyper'bola, in geometry, a curve formed 
by cutting a cone in a direction parallel to 
its axis, or so that 
the cutting plane 
makes a greater 
angle with the 
base than the side 
of the cone makes, 
and when pro¬ 
duced cuts also the 
opposite cone, or 
the cone which is 
the continuation 
of the former, on 
the opposite side 
of the vertex, thus 
producing another 
hyperbola, which is called the opposite 
hyperbola to the former. 

Hyper'bole (-bo-le), a rhetorical figure, in 
which an idea is expressed with a fanciful 
exaggeration of phrase which is not to be 
taken too literally, but only as representing 
a certain warmth of admiration or emphasis. 
‘His fame reaches to the stars’ is an ex¬ 
ample of hyperbole. 

Hyperbo'reans, the name given in early 
Greek legend to a people who lived ‘ beyond 
Boreas ’ or the north wind, and were not ex¬ 
posed to its blasts, but enjoyed a delightful 
climate and perpetual health. Their natural 
life lasted 1000 years, and was spent in the 
worship of Apollo. 

H 3 rperdulia. See Dulia. 

Hyperica'ceae, HypERici'NiE, a nat. order 
of plants, of which the genus Hypericum or 
St. John’s wort is the type. They are 
herbs, shrubs, or (rarely) trees, with simple, 
opposite (rarely whorledj lea v eg. They have 


N 

-F 

A 

C 


B 



F 


Hyperbola— DBE, gah, are 
opposite hyperbolas; f, /, foci; 
c, centre; a b, transverse axis; 
a b, conjugate axis; n c p, a dia¬ 
meter. 


HYPOCHLORITES. 

terminal or axillary, solitary, cymose or 
paniculate flowers, usually yellow or white. 
These plants are much spread; they abound 
in resinous juice, and many of them possess 
medicinal properties. 

Hyperi'des, an Athenian orator, the pupil 
of Plato and Isocrates, born about 400 B.c. 
Along with Demosthenes and Lycurgus he 
was one of the leaders of the patriotic and 
anti-Macedonian party. As an orator he 
was specially distinguished for his grace and 
subtlety of expression, as well as for his 
tact in handling the question under con¬ 
sideration. He was murdered at AEgina 
by the emissaries of Antipater in 322 B.c. 
Of his orations one has reached us nearly 
entire; the others only in fragments. 

Hyperion (hl-per-i'on or hi-pe'ri-on), in 
the most ancient mythology of Greece, the 
god of the sun, afterwards identified with 
Apollo; also one of the Titans. 

Hy'persthene, a mineral of a colour be¬ 
tween grayish and greenish black, but nearly 
copper-red on the cleavage. It was first 
found on the coast of Labrador, and was 
called Labrador hornblende. 

Hjfper'trophy, literally over-nourishment, 
is an excessive development of the body or 
any of its organs by actual increase of the 
particular parts composing it, as increase of 
muscular fibre in the heart. It arises from 
continued oversupply of blood to the part, 
due it may be to chronic irritation of the 
part, as for example thickening of the skin 
in the neighbourhood of a chronic ulcer; or 
it may be due to excessive use of the part. 
The cure of hypertrophy is attended with 
difficulty. The diseased organ must be kept 
at rest if possible. 

Hyphomyce'tes. See Fungi. 

Hyp'notism. See Mesmerism. 

Hypnum, one of the largest genera of 
mosses, including above ninety species, na¬ 
tives of Britain. Many of the species are 
very large and ornamental. 

H 3 rp'ocaust, in ancient baths, &c., an 
arched chamber in which a fire was kindled 
for the purpose of giving heat to the rooms 
above it. The heat was distributed by 
means of tubes of earthenware. 

Hypochlo'rites, salts, chiefly important as 
powerful oxidizing and bleaching agents; 
not, however, when pure, but when con¬ 
taining chlorides. The chief hypochlorites, 
or at least the complex substances which 
contain hypochlorites, are bleaching-powder, 
and the bleaching liquors made with potash 
and soda. 


496 











HYPOCHONDRIA-HYRCANUS. 


Hypochondria, a disorder arising from a 
disturbance ol the functions of the nervous 
system. It is a form of melancholia. The 
sufferer lives under the generally groundless 
apprehensions of different diseases. Unin¬ 
terruptedly occupied with the state of his 
body he takes notice of every feeling, and 
wishes to have every trifling pain explained, 
considering every one as a symptom of a 
serious disease. For everything he wants 
physic. Hypochondria is, physically con¬ 
sidered, not a dangerous disease, although 
it makes the life of the sufferer a torment 
to himself and his friends. It is occasioned 
mainly by too great mental exertion, by too 
sedentary a life, by sexual indulgence or 
excess in exciting liquors; and also by want 
of exercise of the physical and mental 
powers producing ennui. It can be cured, 
but slowly, by the avoidance of the habits 
likely to occasion it, by the adoption of a 
steady and regular life, with moderate exer¬ 
cise for the mind and body, and the help of 
cheerful society. 

Hypoder'mic Injections, injections of 
some substance beneath the skin; a method 
adopted in medicine when the condition of 
the stomach or other organs renders the use 
of drugs by the mouth objectionable, or 
when rapidity of action is desired. The 
medicine is introduced by a small glass 
syringe fitted with a long, hollow, needle- 
shaped point of steel. 

Hjrpophos'phites, salts of hypophosphor- 
ous acid, especially certain medicinal salts, 
chiefly the hypophosphites of potassium, 
sodium, and calcium. They have been used 
with considerable advantage in disorders 
of the blood and the digestive organs, and 
have also been found of benefit in consump¬ 
tion, although failing to effect a cure. 

Hyposulphites, salts of hyposulphurous 
acid. Among the most important are the 
hyposulphites of sodium and calcium, the 
former of which is used in medicine as an 
external remedy in parasitic skin disor¬ 
ders and an internal one in checking 
fermentation in zymotic 
diseases. It is variously 
used in bleaching, photo¬ 
graphy, and other arts as 
an antichlore, a dissolvent 
of bromide and iodide of 
silver, &c. 

Hypot'enuse, in geo¬ 
metry the longest side 
in a right-angled triangle, namely that 
one which subtends or is opposite to the 
VOL. iv. 497 


right angle. One of the most important 
propositions of Euclid’s Elements is the 
forty-seventh of the first book, discovered 
by Pythagoras, which proves that the square 
described on the hypotenuse is equal to the 
sum of the squares described on the other 
two sides. 

Hypoth'ec, in Scots law, a claim or right 
which a creditor has over the effects of a 
debtor while they still remain in the pos¬ 
session of the debtor. Thus a landlord has 
an hypothec over the furniture of his tenant 
in respect of the current rent. In the United 
States those rights are called liens. 

H 3 rpothecati(ni, the act of assigning 
something in security without giving up the 
possession of it. See Bottomry. 

Hypoth'esis, etymologically a supposition, 
is popularly used to denote something not 
proved, but assumed for the sake of argu¬ 
ment, In scientific and philosophical usage 
it denotes either a probable theory of phe¬ 
nomena not yet fully explained, or a strictly 
scientific theory which accounts for all the 
known facts of the case, and which only 
needs the verification of subsequent observa¬ 
tions and deductions to become a certainty. 
Thus the conjecture of Newton that the 
force of gravity, as exemplified on the earth, 
might extend to the moon, was in its first 
stage a probable hypothesis; but when it 
was found to account for all the facts, it 
became a scientific hypothesis or theory. 

Hypsiprym'nus. See Kangaroo-rat. 

Hypsom'etry, the measurement of heights. 
See Heights. 

H 3 n:acothe'rium, a genus of fossil Pachy- 
dermata, belonging to the odd-toed division, 
intermediate between the hog and the hyrax, 
occurring in the tertiary strata of England. 
The species are of the size of a hare. 

Hy'rax, a genus of pachydermatous mam¬ 
malia, intermediate in their character be¬ 
tween the rhinoceros and the tapir. It is 
the only genus of the order Hyracoidea, 
characterized by having no canine teeth, 
but long curved incisors. The front feet 
have four toes, and the hind feet three. The 
Cape hyrax is by the colonists of South 
Africa called Rock-badger and Rock-rabbit. 

Hyrca'nia, a province of ancient Asia, 
corresponding to what are now the northern 
parts of Khorasan and Mazanderan, along 
the Caspian Sea. 

Hyrca'nus, the name of two Jewish high- 
priests and rulers of the Asmonean family: 
—John Hyrcanus, the son and successor 
of Simon Maccabseus, assumed the title of 

128 


a 



a 6, Hypotenuse. 





HYSSOP 


lAMBLICHUS. 


prince and high-priest in 137 B.C., freed 
Judaea from the yoke of the Syrians, and 
founded a dynasty of rulers which lasted 
till the accession of Herod. He also sub¬ 
jugated the Samaritans and Idumaeans. He 
died 105 B.C,, leaving five sons, two of whom, 
Aristobulus and Alexander, afterwards gov¬ 
erned with the title of kings.— John Hyr- 
CANUS II., grandson of the former, was ap¬ 
pointed king in Jerusalem, but was forced 
by his brother Aristobulus to retire into pri¬ 
vate life. Pompey, however, appointed him 
high-priest in B.C. 63. About 40 B.C. he 
was taken prisoner by the Parthians and 
carried with them to Seleucia. Here he re¬ 
mained till he was invited to Jerusalem by 
Herod, son of Antipater. Being suspected 
of plotting against Herod he was put to 
death, B.C. 30. 

Hyssop {Hyssopus)^ a genus of plants of 
the natural order La- 
biatae. The common 
hyssop [Hyssopus offi¬ 
cinalis) is a perennial 
shrubby plant rising 
to the height of 2 feet, 
a native of Siberia 
and the mountain¬ 
ous parts of Austria, 
but common in our 
gardens. It flowers 
from June to Sep¬ 
tember. The leaves 
have an agreeable 
aromatic odour, and 
a slightly bitter and iiysm^(H.oMcinaiis). 
somewhat warm taste. 

It was once esteemed as a medicine, but 
has now fallen into disuse. The hyssop of 


Scripture (the symbol of spiritual purifica¬ 
tion from sin) is generally identified with 
the caper {Cappdris spinosa). 

Hyste'ria, a nervous affection to which 
women are subject, generally occurring in 
paroxysms, characterized by alternate fits of 
laughing and crying, convulsive struggling 
alternately remitting and exacerbating, sense 
of suffocation, palpitation of the heart, the 
sensation of a ball ascending from the pit of 
the stomach, occasioning a feeling of strangu¬ 
lation {globus hystericus), &c. Women of 
a delicate habit, and whose nervous system 
is extremely sensitive, are the most subject 
to hysterical affections; and the habit which 
predisposes to these attacks is acquired by 
inactivity and a sedentary life, grief, anxiety, 
and various physical disorders. They are 
readily excited, in those who are subject to 
them, by strong emotions, especially if 
sudden. Hysterical complaints are best 
prevented by a judicious care of the moral 
and physical education of girls. Men are 
sometimes, but rarely, subject to disorders 
not essentially different. 

Hythe (hith), a pari, and municipal borough 
of England, one of the Cinque Ports, in the 
county of Kent, 11 miles w.s.w. Dover, to 
the west of Folkestone, at the foot of a steep 
hill or cliff. It was anciently a place of 
great importance; but its harbour has been 
entirely silted up. It has become a fashion¬ 
able resort for sea-bathing, and there is here 
a government school of musketry. A prome¬ 
nade over 5 miles along the coast was opened 
in 1881. Pop. of mun. bor., 4173. The 
pari, bor., which includes the municipal 
bor., the parish of Folkestone, &c., returns 
one member to parliament. Pop. 35,540. 




I, the ninth letter and the third vowel of 
the English alphabet, in which it represents 
not only several vowel sounds but also the 
consonantal sound of y. The two principal 
sounds represented by it in English are 
the short sound as in pit, pin, fin, and the 
long as in pine, fine, wine, the latter being 
really a diphthongal sound. It has also three 
other sounds, viz. that heard in first, dirk 
(e, the neutral vowel); that heard in ma¬ 
chine, intrigue (which, however, can scarcely 
be considered a modern English sound); and 
the consonant sound heard in many words 
when it precedes a vowel, as in million, 


opinion^, trunnion. I and J were formerly 
regarded as one character. 

lamblichus (i-am'bli-kus), a Greek Neo- 
Platonic philosopher, a native of Chalcis 
in Coele-Syria, who flourished in the begin¬ 
ning of the 4th century after Christ. He 
was the pupil of Porphyry, and having be¬ 
come perfect in the doctrines of the Plotinian 
school, he taught with vast reputation. His 
school produced many eclectic philosophers, 
who were dispersed throughout the Bornan 
Empire. His philosophical works now ex¬ 
tant are: a Life of Pythagoras; an Exhorta¬ 
tion to the Study of Philosophy; Three 

m 






IAMBUS-IBN-BATUTA. 


Books on Mathematical Learning; a Com¬ 
mentary upon Nicomachus’ Institutes of 
Arithmetic; and a Treatise on the Mys¬ 
teries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and 
Assyrians. He died at Alexandria about 
333. 

lam'bus, in prosody, a foot of two syl¬ 
lables, a short and a long one —), or an 

unaccented syllable followed by an accented 
one. The iambic metre is the fundamental 
rhythm of many English verses. The verse 
of five iambic feet is a favourite metre, 
being the heroic verse of English, German, 
and Italian poetry. 

lan'thina (Gr. ianthinos, violet-coloured), 
a genus of oceanic gasteropodous mollusca, 
with a thin violet-coloured snail-like shell. 
When irritated they pour out a violet secre¬ 
tion, which serves for concealment, in the 
manner of the ink of the cuttle-fish. 

Ib'adan, a town of Western Africa, in 
the Yoruba country, about 70 miles north 
of the Bight of Benin. Pop. 100,000. 

Ibague (e-ba-ga'), a town of S. America, 
Republic of Colombia, department of Tolima. 
Pop. 10,000. 

Ibar'ra, a town of Ecuador, in South 
Ametica, capital of the province of Imba- 
bura, at the foot of the volcano of the same 
name, 30 miles north of Quito. Pop. esti¬ 
mated at 10,000. 

Ibe'ria, in ancient geography:—(1.) A fer¬ 
tile district in Asia, between the Euxine 
and Caspian seas, which consisted of a plain 
surrounded by mountains, a part of modern 
Georgia. (2.) An ancient name of Spain, 
from its river, the Iberus (Ebro). The 
Iberi or Iberians, probably the most ancient 
European nation, formed the basis of the 
population of Italy, Gaul, Spain, and Lusi¬ 
tania (Portugal). Their language still lives 
in the Basque. The Celts, who entered the 
country later, were intermingled with them, 
the conjoined people being called Celtiberi- 
ans. 

Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish peninsula 
(Spain and Portugal). See Iberia. 

Ibe'ris, a genus of cruciferous plants, of 
which several species are cultivated in our 
gardens under the name of ccmdytujt. 

Ibe'rus. See Ebro. 

I'bex, a name of two or three species of 
goats. The horns of the male are flattened, 
have two longitudinal ridges at the sides, 
and are crossed by numerous transverse knots. 
The horns of the female are short, moi’e erect, 
with three or four knots in front. I'he best- 
known varieties are the Capra Ibe.c of the 

499 


Alps and Apennines, the steinhock of the 
Alps, and the C. pyrenaica, the Pyrenean 
steinbock. Another species, C. cegagrus, in- 



Ibex {Capra Ibex). 


habits the lofty rocky peaks of Mount Cau¬ 
casus. 

Ibicui (ib'i-kwi), a river of Brazil, which 
rises in the Serra de Santa Anna, province 
of Rio Grande do Sul, and joins the Uru¬ 
guay at Yapeyu after a course of 400 miles. 

Ib'igau {Nyctibus grandis), a very large 
goat-sucker inhabiting South America; 
sometimes called the grand goat-aucker. 

I'bis, a genus of birds allied to the storks, 
the most remarkable species being the Ibu 
rcligiosa, or sacred ibis (also called Threski- 
ornis religiosa). This is found throughout 
Africa. It is about the size of a common 
fowl, with head and neck bare, and white 
plumage, the primaries of the wings being 
tipped with black and the secondaries being 
bright black, glossed with green and violet. 
It was reared in the temples of ancient 
Egypt with a degree of respect bordering 
on adoration, and after death was preserved 
in a mummified condition. The cause of 
its being deemed sacred was no doubt be¬ 
cause it appeared in Egypt with the rise of 
the Nile; but it is now rare in that country, 
living farther south. There are several 
other species, as the /. falcinellus, or glossy 
ibis, nearly 2 feet in length, wLich builds 
in Asia, but migrates also to Egypt, some¬ 
times visiting England; the I. rubra of 
tropical America, remarkable for its scarlet 
plumage; the I. alba, or white ibis of Flo¬ 
rida; the /. or Geronticus spinicollis, or 
straw-necked ibis of Australia; &c. 

Ibn-Batu'ta, an Arabic traveller, born at 
Tangiers 1304, died at Fez 1377. He 
visited Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, Central 
Asia, India, China, the Eastern Ai’chipelago, 



IBN-EZRA-ICE. 


East Africa, Central Africa, &c., and wrote 
an account of his travels. 

Ibn-Ezra. Same as Ahen-Ezra. 

Ib'rahim, the Arabic form of Abraham, 
and the name of many sultans and grand- 
viziers distinguished in Ottoman history. 

Ibrahim Pasha, an adopted son of Me- 
hemet Ali, viceroy of Egypt, born in 1789. 
He first gave signal proofs of his courage and 
military talents in the war with the Wa¬ 
habis of Arabia, whom he completely de¬ 
feated, and in the subjugation of Sennaar 
and Darfur. In 1825 he invaded the Morea 
at the head of an Egyptian army, with the 
view of conquering Greece for his father; 
but in 1828, in consequence of the inter¬ 
ference of the great powers, was obliged to 
abandon the attempt. To effect his father’s 
purpose of making Syria a bulwark to his 
new Egypto-Cretan kingdom he, in 1831, 
crossed the Egyptian frontiers with an army, 
overran Palestine, took St. Jean d’Acre by 
storm, and made himself master of all Syria. 
The campaign terminated by an arrange¬ 
ment in which the Porte ceded Syria, and 
conferred the pashalic of Adana, by a kind 
of lease, personally on Ibrahim. In no long 
time war with the sultan again broke out, 
and resulted in a great defeat of the Turkish 
forces at Nizib in 1839. By the inter¬ 
ference of the great powers Ibrahim was 
eventually obliged, after retiring from all 
his Syrian conquests, to return to Egypt, 
marching across the desert from Damascus 
with great loss and suffering. From this 
time he appeared seldom in public life, and 
employed himself chiefly in the improve¬ 
ment of his own estates. In 1846 he visited 
England and France. In 1848 Ibrahim, 
after his father had become superannuated, 
proceeded to Constantinople, and was nomi¬ 
nated Viceroy of Egypt, but he died in the 
same year at Cairo, while Mehemet Ali was 
still alive. He was succeeded by Abbas 
Pasha, the favourite grandson of Mehemet 
Ali. 

Ibrail. See Brahilow. 

Ib'sen, Henrik, Norwegian dramatist 
and lyric poet, born in 1828. His first play, 
Catilina, was produced in Christiania in 
1850. He was successively director of the 
theatre at Bergen and of the Norske The¬ 
atre at Christiania, which he managed in 
1857-62. In 1864 he left his native country 
and since then has resided chiefly abroad. 
His dramas are partly in prose, partly in 
verse, and include historical plays and sa- 
tkical comedies of modern life. Some of 


them have been represented in English. 
Ibsen is also a lyric poet of repute. In 1866 
he obtained a pension from the Storthing. 

Ib'ycus, a Greek lyric poet, born at Rhe- 
gium, Italy, in the 6th century B.c. ; lived 
mostly at Samos in the court of Polycrates. 
It is related, that while on a journey he was 
surprised and murdered by robbers near 
Corinth. Finding escape impossible, he 
declared that the cranes, which happened 
to be flying over their heads, would avenge 
his death. The robbers afterwards seeing 
a flock of cranes, one of them said involun¬ 
tarily, ‘Behold the avengers of Ibycus.’ 
They were in consequence seized, and, after 
confessing their crime, were executed. His 
writings are knowm only by fragments. His 
poetry was chiefly erotic, but sometimes 
mythical and heroic. 

I'ca, a coast department of Peru, area 
6295, pop. 60,111.—Its capital, Ica, lies in 
the fruitful valley of the river Ica; pop. 
7000. 

Ic'arus. See Daedalus. 

Ice, water frozen into a solid mass. Water 
freezes when its temperature is reduced 
below a certain point, which is by universal 
consent made a fixed point on thermometers. 
That point is called zero on the Centigrade 
and Rdaumur scales, and 32“ on the Fah¬ 
renheit scale. Water near the freezing- 
point presents the curious anomaly of ex¬ 
panding instead of contracting as the cool¬ 
ing process goes on. At 4°T Centigrade 
(39°'.4 Fahr.) water has its maximum den¬ 
sity-point. At temperatures below 4°T the 
volume of the water increases as the tem¬ 
perature falls, and decreases as the tempera¬ 
ture rises; and at the moment of solidifying 
the volume of the mass suddenly increases 
to a very considerable extent, so that ice at 
the temperature of freezing is one-ninth 
greater in volume than the water from 
which it is formed is at 4°T. It is on this 
account that water freezes at the top first, 
and that ice when frozen floats at the top 
of the water. The temperature at which 
pure water becomes ice is very nearly con¬ 
stant under ordinary circumstances; and it 
is this fact, along with the ease of procuring 
water at the freezing temperature, or rather 
ice at the point of liquefaction, that has 
caused this temperature to be adopted as 
one of the fixed points in thermometers. 
The freezing-point is, however, slightly in¬ 
fluenced by pressure. Increase of pressure 
lowers it, and the removal of pressure raises 
it. Salt water requires a lower tempera- 

500 





ICEBERGS- 

ture to freeze it than fresh water, and in 
the process a large part of the salt is re¬ 
jected, Hence water obtained from the 
melting of sea-ice is nearly fresh. If water 
is kept perfectly at rest it may be reduced 
in temperature far below the freezing-point 
without turning into ice; but particles of 
solid matter such as dust must also be kept 
from falling into it. The expansion of water 
on its conversion into ice often gives rise to 
the exhibition of very great force, and pro¬ 
duces very remarkable effects in nature. 
Much of the disintegration observed in 
rocks and stones during or immediately 
after frost is due to it, water having entered 
into their pores and cavities and burst off 
particles by its expansion. Ice, though it is 
very hard and brittle, possesses the property 
of plasticity to a very remarkable degree, 
and can be moulded into any form by the 
application of pressure. The plasticity of 
ice is a property of very great import¬ 
ance. It was discovered by Forbes, who 
explained the motion of glaciers by it. (See 
Glaciers.) In nature ice appears in the 
greatest masses in the form of glaciers and 
icebergs, the latter being portions which 
have become detached from glaciers that 
extend down into the sea. Ice is now an 
article of considerable importance from a 
commercial point of view, large quantities 
of it being shipped to warm climates from 
countries where it is naturally produced in 
abundance in winter, as the United States 
or Norway. Ice can now be made cheaply 
by certain processes and apparatus (see 
Refrigerating Machines), and a very pure 
and excellent article is thus produced. 

Icebergs, large masses of ice which have 
become detached from the shores of the 
arctic regions, and float about in the ocean 
at the mercy of the winds and currents. 
They are in fact pieces of glaciers detached 
from the parent mass by the action of the 
sea and by their own accumulating weight. 
They present the strangest and most pictu¬ 
resque forms, are sometimes miles in length, 
and rise to a height of perhaps 250 or 300 
feet above the sea, the portion above water 
being calculated at about an eighth of the 
whole. Icebergs consist of clear, compact, 
solid ice, with a bluish-green tint. Their 
cavities contain fresh water, from the melt¬ 
ing of the ice. They are frequently en¬ 
countered in the North Atlantic (of course 
in the southern seas as well), and have 
caused many a wreck. The ice that forms 
on the surface of the sea, called feld-ice, is 

501 


-ICELAND. 

porous, incompact, and imperfectly trans¬ 
parent. The field-ice forms in winter and 
breaks up in summer. A small field is 
called a, floe; one much broken up forms a 
pack. 

Iceland, an island belonging to Den¬ 
mark, situated between the North Atlantic 
and the Arctic Oceans, 250 miles from 
Greenland and about 600 miles w'est of 
Norway; greatest length, east to west, 300 
miles; central breadth, about 200 miles; 
area with adjacent isles, 40,000 sq. miles. 
In shape it somewhat resembles a heart 
with its narrowest point turned south. The 
coast-line for a considerable extent on the 
south-east is almost unbroken, but in all 
other directions presents a continued suc¬ 
cession of deep bays or fiords and jutting 
promontories, thus affording a number of 
natural harbours. The interior has gener¬ 
ally a very wild and desolate appearance, 
being covered by lofty mountain masses of 
volcanic origin, many of them crowned with 
perpetual snow and ice, which, stretching 
down their sides into the intervening val¬ 
leys, form immense glaciers. These icy 
mountains, which take the common name 
of Jokul, have their culminating point in 
Orafajokul, which is situated near the south¬ 
east coast, and has a height of 6409 feet. 
Among the volcanoes the most celebrated 
is Mount Hecla, in the south, about 5000 
feet high. Numerous hot springs or geysers 
are scattered throughout the island, but are 
found more especially in the south-west, to 
the north-east of Reikjavik. (See Geysers.) 
There are numerous lakes and rivers. The 
most valuable mineral product is sulphur, 
of which the supply appears to be inexhaust¬ 
ible; the other minerals deserving of notice 
are chalcedonies, rock-crystals, and the well- 
known double-refracting spar, for which 
the island has long been famous. There is 
a kind of brown coal which to some extent 
serves as fuel. The climate is mild for the 
latitude, but the summer is too cool and 
damp for agriculture to be carried on with 
much success. In the southern parts the 
longest day is twenty hours, and the shortest 
four, but in the most northern extremity 
the sun at midsummer continues above the 
horizon a whole week, and of course during 
a corresponding period in winter never 
rises. Vegetation is confined within narrow 
limits. Almost the only tree is tlie birch, 
which has a very stunted growth, the loftiest 
of them hardly exceeding 10 feet. There 
are various flowering plants, among which 



ICELAND 


saxifrages, sedums, thrift or sea-pink, &c., 
are common. Heath and bilberry cover 
larjje stretches. Among mosses or lichens 
are the edible Iceland-moss (which see). 
Cole, potatoes, turnips, radishes, and similar 
roots thrive tolerably well. But by far the 
most valuable crop is grass, on which con¬ 
siderable numbers of live stock (sheep, cattle, 
ponies) are fed. The reindeer, though not 
introduced beforel 770, has multiplied greatly 
and forms large herds in the interior; but 
they are of little importance economically. 
Wild-fowl, including the eider-duck whose 
down forms an important article of com¬ 
merce, are abundant; the streams are well 
supplied with salmon, and on the coasts 
valuable fisheries of cod and herrings are 
carried on. Manufactures are entirely do¬ 
mestic, and consist chiefly of coarse woollens, 
mittens, stockings, &c. The exports are 
wool, oil, fish, horses, feathers, worsted stock¬ 
ings and mittens, sulphur, and Iceland- 
moss. 

The inhabitants are of Scandinavian ori¬ 
gin, and speak a Scandinavian dialect, which 
still represents the old Norse or Norwegian 
in great purity. They are of the Protes¬ 
tant religion. Iceland has a constitution 
and administration of its own dating from 
1874. There is an Althing or parliament, 
which meets twice a year at Reikjavik, the 
capital, and consists of 36 members, of 
whom 30 are chosen by popular suffrage, 
and 6 nominated by the king. A minister 
for Iceland, nominated by the king, is at 
the head of the administration, but the 
highest local authority is vested in the 
governor. 

Some settlements of Irish monks had 
been made in Iceland about the end of the 
8th century, but the island received the 
greatest proportion of its population from 
Norway. In 870 Harald Haarfager had 
made himself supreme in Norway, and as 
he treated the landed proprietors oppres¬ 
sively, numbers left the country and went 
to Iceland. In the course of sixty years all 
the habitable parts of the coast were settled. 
A settled government was established, a 
sort of aristocratic republic, which lasted 
for several centuries. Christianity was in¬ 
troduced in 981, and adopted by law in 
1000; and schools and two bishoprics, those 
af Holar and Skalholt, were established. 
The Latin language and the literature and 
learning of the West, introduced by Chris¬ 
tianity, were all the more warmly received, 
because poetry and history had already been 


ICELAND-MOSS. 


cultivated here more than elsewhere in the 
Germanic north. Previously to this time 
the Icelanders had discovered Greenland 
(983) and part of America (about 1000), and 
they were now led to make voyages and 
travels to Europe and the East. Politically 
and ecclesiastically the most flourishing 
period of Iceland—the period too when its 
intercourse with the world abroad was most 
active—was from the middle of the 12th 
to the beginning of the 13th century. In 
1264 Magnus VI. of Norway united Iceland 
with his own kingdom, with which it passed 
to Denmark in 1380, remaining with the 
latter in 1814, when Norway was joined to 
Sweden. 

The Icelandic language is the oldest of 
the Scandinavian group of tongues, and as 
it is believed to exhibit the Norse language 
nearly as it was spoken at the date of 
the colonization of Iceland, it is sometimes 
called Old Nor.^e. It is rich in roots and 
grammatical forms, and soft and sonorous 
to the ear. Icelandic literature may be 
divided into an ancient period, extending to 
the fall of the republic, and a modern, ex¬ 
tending from that date to the present time, 
the former being far the richest and most 
original. Poetry was eai'ly cultivated, and 
among the most important works in Ice¬ 
landic literature is the collection of ancient 
heathen songs called the elder or poetic 
Edda. (See EddUi.) Histories and romantic 
works, known by the name of Sagas, are 
numerous. Many of these are master-pieces 
of prose style, and are still read with delight 
by the people of Iceland. The early portion 
of the second period was barren of anything 
worth mention in the way of literature, nor 
can the modern period boast at all of works 
possessing the interest of those belonging to 
the ancient, though since the middle of the 
18th century there is scarcely a department 
of literature in 
which Icelandic 
writers have not 
done something. 

Many of the most 
valuable foreign 
works have been 
translated into Ice¬ 
landic, and even 
the poems of Mil- 
ton are read at 
many acottage fire¬ 
side. Pop. 72,438. 

Iceland-moss, Cetrdria islandica, a spe¬ 
cies of lichen found in the arctic regions, 

502 



Iceland-moss {Cetr&ria 
ialandlca). 





ICELAND SPAR-ICHTHYOLOGY. 


and on the upper parts of lofty mountains, 
as for instance in Scotland. It is used in 
medicine as a mucilaginous bitter, and in 
Iceland is collected as a nutritious article 
of diet. When boiled with milk or water it 
forms a jelly. Its bitterness may be re¬ 
moved by steeping. 

Iceland-spar, the transparent variety of 
calc-spar, a mineral noted for its property 
of exhibiting in a remarkable degree the 
double refraction of light. 

Ice'ni, a warlike tribe of ancient Britain, 
occupying the modern counties of Suffolk, 
Norfolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdon. They 
fought against the Romans under their queen 
Boadicea. 

Ice-plant {Mesemhryanth^mum crystalli- 
num), a plant (order Mesembryacese) which 
has received the above appellation from the 
transparent vesicles which cover its whole 
surface, and have the appearance of granules 
of ice. It is a native of South Africa and 
the Canaries, and is also found in Greece. 

Ich Dien {eh den; German, ‘I serve’), 
motto of the Prince of Wales, assumed from 
that of the King of Bohemia, slain at the 
battle of Cressy, at which he served as a 
volunteer in the French army. 

Ichneu'mon {Herpestcs), a genus of digiti- 
grade carnivorous animals belonging to the 
civet family. They have a long slender 
body, a sharp and pointed muzzle, and short 
legs. The most celebrated species. Herpes- 
tes Ichneumon, inhabits Egypt, where it is 



Egyptian Ichneumon {Herpestes Ichneumon). 

called Pharaoh's rat. It was adored by the 
ancient Egyptians on account of its anti¬ 
pathy to crocodiles, whose eggs it digs out of 
the sand and sucks. It is expert in seizing 
serpents by the neck so as to avoid any in¬ 
jury to itself. It is domesticated in Egypt, 
and more useful than a cat in destroying 
rats and mice. Their disadvantage, as do¬ 
mestic animals, is their predilection for 
poultry. The mungoos, or Indian ichneu¬ 
mon, is another species, not so large as the 
Egyptian, which it resembles in habits, 
being kept in many families as a useful 
domestic animal. 



Ichneumon-fly 
{Rhyssa persuaaoria). 


Ichneumon-flies, a large family of hy- 
menopterous insects, which all agree in 
one particular, that 
they deposit their eggs 
either in or on the 
bodies, eggs, or larvae 
of other insects. These 
apparently insignifi¬ 
cant creatures confer 
inestimable benefits on 
man, as they destroy 
hosts of insects injuri¬ 
ous to crops. 

Ichnorogy,the name 
applied to the modern 
science of fossil foot¬ 
prints, or other impres¬ 
sions on rocks. The 
impressions are almost 
alway s found on rocks 
that have been de¬ 
posited as mud; they 
are not so common in 
sandstone, yet they 
abound in the New Red 
Sandstone strata. 

Ich'thyolite, a petrified fish, or a stone 
with the impression of a fish. 

IchthyoTogy, that branch of zoology which 
treats of fishes. Fishes form the lowest of 
the five classes into which the great sub¬ 
kingdom Vertebrata is divided. They may 
be shortly described as vertebrate animals 
living in water and respiring the air therein 
contained by means of gills or branchiae, 
having cold red blood, and a heart consist¬ 
ing of one auricle and one ventricle; and 
having those organs which take the form of 
limbs in the higher vertebrata represented 
by fins. Their bodies are generally covered 
with scales overlapping each other, and their 
usual form (though with much diversity) is 
lengthened, compressed laterally, and taper¬ 
ing toward both extremities. The scales of 
fishes assume various forms, which have been 
classed under the four types of cycloid, cte¬ 
noid, ganoid, and placoid. Cycloid scales 
are of a rounded form, and are those met 
with in the most familiar fishes. Ctenoid 
scales, like those of the perch, have spinous 
projections from their posterior margin. 
Ganoid scales are in the form of thick bony 
plates covered with a superficial layer of 
enamel. Placoid scales form detached masses 
of various shapes often provided with spines. 
The skeleton presents great variations, from 
the amphioxus, in which vertebrae are only 
foreshadowed, to the well-ossified skeleton of 


503 
















ICHTHYOLOGY. 


teleostean fishes. The vertebrae are bicon¬ 
cave or ‘ amphicoelous,’ the opposed surfaces 
forming cups, and they vary in number from 
seventeen to more than 200. The spinal 
column is prolonged into the tail, which is 
two-lobed, the lobes either being equal (a 
homocercal tail) or unequal {heterocercal). 
The skull varies greatly; it may be ossified 
throughout as in the cod-fish, or the car¬ 
tilaginous cranium may persist, as in the 
lamprey, sharks, and rays. The skull is 
small compared to the size of the animals 
themselves. The limbs, when present, are 
four in number. The anterior or first pair 
are called the 'pectoral fins. The ventral fins, 
or second pair of limbs, are variable in posi¬ 
tion, and not always present: they may be 
beneath the pectorals, when they are jugu¬ 
lar; behind the pectorals, when they are 
thoracic; or farther back, abdominal. The 
pelvis is represented by two triangular bones, 
which have no relation to the spinal column, 
and to which the fin-rays are directly at¬ 
tached. The median or vertical fins, that is, 
those situated on the back, are character¬ 
istic of fishes, and they may extend nearly 
from the head continuously to the anal aper¬ 
ture, as in eels; they may be broken up into 
several dorsals, caudal, and one or more 
anals, as in the cod; or the number of dor¬ 
sals may be increased greatly, as in the 
mackerel. The fins may be wholly soft and 
flexible, or they may be in part rigid spines; 
or a series of soft fin-rays may be preceded 
by rigid and often formidable spines, which 
sometimes have a beautiful mechanism for 
elevation and depression. The teeth of 
fishes are generally very numerous, and may 
be placed on any part of the interior of the 
mouth, sometimes on the tongue. They are 
quite different in character from the mam¬ 
malian teeth. The muscular pharynx and 
oesophagus lead into a stomach usually well 
defined, but sometimes only slightly differ¬ 
ing in calibre from the intestine. The liver 
is proportionally large, and has usually a 
gall-bladder. The heart consists of a single 
auricle and ventricle, which is continued 
forwards by a dilated vessel called the ar¬ 
terial bulb (bulbus arteriosus). From this 
vessel the blood is sent right and left along 
the gills, which are the organs of respira¬ 
tion, and from the gills the aerated blood 
goes to the body. The gills or branchice are 
either free on one margin, as in ordinary 
fishes, or attached at both extremities. In 
the lepidosiren another structure appears, 
namely, lungs, which stretch through great 


part of the body and open on the posterior 
wall of the pharynx. A peculiar feature of 
fishes is the air-sac or swim-bladder, callert 
also the sound. Anatomically its origin ift 
identical with that of a lung; but it does 
not perform the function of a lung. Its 
function is probably to serve as an aid in 
rising and sinking; but in some fishes it is 
prolonged so as to approach or even come 
in contact with the internal organs of hear¬ 
ing, perhaps acting as an organ of reson¬ 
ance. Reproduction is by ova or eggs, which 
in a few cases are retained in the body of 
the female till hatched. But the ova are 
usually fertilized outside the body, and the 
hatching process is usually left to take 
place without aid. The eggs are, in most 
cases, in enormous numbers, as in the roe 
of the herring and salmon. Among the 
sharks the number is much less, and each 
ovum acquires, before exclusion, a horny 
sheath of various shape, but usually [)ro- 
vided with cirri, by which it moors itself to 
some fixed object. In the pipe-fishes the 
male has a marsupium or pouch formed by 
folds of the abdominal integument, and in 
this pouch the eggs, transferred thither on 
exclusion, are hatched. The nervous system 
of fishes presents considerable variety. The 
amphioxus has no enlargement of the nervous 
trunk comparable to a brain; but in all the 
others the division into fore, mid, and hind 
brain is clearly marked. The olfactory 
organs are, in most cases, pits or sacs, on 
whose walls the olfactory filaments are 
spread out. The sense of taste seems less 
provided for, the tongue and palate being 
mostly firm, and often set with teeth. There 
is no external ear, and the internal apparatus 
is not wholly inclosed in bone, as in the 
higher vertebrates, but is partly free in the 
cavity of the skull. The eye is, in most 
cases, relatively large and flattened exter¬ 
nally, the sight being keen. Special organs 
of touch are wanting for the most part, 
though the labial filaments, seen in the cod, 
whiting, mullet, and sturgeon, are of this 
nature. Among the most curious appli¬ 
ances with which fishes are provided, are 
the electrical apparatus that appear in 
some species, as in the torpedo or electric 
ray and the electric eel, both of which pos¬ 
sess batteries capable of giving a shock of 
considerable power. Some fishes inhabit 
exclusively either fresh or salt water; others, 
as the salmon, migrate periodically from the 
one to the other. 

Fishes may be roughly divided into two 
504 




TCHTHTOLOGY- 

sections—the Chondropterygious or Carti¬ 
laginous fishes, having a carciia^tinous or 
fibro-cartilaginousskeleton; and w, * Osseous 
or Bony fishes, having a bony skeleton. 
These two great divisions formed the basis 
of the classification of Cuvier. Agassiz pro¬ 
posed to divide fishes into four orders ac¬ 
cording to the character of their scales, viz. 
Ganoid, Placoid, Cycloid, Ctenoid. 

The following divisions are now usually 
recognized:— 

Order I. —Teleostei. Osseous or Bony 
Fishes, corresponding nearly to the Osseous 
fishes of Cuvier’s classification. Characters: 
Skeleton more or less thoroughly ossified; 
two pairs of limbs usually present in the 
form of fins; gills free, comb-like, or tufted; 
usually cycloid or ctenoid scales. Sub¬ 
order I.— MaLacopteri. Fishes with a com¬ 
plete set of fins supported by rays, all of 
which are soft, as a rule. Examples: herring, 
pike, carp, salmon, eel, &c. Sub-order II.— 
Anacanthini. Fishes with fins entirely sup¬ 
ported by soft rays; ventral fins wanting, 
or if present placed under the throat beneath 
or in advance of the pectoral fins. Ex¬ 
amples: cod, haddock, ling, sole, turbot, and 
other flat-fishes. Sub-order Hl.-Acanthop- 
teri. Fishes having one or more of the first 
rays of the fins in the form of spines; scales 
usually ctenoid; ventral fins beneath or in 
front of the pectorals. Examples: perch, 
gurnard, mackerel, mullet, &c. Sub-order 
IV. — Plectognathi. Body covered with 
ganoid plates, scales, or spines; ventral fins 
generally wanting. Examples: globe-fish, 
sun-fish, trigger-fish. Sub-order V.— Lopho- 
hranchii. Gills in the form of little tufts 
upon the branchial arches; scales ganoid. 
Example: hippocampus or sea-horse. 

Order II. —Elasmobranchii. Characters: 
Skeleton cartilaginous; no bones in the head, 
the skull forming a cartilaginous box; gills 
forming a series of pouches; two pair of fins 
supported by cartilaginous fin-rays; skin 
covered by placoid growths of various kinds, 
as tubercles, spines, &c. Sub-order I.— Ho- 
locephali. Jaws bony and covered with 
broad plates representing the teeth; only 
one external gill-aperture, covered with a 
gill-cover. The chimaera or king of the 
herrings is an example. Sub-order II.— 
Plapiostomi. Mouth transverse (Gr. plagios, 
athwart) and on the under surface of the 
head; branchial sacs opening by several 
distinct apertures. Sharks, rays, skate. 

Order III.— Ganoidei. Characters: Body 
covered with ganoid plates, scales, or spines; 

605 


-ICHTHYORNIS. 

skeleton partially ossified, the vertebral 
column being generally cartilaginous; skull 
with distinct cranial tones; usually two 
pairs of fins, the first rays of which are 
mostly in the form of spines; tail generally 
heterocercal. There are few living ganoid 
fishes, the great majority of them being 
found fossil. The best-known living ex¬ 
amples are the sturgeons. 

Order IV. —Marsipobranchii. Charac¬ 
ters : General form eel-like or serpentine; 
no paired fins to represent the limbs, only a 
median fin extending round the posterior 
extremity of the body; mouth circular and 
destitute of jaws proper; gills in the form of 
fixed pouches or sacs. Examples: lampreys 
and hag-fishes. 

Order V. — Pharyngobranchii. The 
lancelet, the only example. Characters: 
No skull or distinct brain; no distinct heart; 
no vertebrae; no limbs; mouth a longitudi¬ 
nal fissure surrounded by filaments; walls 
of the pharynx perforated by ciliated slits 
which serve as branchiae. 

Order VI. —Dipnoi. Represented by only 
a few fishes, as the mud-fish or lepidosiren 
and ceratodus. Characters: Body somewhat 
eel-like in form and covered with scales; 
pectoral and ventral limbs both present and 
filiform or sometimes paddle-shaped; both 
gills and lungs present. These animals 
form a connecting link between the fishes 
and the amphibia. 

Ichthyop'sida (Greek, ichthys, a fish, and 
opsis, appearance), one of the three great 
primary divisions of the Vertebrata (the 
others being Sauropsida and Mammalia), 
comprising the fishes and amphibia. 

Ichthyor'nis (Greek, ichthys, a fish, ornis, 



rig. 1, Ichthyornia dispar, restored. Fig. 2, Right javr, 
inner view; half natural size. 

a bird), a fossil genus of carnivorous and 
probably aquatic birds, one of the earliest 
known American forms. It is so named 









ICHTHYOSAURUS-IDA. 


from the character of the vertebrae, which, 
even in the cervical region, have their ar¬ 
ticular faces biconcave as in fishes. It is 
also characterized by having teeth set in 
distinct sockets. Its wings were well de¬ 
veloped, and the scapular arch and bones of 
the legs conformed closely to the true bird 
type. 

Ichthyosau'nis (Greek, ichthys, a fish, 
sauros, a lizard), an immense fossil marine 
saurian or reptile, having an organization 
combining the characters of saurian reptiles 
and of fishes with some of the peculiarities 
of the whales. The members of this genus 
had four broad feet or paddles inclosed in a 
single sheath of integument, and a long and 
powerful tail. Some of the largest of these 
reptiles must have exceeded 30 feet in 
length. Their remains range from the Lower 
Lias to the Chalk, and the great repository 
hitherto has been the Lias at Lynn Regis. 

Ichtbyo'sis, or Fish-skin Disease, a 
roughness and thickening of the skin, por¬ 
tions of which become hard and scaly, and 
occasionally corneous, with a tendency to 
excrescences. This disease seldom yields 
permanently to any plan of treatment. 

I'cica, a genus of plants, nat. order Arny- 
ridaceae, mostly large trees, natives of South 
America. I. altissima, the cedar-wood of 
Guiana, is a useful timber. All of these trees 
yield a transparent fluid resembling turpen¬ 
tine in many of its properties, and some¬ 
times named idea, also elemi or copal. 

Icolmkill (i-kom-kil'). See Iona. 

Ico'nium. See Konieh. 

Icon'oclasts, image - breakers, the party 
in the early Christian Church that would 
not tolerate images, much less the adoration 
of them. At first images of martyrs and 
bishops were placed in the churches merely 
to keep their memory fresh, but latterly (in 
the 6th century) they began to be wor¬ 
shipped, lights being burned before them 
and incense offered in their honour. The 
eastern emperor Leo III. issued an edict in 
726 ordering the people to abstain from the 
worship of such images, and soon after he 
decreed their destruction. This caused great 
commotion, and there arose two parties in 
the church, the image-worshippers and the 
Iconoclasts or image-breakers, who each in 
turn persecuted the other. In 754 a council 
at Constantinople condemned image-wor¬ 
ship; in 787 the second council of Nice 
(Nicaea) asserted and defined the doctrine. 
The controversy lasted over a century, com¬ 
ing to an end when, under the Empress 


Theodora, a council held at Constantinople 
(842) declared in favour of the worship of 
images among the Greeks, a decision which 
was confirmed by a second council, held 
869-870, in the same place. In the Western 
Empire also images were at first retained 
only to preserve the memory of pious men, 
but the decision of the pope, which allowed 
the worship of images, finally prevailed in 
the Western Church. See Iconolatry. 

Iconographic, written in j)ictures; ap¬ 
plied to books profusely illustrated. 

Iconol'atry, the worship or adoration of 
the images of sacred personages connected 
with the Christian religion, as images in¬ 
tended to represent angels, the Virgin Mary, 
saints, martyrs, &c. Iconolatry must not 
be confounded with idolatry, which worships 
objects as being themselves divine or pos¬ 
sessing supernatural power. The worship 
or adoration of images was not common in 
the church for several centuries after Christ, 
and in its earlier stages it" excited strong 
feelings, especially in the Eastern section of 
the church. (See Iconoclasts.) The second 
council of Nicaea taught that images were 
to be retained, but that they were not to 
be objects of adoration in the strict sense, 
though it was right to salute, honour, and 
venerate them, and to burn lights and in¬ 
cense before them. This decree was rejected 
by Charlemagne and by a council at Frank¬ 
fort in 794, but the practice of image-wor¬ 
ship finally established itself in the West. 
Roman Catholics maintain that the cultus 
of images is ‘relati\e,’ and that they are 
not in themselves really adored or honoured, 
‘but that all adoration and veneration is re¬ 
ferred to the prototypes.’ 

Icter'idse, a family of American passerine 
birds, allied to the starlings, remarkable for 
the hammock-like nests which they con¬ 
struct, and hence called hangnests. The 
Baltimore bird may be regarded as tvpi- 
cal. 

Icti'nus, an ancient Greek architect, chief 
architect of the Parthenon of Athens, 438 B.c. 

Icy Cape, a cape of Alaska, in the Arctic 
Ocean, lat. 71° N., Ion. 161° w. 

Ida, in ancient geography:—(1) A moun¬ 
tain range in the Troad (Mysia), at the foot 
of which lay the city of Troy. Its highest 
peak was Gargarus, about 4650 feet. (2) 
1’he middle and highest summit of the moun¬ 
tain chain which divides the island of Crete 
from east to west. This peak affords a fine 
prospect, and is covered with woods of pine, 
maple, and cedar, but is not fertile. 

506 












IDAHO-IDEALISM. ‘ 


rdaho, admitted to the Union in 1890, 
on the western slope of the Eocky Moun¬ 
tains, having Montana and Wyoming on 
the east, and Washington and Oregon ter¬ 
ritories on the west, Utah and Nevada on 
the south, and British America on the 
north; area, 84,800 square miles. The ter¬ 
ritory owes its rise and importance to its 
rich gold-fields, previous to the discovery of 
which, in 1860 and subsequently, it was in¬ 
habited only by Indians. The State is 
largely mountainous, the summits rising to 
12,000 and 13,000 feet. In the centre are 
the Salmon Eiver Mountains, to which 
belongs the picturesque and lofty Saw-tooth 
Eange. Its chief rivers are the Lewis or 
Snake Eiver and the Salmon Eiver, the 
latter a tributary of the former, which again 
joins the Columbia. Along the course of 
the Snake Eiver in the s.E. and s. is a 
desert tract 400 miles long by 40 to 60 
broad. There are valuable forests, but they 
extend only over a small area. The scenery 
along the Salmon Eiver in some places is 
grand, the stream flowing between perpen¬ 
dicular walls of rock from 500 to 2000 feet 
high. Gold has been found in many places, 
and there are also valuable silver mines, gold 
and silver being produced to the value of 
about $6,500,000 annually. Coal, copper, 
iron, and salt are likewise found in many 
localities. The wild animals include the 
grizzly bear. The higher mountain ranges 
are bleak and barren, but the lower hills 
are generally well wooded, and the soil of 
the valleys is productive. In general the 
country is better adapted for grazing than 
for farming. Boise City is the capital. 
Pop. 1890, 84,385. 

Idalium (now Dali), a promontory of the 
east coast of Cyprus on which was a cele¬ 
brated temple of Venus; hence her sur¬ 
name Idalia. 

Id'desleigh, Stafford Henry North- 
cote, FIRST Earl of, English statesman, 
born 1818, died 1886. He was educated at 
Balliol College, Oxford, where he gained 
the highest honours; became private secre¬ 
tary to Mr. Gladstone in 1843, and w^as 
called to the bar in 1847. In 1851 he suc¬ 
ceeded his grandfather in the family baro¬ 
netcy. He held various offices, and repre¬ 
sented several constituencies in parliament, 
being long member for North Devon. He 
published a treatise. Twenty Years of Finan¬ 
cial Policy, in 1862. He was made special 
commissioner to America to arrange the 
Alabama difficulty. Subsequently he was 

507 


secretary for India (1867-68) and chancellor 
of the exchequer (1874-80). Upon Mr. 
Disraeli’s elevation to the peerage he be¬ 
came leader of the Lower House, his task 
being all the more difficult on account of 
the parliamentary obstruction of the Irish 
Home Eule party. He was elected lord 
rector of Edinburgh University in 1883. 
Lord Salisbury having undertaken to form 
a government, he was created (1885) Earl 
of Iddesleigh, and became first lord of the 
treasury. 

Ide, a fish of the carp family (Cyprinidae), 
the Leuciscus idtis, found in rocky lakes of 
Northern Europe. It is a good table-fish, 
which might be introduced into American 
waters. 

Idea, as a term in mental philosophy, has 
been used in various senses. Plato regarded 
ideas as the archetypes or original models 
of things, as existing from eternity and con¬ 
stituting the patterns according to wdiich 
the Deity fashioned the various things of 
which we become cognizant by our senses. 
According to Plato, ideas were independent 
of matter, and it was they that were the only 
objects of true knowledge. Aristotle op¬ 
posed Plato’s doctrine of independent ideas, 
but held the doctrine of ideas being types 
or patterns accompanying material things. 
By Descartes and many modern philosophers 
the word is employed to signify all our mental 
representations, all the notions which the 
mind frames of things. See also Idealism. 

Ide'alism, the philosophical term which, 
in contradistinction to realism, expresses the 
view that subjective or ideal existence is not 
only the original but the only true being, 
and according to which there is allowed to 
sensible objects merely a phenomenal exis¬ 
tence dependent upon the mind of a think¬ 
ing subject. In modern times idealism has 
been maintained by Descartes, Berkeley, 
Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. Some 
of these, as Descartes and Kant, are not, 
however, pure idealists, inasmuch as they 
allow at least a problematical existence to 
sensible things independent of the thinking 
subject, Berkeley is perhaps the most 
thorough-going idealist, holding that what 
is called matter consists merely of ideas, 
that is, appearances produced in the mind 
by the direct influence of the Deity. 'I'his 
dogmatic idealism of Berkeley differs from 
the critical or transcendental idealism of 
Kant. This consists in the doctrine that all 
the material of experience is given in sensa¬ 
tion, but on the other hand the forms of the 




lEISK. 


IDENTITY 


experience (space, time, and the categories 
of the understanding) arise in ourselves d 
'priori, and that accordingly sensible objects 
are known only as they appear to us and 
not as they are in themselves. Fichte, on 
the other hand, rejected the notion of things 
in themselves as untenable and self-contra¬ 
dictory, and created the system of so-called 
subjective idealism, according to which the 
I or thinking subject produces the appear¬ 
ance of a sensible world by a mode of ac¬ 
tivity grounded upon its essential nature. 
The theories of Schelling and Hegel are 
developments of the Fichtean doctrine. 

Iden'tity of person in point of law must 
often be proved in legal proceedings, as in 
proving a thief, &c. The usual proof is the 
oath of one who was cognizant of the facts 
at the time referred to. A common de¬ 
fence of persons accused of crime is that it 
is a case of mistaken identity, in which case 
the prisoner must usually prove an alibi — 
i.e. that he was in some other place at the 
time specified. 

Ides, Latin Idas, with the Romans, the 
15th day of March, May, July, and October. 
In the other months the 13th was the ides. 
The ides of March, on account of Caesar’s 
assassination having taken place on that 
day, was an ater dies or black day, and the 
senate was not allowed to sit. See Calendar. 

Idiocy. See Idiot. 

Idiosyn'crasy, a distinctive peculiarity of 
the mental or bodily constitution of any 
person, or that constitution or temperament 
which is peculiar to any person. The term 
sometimes corresponds with antipathy (which 
see). 

Id'iot, a person who, from original defect, 
is almost destitute of intelligence, or in whom 
the intellect seems to be almost wholly 
wanting. In some cases the intellectual 
development is so low that there appears to 
be little more than a vegetative life. Others 
not quite so low in the intellectual scale re¬ 
cognize the persons with whom they live, 
are capable of being affected by certain 
emotions, understand a few questions, arti¬ 
culate a few words, and are able to take their 
own food, but are quite unable to do any kind 
of work. Those endowed with a little more 
intelligence may sometimes be employed in 
some kinds of labour which present no com¬ 
plicacy or difficulty, but they are incapable 
of performing any intricate calculation or 
going through any long train of reasoning. 
The brain of idiots is sometimes sufficiently 
regular in its conformation, although in the 


great majority of cases there is something 
abnormal. The forehead is often depressed, 
receding, and flattened; sometimes the back 
parts of the head disproportionately large. 
The majority of idiots are of small stature 
and of weak constitution, rarely living be¬ 
yond forty years. The causes of idiocy are 
not well known. It may be hereditary. 

I'docrase, a mineral sometimes massive, 
and very often in shining prismatic crystals. 
Its primitive form is a four-sided prism with 
square bases. It is called also Vesuvian or 
Pyramidal Garnet, and differs from common 
garnet chiefly in form. 

Idol'atry is the worship of an image, ob¬ 
ject, or symbol as having in itself some 
divine or supernatural power, and being 
able in some way to respond to the worship 
paid to it, such images or objects being called 
idols; or the adoration of something merely 
natural as something supernatural and 
divine. Many have regarded idolatry as a 
declension from the one true God, and have 
seen in the various forms of heathen wor¬ 
ship only more or less complete degrada¬ 
tions of an original revelation. Others see 
it! idolatry an innate searching after God, 
and regard it as the first stage of human 
development, the necessary beginning of a 
knowledge of God. Idolatry may assume 
various forms; it may consist in a worship 
of the powers of nature, or of the heavenly 
bodies, or in animal worship, or in the wor¬ 
ship of images representing mere fanciful 
and imaginary deities, or in the still lower 
fetichism. 

Id'ria, a town of Austria, in Carniola, 21 
miles south-west of Laibach, celebrated for 
its mines of quicksilver, which, after those 
of Almaden in Spain, are the richest in 
Europe, and employ in mining and smelting 
about 1300 persons. Pop. 4284. 

Idumea. See Edom. 

Idun, or Iduna, a goddess in the Scan¬ 
dinavian mythology, wife of Bragi, keeper 
of the apples of which the gods ate to keep 
themselves young. 

I'dyl (from Gr. eidyllion, a ‘littleimage’) 
is the name originally and still most usually 
applied to a short and highly finished de¬ 
scriptive poem, especially if it treats of pas¬ 
toral subjects, though this last circumstance 
is not an essential character of the idyl. 
All that is necessary to constitute a poem 
of this class is that it presents to view a 
complete picture in small compass. 

leisk, or Yeisk, a seaport of Russia, on 
the Sea of Azoph. It was laid out only ia 

608 










lEKATERINBURG-IGNIS FATUUS. 


1848, but has rapidly increased, and now 
has nurseries, tanneries, tile-works, oil-mills, 
soap-works, &c., and a consideralDle trade. 
Pop. 29,529. 

lekaterinburg. See Ehaterinhurg. 

leletz, or Yeletz, a town of Russia, gov. 
of Orel, at the confluence of the leletz and 
Lutchka. It has flourishing manufactures, 
and an extensive trade. Pop. 1889, 36,250. 

lesi, or Jesi (ya'se), a walled town of 
Italy, in the province of Ancona, 17 miles 
B.w. of Ancona. Pop. 12,118. 

If, a small island near Marseilles, on which 
is the Chiateau d’lf, formerly a French state 
prison. 

Iferten. See Yverdun. 

Iglau, an old town of Austria, the largest 
in Moravia next to Briinn, on the Iglawa, 
49 miles w.n.w. of Briinn. The staple manu¬ 
facture is woollen cloth. Pop. 22,378. 

Iglesias, a walled town of Sardinia, in 
the province of Cagliari. In its vicinity are 
lead, zinc, and other mines. Pop. 7885. 

Iglo', a manufacturing and mining town 
of northern Hungary, on the Hernad. Pop. 
7871. 

IgnatieflF, Nicholas Paulovitch, Russian 
soldier and diplomatist, born in St. Peters¬ 
burg 1828. He served in the Crimean war, 
and was made a colonel 1856. In 1858 he 
was sent on a special mission to Bokhara 
and Khiva, and afterwards as ambassador 
to Peking 1860. He was appointed minister 
at Constantinople 1864, and was envoy ex¬ 
traordinary 1867-78. He was conspicuous 
in the negotiations before and after the 
Russo-Turkish war, and was appointed min¬ 
ister of the interior, but was dismissed 1882. 
He represented the party in favour of war, 
in opposition to Prince Gortschakoff. He 
was subsequently made governor-general of 
Irkutsk. 

Ignatius, St., Bishop of Antioch, one of 
the apostolic fathers, said to have been a 
disciple of the apostle John. His life and 
death are wrapped in fable. According to 
the most trustworthy tradition he w as ap¬ 
pointed Bishop of Antioch a.d. 69, and was 
thrown to wild beasts in the circus of Antioch 
by the command of Trajan, the date being 
given by some as a.d. 107, by others as 
A.D. 116. By the Greek Church his festival 
is celebrated on Dec. 20, by the Latin on 
Feb. 1. In the literature of the early 
Christian church Ignatius holds an impor¬ 
tant place as the reputed author of a num¬ 
ber of epistles. These have come down to 
us in three forms. In the longest text they 

509 


are 13 in number, but since the discovery 
of a shorter text containing only 7 the first 
has been universally recognized as in great 
part spurious, some of the letters entirely 
so, and others containing interpolations. 
But even in this shorter form their genu¬ 
ineness has been disputed by numerous 
scholars. Both of these texts are in Greek, 
but a still shorter text in the Syriac lan¬ 
guage, containing only three letters, exists. 
Some maintain that the Syriac text was the 
earliest, though not earlier than the middle 
of the 2d century. Others hold the genuine¬ 
ness of the shorter Greek text. 

Ignatius, St., Patriarch of Constanti¬ 
nople, son of the Emperor Michael I., was 
born about 798, died in 878. When his 
father was deposed he entered a monastery, 
assuming the name of Ignatius. In 846 he 
was raised to the patriarchate. He was 
opposed to the Iconoclasts, and his refusal 
to admit Bardas, brother of the Empress 
Theodora, as a communicant, on account of 
his reported immorality, led to his deposi¬ 
tion in 857. I'he schism between the Greek 
and Roman Churches began while Photius, 
his successor, was in ottice, and has con¬ 
tinued ever since. He was reinstated in 
867, and at an ecumenical council assembled 
at Constantinople in 869 Photius and his 
party were condemned. 

Ignatius (St.) Beans, the seeds of a large 
climbing shrub {Ignatiana philippinica, or 
Strychnos Ignatii) of the nat. order Logani- 
aceae, nearly allied to that which produces 
nux-vomica, inhabiting the Philippines, and 
cultivated in Cochin China. The seeds con¬ 
tain a larger percentage of strychnia than 
the nux-vomica plant. It was so called by 
the Jesuits in honour of their founder, 
Ignatius Loyola. 

Ignatius Loyola. See Loyola and Jesuits. 

Igneous Rocks, in geology, rocks which 
are seen to owe their special character or 
structure to their materials having been 
once in a state of fusion, as lava, basalt, 
granite, &c. Such rocks are not stratified, 
and may occur in connection with sedimen¬ 
tary rocks of any age, having usually been 
forced up from below. 

Ignis Fat'uus (L. ‘ foolish fire ’), a lumi¬ 
nous appearance seen floating over marshy 
places at night, and sometimes, it is said, in 
churchyards. It is probably due to some 
gaseous mixture capable of igniting sponta¬ 
neously, but it has never been satisfactorily 
explained. Other names are Will-o’-the- 
wisp and Jack-a-lantern. 



IGNORANTINES 

Ignoran'tines, a religious congregation of 
the R. Cath. Ch. devoted to the gratuitous 
education of children. It was founded about 
1683 bj' the Abb^ de La Salle. The statutes 
of the order, approved by Benedict XIII, 
in 1725, impose on its members vows of 
chastity, poverty, and obedience. In 1789 
the order counted 1000 members, and pos¬ 
sessed 121 houses. They were forced to 
quit France, but were recalled by Bona¬ 
parte in 1806. They are now to be met 
with in various countries. In France the 
law of 1882 banished them from the public 
schools. 

Igualada (e-gwa-la'da), a town in Spain, 
province of Barcelona, 36 miles w.N.vv. of 
the town of Barcelona, on the Roya, with 
manufactures of cottons, woollens, &c. Pop. 
11,882. 

Iguan'a, a genus of lizards, the type of 
the family Igiianidae, a native of Brazil, 
Guiana, and neighbouring localities. It has 
an average length of about 4 feet. Its food 
consists almost entirely of fruits, fungi, 
and other vegetable substances. Its head 
is large, the mouth wide. Along the whole 
length of the back to the tip of the tail there 
is a crest of elevated, compressed, pointed 
scales; the lower part of the head and neck 
is furnished with a dew-lap or throat-pouch. 



Common Iguana (Iguana tuberculata). 


The toes are furnished with sharp claws, 
which enable it to climb trees with ease, 
while a rapid serpentine movement of its 
tail propels it swiftly through the water. 
Its usual colour is dark olive-green. Its 
flesh is considered a delicacy, being tender 
and delicately-flavoured, resembling that of 
a chicken. The eggs, of which the female 
lays from four to six dozen, are also eaten, 
having an excellent flavour. They are about 
the size of those of a pigeon, are laid in the 
sand, and hatched by the heat of the sun. 

Iguan'idse, a family of lizards of which 
the iguana is the type. They have the body 
rounded, sometimes laterally compressed and 
furnished with a ridge or serrated crest along 
the middle line of the back from snout to 


— ILFRACOMBE. 

tip of tail, sometimes a throat-pouch or dew¬ 
lap present. See Iguana. 

Iguan'odon, an extinct fossil colossal 
lizard found in the Wealden strata; so 
called from the resemblance of its teeth to 
those of the iguana. The pelvic bones were 
strikingly like those of birds. The integu¬ 
ment does not seem to have possessed the 
spines or bony plates of allied species. The 
anterior vertebrae were slightly amphicoel- 
ous, the posterior flat. The lower jaw was 
notched for the reception of the beak, as in 
the parrot. The teeth were large and broad, 
implanted in sockets, and tranversely ridged. 
Mantell, its discoverer, estimated the length 
of the animal at from 60 to 70 feet, but 
Owen’s calculation is 30 feet. 

Ihlang-ihlang (elang-e'lang). See Hang- 
Hang. 

Ihre (e're), Johan, a Swedish scholar, 
born in 1707, died in 1780. He became 
librarian at Upsala, where he obtained in 
1737 the chair of literature and politics in 
the university. His most important work is 
called Glossarium Suiogothicum (a Swedish- 
Latin dictionary). 

Ilang-ilang (Cananga odorata), a large 
tree of the order Anonaceae, cultivated in 
India and the Philippines, and yielding from 
its flowers a rich perfume. 

H'chester, a decayed town of England, 
in Somersetshire, anciently an important 
Roman station, and furnishing numerous 
Roman remains, 

Ildefon'so, San, a village of Spain, where 
is La Granj a, a royal palace, built in a 
mountainous country by Philip V., in imi¬ 
tation of Versailles, 6 miles north-east of 
Segovia, 40 north by west of Madrid. The 
palace contains a great number of valuable 
paintings, statues, &c., and the gardens are 
magnificent. 

Ile-de-France (el-de-frans), an old pro¬ 
vince of France, having Paris as its capital, 
and now mostly comprised in the depart¬ 
ments of Seine, Oise, and Seine-et-Oise. 

H'eum, in anatomy, a name given to the 
lower three-fifths of the small intestine. 

Il'eus. See Iliac Passion. 

Ilex, the genus to which the holly be¬ 
longs; also a name for the evergreen oak or 
holm-oak. See Holly and Holm-oak. 

irfracombe, a market town in England, 
Devonshire, on the Bristol Channel, 41 
miles N.w. Exeter; very picturesquely situ¬ 
ated. There is an inner and an outer har¬ 
bour, the former admitting shijis of 300 
tons, and an active trade in coal, cattle, and 

510 





ILLINOIS. 


ILI 

agricultural produce with Welsh and Irish 
ports. Ilfracombe is much resorted to as a 
bathing-place and health resort. Pop. 7692 

Hi, a river of Central Asia, partly in 
Chinese territory but mostly in Russian.’ 
It is formed in Chinese Kuldja by two 
streams, the Tekes and Kunges, rising in 
the Thian-shan Mountains, and flows west¬ 
wards, falling into Lake Balkash by several 
mouths after a course of 800 or 900 miles, 
half of which is navigable. 

H'iac Passion, an ailment regarded by 
some as a distinct disease, though it is, in 
fact, the last stage of the severest forms of 
colic, and is often produced by mechanical 
obstruction. Acute pain, frequent vomit¬ 
ing, and hiccup are the chief symptoms. It 
is often fatal. Dilatation of the bowels by 
the bellows may produce good results; as. 
a last resort, gastrotomy may be attended 
with success. The disease is also called Ileus. 

ll'iad. See Homer. 

irion. See Troy. 

Ilithyia (i-li-thl'a), among the Greeks 
the goddess who assisted women in child¬ 
birth. In after-times she was almost iden¬ 
tified with Artemis (Diana). 

H'ium. See Troy. 

Ilk'eston, a market-town of Derbyshire, 
England, 9 miles e.n.b. of Derby, situated 
on a lofty hill. The church is a fine 
ancient edifice. Manufactures of hosiery 
and lace are here carried on, and a number 
of the inhabitants are employed in mining 
coal and ironstone. Pop. 1891, 19,744. 

Ilkley, a village of Yorkshire, England, 
31 miles west of York, beautifully situated 
on the Wharfe, and much resorted to by 
visitants to the hydropathic establishments. 
Near Ilkley is the fine old ruin of Bolton 
Priory. Pop. 4736. 

Illampu (el-yam-po'). See Sorata. 

Illapel (el-ya-peF), a town of Chile, prov. 
Coquimbo. Pop. 6403. 

Ille-et-Vilaine (el-e-vi-lan), a maritime 
department in the N.w. of France, lying be¬ 
tween the English Channel and the depart¬ 
ment of Loire-Inf^rieure. It is watered 
mainly by the rivers from which it derives 
its name—the Vilaine, and its tributary, the 
Hie. Little more than one-half of the sur¬ 
face is arable. The cereal crops consist 
chiefly of wheat, meslin, rye, and oats; 
other crops are buckwheat, hemp, tobacco, 
and flax. The minerals include iron, zinc, 
and lead. The principal manufactures are 
leather, sail-cloth, sacking, and coarse linens, 
and the coasting trade is active. Rennes 

511 


is the capital; St. Malo the chief seaport. 
Pop. 1891, 626,875. 

Illegitimacy. See Bastard. 

Illi'cium, a genus of eastern Asiatic and 
American evergreen deciduous shrubs, be¬ 
longing to the nat. order Magnoliaceas. The 
plants of this genus are called aniseed-trees, 
from their fine aromatic scent. The fruit 
of I. anisdtum (Chinese anise) is the star- 
anise of the shops (see A nise). I. reliyiosum 
is a Japanese species, held sacred by the 
natives, who decorate the tombs of their 
dead with wreaths of it, and burn the fra¬ 
grant bark as incense before their deities. 

Illimani (il-yi-mii'ne), one of the loftiest 
peaks in the Bolivian Andes, fully 21,000 
feet high, and covered with glaciers. 

iriinois (il'i-noi or -nois), one of the 
Western United States, bounded on the 
north by Wisconsin, east by Lake Michigan 
and Indiana, south-east by Kentucky, from 
which it is separated by the Ohio, and west 
by the Mississippi, separating it from Mis¬ 
souri and Iowa; greatest length, 370 miles; 
greatest breadth, 210; area, 56,650 square 
miles. The surface is somewhat hilly near 
the Ohio, and undulating towards the west; 
and a range of bluffs runs for a considerable 
distance along the margin of the Mississippi; 
but with these exceptions the state is one 
continuous plain, with a gentle inclination 
towards the south-west. It has a greater 
proportion of arable land than any other 
state of the Union. The only part of the 
state thickly wooded is the extreme south 
portion. The chief rivers are the Illinois, 
which traverses the state diagonally north¬ 
east to south-west. Rock, Kaskaskia, and 
Wabash. Indian corn and wheat are the 
chief objects of cultivation, but rye, oats, 
buckwheat, potatoes, turnips, cotton, hemp, 
flax, tobacco, castor-bean, &c., are also pro¬ 
duced, and the cultivation of the vine is 
making considerable progress. The common 
domestic animals are abundant, and im¬ 
mense numbers of swine are reared on the 
mast of the forests. Lead is found in vast 
quantities, and the ore (argentiferous galena) 
contains a considerable percentage of silver; 
the metal is found chiefly near the Wiscon¬ 
sin frontier, Galena being the centre of the 
mining district. Bituminous coal abounds, 
and is raised in considerable quantities, and 
several valuable salt springs are found in 
the east and south. The rocks mostly are 
limestone, gypsum, and sandstone. The 
climate, although somewhat humid, is gen¬ 
erally healthy. The commerce and manu- 





ILLINOIS- 

factures have been largely developed of late 
years, and there is a greater development 
of railroads than in any other state. The 
Illinois and Michigan Canal connects Lake 
Michigan at Chicago with the Illinois at La 
Salle (distance 96 miles), and enables vessels 
of some size to pass from the Gulf of Mexico 
to the St. Lawrence. There is a well- 
organized school system. Illinois University 
at Urbana is a well-equipped institution. 
Springfield is the seat of government, and 
Chicago, on Lake Michigan, the principal 
commercial depot. Illinois was constituted 
a separate territory in 1809, and admitted 
as a state into the Union in 1818. Pop. 
1890, 3,826,351. 

Illinois, a river in the United States, 
formed by the union of the Kankakee and 
Des Plaines, in the n.e. part of the state 
of Illinois. It flows thence s.w., and falls 
into the Mississippi about 20 miles above 
the mouth of the Missouri. It is 500 
miles long, half of it being navigable. A 
canal connects the river with Chicago. See 
above art. 

Illuminated MSS. See Manuscripts. 

Illumina'ti (‘the enlightened’), a name 
given to the members of several societies, 
especially to those of a secret society founded 
in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, professor 
of law at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, for mutual 
assistance in attaining a higher degree of 
morality and virtue. It spread over Roman 
Catholic Germany, and contained in its 
most flourishing condition 2000 members, 
among whom were individuals of distin¬ 
guished talents and high rank. The con¬ 
stitution and organization were taken partly 
from the Jesuits and partly from the 
masons. Dissensions, however, were intro¬ 
duced into the body, and in 1784 it was 
dissolved by the Bavarian government. The 
members were called also Perfectiblists. 


— ILORIN. 

Illyr'ia, Illyr'icum, a name formerly 
rather loosely applied to a large tract of 
country on the east side of the Adriatic, the 
ancient Illyrians being the ancestors of the 
modern Albanians. Piracy was carried on 
by the Illyrians, whose kings were therefore 
embroiled in quarrels with the Romans, 
which ended in their subjugation in 228 B.c. 
They sought from time to time to shake off 
their chains; but being always beaten, the 
country at last became a Roman province. 
The name of Illyrian Provinces was given, 
by a decree of Napoleon in 1809, to Car- 
niola, Dalmatia, and other countries, then 
part of the French Empire. After the fall 
of Napoleon the Illyrian Provinces were 
restored to Austria, and designated as the 
Kingdom of Illyria, a title which the country 
bore till 1849, when it was divided into the 
provinces of Carinthia, Carniola, and the 
Coast-lands. 

Ilmen, a lake in Russia, gov. of Novgo¬ 
rod, near its western borders; length about 
33 miles, breadth 28. It receives numerous 
streams, and discharges itself by the Volk¬ 
hov into Lake Ladoga. It abounds in fish. 
There is another lake of this name in Rus¬ 
sia (also called Lake Manitch), on the fron¬ 
tiers of the governments of Caucasus and 
Don Cossacks. 

ir menau, a town of Central Germany, 
in the Grand-duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisen- 
ach, on the river Ilm. It has a grand-ducal 
castle, manufactures of porcelain, terra-cotta 
w'are, &c., and a hydropathic establishment. 
Pop. 5452. 

Il'minster, a small but ancient market 
town of England, in Somersetshire, 17 miles 
south by east Bridgewater. Pop. 3281. 

Ilo'rin, a towm in the Western Sudan, 
about 150 miles N.E. of the Bight of Benin in 
Nupe, a great centre of trade; pop. 150,000, 
mostly Mohammedans. 

612 


END OF VOL, 17. 
























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